The recent announcement of the FOMC to buy mortgage backed securities at a rate of $40 billion per month is something that many bullion traders had anticipated and has already started to pull up the price of gold.

Diversified Australian resources company BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) has its hands in nearly every commodity that can be pulled out of the ground.

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, global mining giant Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

Every investor would love to stumble upon the perfect stock. But will you ever really find a stock that provides everything you could possibly want? One thing's for sure: You'll never discover truly great investments unless you actively look for them....

The biggest threat to Barrick's success would be a long-awaited correction in the price of gold.

Gold's been on quite a rally since the beginning of 2012, increasing in value by 5%, a nice upside to the S&P 500 index's 3.9% gain. Gold is currently valued $1,651.80 per ounce.

Has gold entered bubble territory? Or is it the only remaining hedge against the lunacy of politicians and central bankers?

It takes money to make money. Most investors know that, but with business media so focused on the "how much," very few investors bother to ask, "How fast?" When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings."

Even as a long-term bear on the metal, I was initially puzzled by gold's underperformance over the past couple of months, just as the European sovereign debt crisis moved into high gear.

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company's economic output.

As investors, we need to understand how our companies truly make their money. A neat trick developed for just that purpose -- the DuPont Formula -- can help us do so. The DuPont Formula can give you a better grasp on exactly where your company is...

Investment site Motley Fool writes: If you're a busy investor with more than just stock-picking on your plate, you might want to consider a mechanical investing strategy. And if you're interested in stocks, one of the most intriguing of these strategies is Joel Greenblatt's Magic Formula.