What fiscal cliff? Stock prices rose last week to their best weekly gain in five months as investors cheered the start of the holiday shopping season, encouraging economic data from Germany and China, improved housing data, and confidence from President Obama and Congressional leaders that the fiscal cliff will be avoided. Is this the beginning [...]

The announcement last week that Hostess Brands, the maker of iconic treats such as Twinkies and Ding Dongs, was going out of business highlights the need for investors to have a solid risk management strategy. As you contemplate making an investment, here are three things important to know: The rationale for the investment and the [...]

Despite disappointment that central banks in the U.S. and Europe offered no new stimulus programs last week, the U.S. stock market rose for the fourth straight week – thanks to one piece of government news, according to Bloomberg. This particular piece of news is released on the first Friday of each month and investors eagerly [...]

The man with his finger on the pulse says the U.S. economy faces two main risks. We have no control over one of those risks and the other, well, we do have some control, but whether our politicians will appropriately exercise that control is a big question. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faced Congress last [...]