Closed-end funds hold significant surface appeal, but more often than not there are better options available. Read More

It’s official: The S&P 500 shed just under 37 percent in 2008, making it the worst year for that index since 1937. Although bearish sentiment remains palpable, extreme pessimism usually marks important market lows. Read More

Its most accessible name is the Smart Grid, and it’s being built right now, a bit piecemeal and with a host players fighting for primacy, but this ship is sailing. It’s not a theoretical concept. Read More

US stocks plummeted news that retail sales contracted in December and ongoing concerns about the health of the nation’s largest financial institutions. Read More

The three major US stock indexes finished the day with mixed results, as higher energy prices gave a boost to shares of oil producers such as Chevron (NYSE: CVX), a longtime Income Portfolio holding. Read More

The stock market tends to lead the economy, not the other way around. At the end of both 1937 and 1974 the economy and market looked bleak--perhaps even worse than today--yet the market managed to turn in a positive performance for the year. Read More

US stocks continued their retreat in today’s trading session, as expectations of an earnings season marred by disappointments weighed on investor sentiment. Read More

A deteriorating economy marked by further job increases weighed heavily on investor sentiment today, and the three major US stock indexes floundered accordingly. Read More

US stocks finished the day with mixed results after Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) posted disappointing quarterly earnings, though shares of Sears Holdings Corp (NSDQ: SLHD) jumped after the retailer forecast quarterly earnings above analysts’ expectations. Read More

US stocks wilted in the face of daunting unemployment numbers, as the prospect of worsening conditions overshadowed hopes that a government stimulus package would revivify the flagging economy. Read More