Every month, policymakers track purchasing managers’ indices (PMI) around the world as they consider fiscal and monetary actions. To us, a PMI is a measure of health of companies around the world, because it includes output, new orders, employment and prices across manufacturing, construction, retail and service sectors.

A conference with CEOs from around the globe recently brought me to Europe—the center of Western Civilization, the cradle of democracy, innovation and creativity, and the crux of today’s debt crisis.

Investors have “defriended” gold recently in favor of the dollar, as Greek and French voters rejected austerity measures.

There was a strong reaction last week to the elevated debt crisis in Europe, with commodities and equities being indiscriminately sold. Gold fell 3 percent this week, losing its safe haven status as the dollar grew stronger and the 10-year government note headed lower.

Many have compared today’s economic recovery to the slow, stagnant growth Americans lived through in the 1970s.

Here’s a different way of showing how energy stocks have lagged.

One catchy investing maxim that’s popular this time of year is “sell in May and go away,” the notion that investors should cash in their investments and take the summer off.

The odds of winning tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 175,711,536. This remote chance hasn’t stopped people from lining up to buy a ticket, as the “what-if-I-win” idea seems so thrilling.

To paraphrase the great Steve Martin, today's investors are very passionate people and passionate people tend to overreact at times. An overreaction is exactly what's happened in gold and global markets in recent weeks. While market bulls h...

Gold’s been knocked down lately, but several enduring factors have conditioned the yellow metal for an inevitable comeback.

Does it feel like it costs an arm and a leg to fill your car these days? While consumers may continue to feel the bite from higher gasoline prices, investors can use these rising prices to their advantage.

After prices fell 10 percent in December, many investors wondered if the bull market in gold was running out of steam. That was before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke swooped in with a “red cape” and fired the bulls back up.