The New Releases available at the video store and On Demand yesterday were uninspiring, to say the least. So I'm back. European stocks are sliding and U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a lower open after measures of the manufacturing economies in Europe and China unexpectedly shrank. The surveys of purchasing managers showed surprising weakness in both Germany and France and raised the likelihood of a deeper slowdown in China as European demand for Asian exports dwindles. With gains of more than 8 percent for the S&P 500 and almost 9 percent for the Euro Stox...

In 2007 Craig Machel looked at the state of the world and didn't like what he saw. At the time, global equity markets were in the twilight of the longest bull market in modern history. The TSX Composite had grown 14 times in value in 30 years. But it was the recent market swings that got him ques...

Panic-buying…euphoria…mania Call it what you want, but for a few trading sessions Apple (AAPL-Q) shares surged to an all-time high -- driven by an irrational herd mentality investors exhibit time and again. It wasn't a mania in the classic sense, like gold in 1980, which doubled i...

A good dividend stock is like a good dog. No matter how nasty the outside world gets -- at the end of the day you come home to a big lick on the face. If you create a portfolio of good dividend-yielding stocks you will have a steady stream of licks on your face while the world sorts out its probl...

Of all the publicly traded equities -- in the entire world -- Canada represents less than three percent. Yet for many Canadian investors the rest of the world is underrepresented in their investment portfolios. To some extent it's a Pavlovian response to the days just over a decade ago when the Can...

The tyranny of Valentine's Day has passed for another year. A good thing. European stocks are rising and U.S. stock index futures are pointing to early gains after the governor of the People's Bank of China said overnight that his country plans to streamline and expand investment in ...

Because it's Valentine's Day -- lets look at romance in the workplace. Careerbuilder.com hired Harris Interactive to conduct a study of almost 7,800 full-time, non-government U.S. employees last November and the numbers show we're looking for love while on the job. Thirty eight percent of respond...

Percentages are a peculiar thing. When you see '1 percent' it's almost insignificant. When you're charged a 1 percent annual trailer fee on the $1 million dollars in mutual funds you've scrimped and saved for all your life it's $10,000 each year -- and that's very significant. It's those slivers ...