Technology stocks are outpacing the broader market by a wide margin this year. Here’s how to play the group. Read More

The S&P 500 has rallied more than 30 percent off its March low, based largely on mounting evidence that the US recession is abating. Even more impressive, the rally has proceeded almost without interruption; through the middle of May, the S&P 500 saw no corrections of more than 7 percent. Read More

Leverage almost brought down Wall Street. But even while markets tanked last year, leveraged funds enjoyed huge inflows as investors bet the decline would continue. From a long-term investor’s perspective, most of these funds miss their targets. Read More

Clean Harbors(NYSE: CLH) is North America’s leading provider of environmental and hazardous waste management services. Only a handful of firms now operate in this sector, as substantial compliance costs have prompted consolidation--both through closures and acquisitions. This has significantly reduced the industry’s overall capacity, while boosting Clear Harbors’ share of the hazardous waste disposal market to nearly a third and its share of the incineration market to about 65 percent. Read More

In what could be a sign of things to come, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) allowed a leverage buyout firm to take control of a struggling bank, approving MatlinPatterson Global Advisors’ purchase of Michigan-based Flagstar Bancorp (NYSE: FBC), an institution with heavy exposure to the nation’s hardest-hit housing markets. Read More

For the past 10 years investors have been referring to Japan as an example of an economy mired in deflation and for its inability to normalize. Save for a short period triggered by a strong rally in the second half of 2005 that piqued investor interest early in 2006, there’s been little interest in Japanese stocks during this period. And such is the case today. I’m still positive on the long-term potential of the Japanese story, especially given the negative sentiment surrounding its economy and stock market. Read More

Amid calls for new regulation of pooled investments such as hedge funds and money markets, traditional open-end mutual funds have emerged from the market crisis unburdened by suggestions for new government involvement in their operation. In fact, the existing structure is widely seen as the model for reform--regulators have called for more mutual fund-like disclosure for hedge funds and their ilk. This doesn’t mean, however, that changes aren’t in the wind for the mutual fund industry. Read More

Sell the weak, stick with the strong: That’s been our strategy since this bear market began in mid-2007. We’ve unloaded companies showing signs of underlying business weakness and never looked back. We’ve avoided real blowups in a market more rife with them than any in memory. Read More

The three major US stock indexes finished the day markedly lower after the Treasury Dept’s most recent auction of 10-year notes pushed yields to a wide spread above the two-year note. Read More

The three major US stock indexes raced higher after consumer confidence unexpectedly jumped, a possible sign that the worst of the recession has passed. Read More