If you rely on natural gas for heating your home, you’re in luck this winter. Yet again, consumer natural gas prices are headed downward. This trend is not new. For the last 4 years gas prices have felt the pressure of excess supply. The reason for the supply glut is the result of a revolution that is occurring in gas exploration. A relatively new drilling technique commonly refereed to as fracking (horizontal drilling conducted by
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Does it pay to delay taking Social Security benefits? Let’s say you’re considering one of three options: taking early retirement at Age 62, retiring at the traditional Age 65, or really holding off on retiring until you’ve reached Age 70. Which choice might be better for you? The question matters because people who wait longer before drawing Social Security benefits can draw larger benefits than those who don’t wait…READ MORE.
Global demand for fertilizer was expected to climb 11 percent this year, and even if the rate of growth in demand from China ebbs, Indian needs are likely to more than compensate as that country tries to become self-sufficient in foodstuffs, especially grains. (India’s fertilizer budget is bigger than its military budget….) With that in mind, when designing a portfolio for 2012, you might want to think about including shares of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan,
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Over the next decade Brazil is expected to become an agricultural super power, thus making it one of the largest users of potash fertilizers on the planet. Brazil has 500 million hectares of potentially arable land of which 100 million are currently under cultivation. This compares with the United States’ 350 million, Russia’s 300 million, and China’s 200 million if they used every hectare available. Brazil imports 90% of its potash, and is expected to
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The story was originally posted on MSN Money. The 1946 film classic “It’s A Wonderful Life” is so heartwarming you could almost forget it’s about banking. Central to the story, though, is the Bailey Building and Loan Association. So with remakes being so popular in Hollywood, and with banks being so much in the news this year, it begs the question: Could this film be adapted for today’s banking environment? Here are a few tweaks
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What you will find inside…. An investment play that coincides with the growth of Apple’s Siri technology An updated model portfolio Commentary on the American Dream and the delusional state that griped many in the last decade How to improve your personal investment skills through the reduction of noise December 6th, 2011 Newsletter
From 2005 until 2007 I was extremely bullish when it came to the shipping sector. It wasn’t hard to be at that time. Global trade was accelerating coupled with a limited amount of ships made for a perfect storm for tight capacity and sky high shipping rates. It was a great time to own shipping stocks. Most companies offered substantial dividend yields and their share prices were appreciating with no end in sight. Those days
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History could offer a clue. A Wall Street Journal analysis of market data provided by Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh and Mike Staunton of the London Business School suggests the central-bank intervention might indeed be a turning point for the markets: U.S. and emerging-market stocks may be poised to outperform, while European stocks could be headed for more trouble. There is enough uncertainty to warrant a healthy dollop of Treasurys and cash in investors’ portfolios as
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Ronald Reagan asserted in 1980 that it was “morning in America,” but in America now, it is the morning after. This drive toward an off-the-grid, eat-what-you-raise, bike-there-on-your-own, solar-powered collective fantasy is inevitable: Americans were pumped full of hope that more consumption would make them happier, and instead were left with a pile of debt. They were asked to admire the top of the income pyramid, only to find that they were looking at a pyramid
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