I shouldn’t have been surprised when I read the news yesterday that Toys R Us was selling FAO Schwarz. Toys R Us bought FAO in 2009 as part of a strategy to take market share during the economic downturn and to raise its profile. Founded in 1862, FAO Schwarz was… Read More

Baseball, football, politics – I understand there are some serious distractions this week.On the financial front, just this afternoon the Fed released minutes of the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting at which three members dissented from the decision not to raise rates. The minutes revealed that “several members” supported… Read More

Natural gas prices have more than doubled from the springtime lows and will need a cold winter to keep running. Read More

Alcoa, the aluminum giant, kicked off the third-quarter earnings season this morning by laying an egg: revenue and earnings were lower than expected.A bellwether company for the industrial sector, Alcoa (NYSE: AA) was down about 10% in early afternoon after posting earnings of 32 cents per share, vs. analysts’ consensus… Read More

Utility stocks are finally correcting as speculation heats up over monetary tightening. Read More

The U.S. economy added 156,000 jobs in September, another solid number.As expected, stocks fell.  That’s because investors interpret continued employment growth to mean that the Fed is more likely to raise rates in December. As we’ve discussed, what’s good for the economy can be bad for stocks if… Read More

After Superstorm Sandy, utilities hardened their infrastructure against hurricanes. But even if Hurricane Matthew causes significant damage to crucial systems, utilities will likely recover their costs from ratepayers. Read More

As the Chief Investment Strategist for Personal Finance, I am often asked by our readers what stocks are the best to own when the market doesn’t know where’s going. And with the S&P 500 going almost nowhere since July, that’s a question I hear quite a bit.However, not all… Read More

The recent agreement on the first production cut in eight years ends a failed effort to discourage shale drillers. Read More

Good news for the economy today – which could be bad news for stocks.But that could be good news for investors!What do I mean? Let’s dive in.Unemployment claims fell to a surprisingly low 249,000 for the week ended Oct. 1 , below analysts’ forecast of 265,000 and the second-lowest… Read More