Real estate prices are down substantially and many foreclosures and short sale opportunities are out there for the picking.  We are certainly in a buyer’s market right now and real estate investors have quite a bit of bargaining power these days. Read the full story

Ever heard of tulip mania?  Well how about gold mania?  It’s estimated that all the gold that was ever mined on Earth would fit into just two Olympic sized swimming pools.  The world’s biggest deposits are being depleted quickly, and new discoveries are uncommon.  The bottom line: the demand for gold exceeds supply.  Gold can easily explode higher to new highs. Read the full story

The OPEC cartel has cut back oil production by 4.2 million barrels a day. The latest delivery information indicates that the actual number is more around 3 million barrels a day. But that’s still a substantial reduction.

Looking at production cuts in other natural resources, oil production would probably have been cut back anyway – with or without OPEC.

Here are just some of the production delays and suspensions announced so far in February…

Feb 16 - Norilsk Nickel says suspending production at its last two active mines in Australia. Will suspend Black Swan and Lake Johnston nickel mines with immediate effect.

Feb 12 - The Philippines Berong Nickel Corp said it has temporarily stopped nickel production.

Feb 11 - Norsk Hydro has decided to begin the shutdown of its Neuss primary aluminium smelter in Germany. A day earlier, it announced reducing its aluminium production by another 25 percent at its Soeral smelter in Norway.

Feb 10 - Germanys Trimet Aluminium AG said had cut aluminium output by about 30 percent.

Feb 9 - Xstrata Plc said plans to expand production of rhenium at a project in northern Chile have been shelved.

Feb 9 - Plans to boost output at the Madneuli Ore Enrichment Plant in Georgia by another 35-40 percent this year no longer look realistic because investment plans are on hold.

Feb 6 - FNX Mining Co Inc said it plans to cut costs beyond the production cuts and layoffs announced late last year. Company mainly mines nickel and copper in Canada’s Sudbury Basin.

Feb 5 – Russia’s United Company RUSAL said it will cut 11 percent of its annual aluminium output, 30 percent of alumina output and 5 percent of its staff.

Feb 4 - Century Aluminum said it would curtail remaining output at its 170,000 tonnes tpy Ravenswood, West Virginia aluminium smelter by Feb. 20.

There were just as many if not more announcements of productions cutbacks in January.

The focus now is on falling demand. In the not too-distant future, we’re going to wake up and realize that the shortages and tight supply that dominate the commodity sector can’t be reversed overnight.

In such a market environment, any hint of a pickup in demand will ignite prices. And that’s when you’ll wish you were following the tips of my colleague Rusty McDougal. His mining companies and juniors are beat up now, but they’re like ticking time bombs waiting to explode.

Believe me, it’s going to happen – and with metals mining and production shrinking so fast – it’ll happen sooner than you think.

Two weeks ago I sold the Virginia-based utility company Dominion Resources. I got out at a double-digit profit.

Of all the utilities in the S&P 500, Dominion had the best earnings growth (38.5%) last quarter. So why did I get rid of the stock?

Read the full story

Looking at the economic calendar this week, one thing jumps out at me: we could really be in trouble.

With the market breaking down under the November lows late last week, the last perceived support level is at the 7,200 level. After that, it’s likely a matter of how far we fall until we find the next support level. Read the full story

Remember the old Looney Tunes cartoons where Bugs Bunny would scratch a line in the sand and dare Yosemite Sam to step over the line. Eventually Bugs would draw one at the edge of the cliff and Sam would step over it and plunge 500 feet to the ground. Well that is kind of where the market is right now.

Read the full story

You are probably familiar with my colleague, Dr. Russell McDougal. He has been writing for Investor’s Daily Edge

But you might not know how he came to be involved with Investor’s Daily Edge and what his background and experience are. I want to share that with you today. And there is a Read the full story

Are you getting sick to your stomach when you look at your stock portfolio?  The stock market has been absolutely horrible for the average investor and trillions of dollars have been lost in this market.  Stop losing money in stocks!  There is a better way to make consistent long term returns Read the full story

A simple corporate bond strategy can make you a ton of money in the next few years, with almost no risk to your principal. And it's so simple it's almost unbelievable.

As the stimulus and banking packages unfold, there is one thing that we know for certain, there will be one hell of a lot of money printed and pumped int Read the full story

I have mentioned in past articles that I am a huge basketball fan.  I have always admired the coaches just as much as I have the players.  One of the greatest coaches of all time is John Wooden, the former UCLA coach who led his teams to 10 national championships.

Over the years, Coach Wooden has probably drawn as much a Read the full story