Big Pharma needs some big ideas. If it can’t find them — and turn them into the next blockbuster drugs — then it will be in Big Trouble. The clock is always ticking for the nation’s drug makers. That’s because drug patents last only 20 years. The… Read More

Remember when big banks paid big dividends? Before the financial crisis Citigroup (NYSE: C) paid a quarterly dividend of $0.54; last quarter’s dividend was $0.01. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) paid a per-share $0.64 quarterly dividend as recently as late 2008; December’s quarterly dividend… Read More

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder — and I suppose that’s just as true in the financial world as anywhere else. For most, the Fed‘s unprecedented string of stimulative rate cuts couldn’t have been better timed. Read More

It was greeted as “an oddball security from Canada” when it debuted in December 2003. I’m speaking about one of the newest (and most lucrative) asset classes to hit Wall Street in recent years — enhanced income securities (EIS). The name… Read More

We’ve read all the headlines and listened to the news about the malaise in the real estate market. Some might even believe we’ve heard it ad nauseum. Does this market have more downside risk? Possibly. Could we be near or… Read More

One year ago, we were laughed at. You see, in December of last year the research staff for Market Advisor — one of StreetAuthority’s most popular investment advisories — released our “11 Surprising Investment Predictions for 2009.” We predicted big moves in nanotechnology… that… Read More

Amy, what do you see as promising areas for income investors in 2010? Despite this rally, I’m happy to say there are still plenty of chances to lock in strong — and frequent — dividends. One area I like is master limited partnerships (will lead to above-average… Read More

Falling rents, asset values and transaction volumes during 2009 have been tough on the real-estate sector and on real-estate investment trusts (will continue to, Fitch still has a negative outlook on the domestic REIT sector for 2010. Happily, things are better in Canada. While… Read More

The key to boosting income lies in a security most investors might not be familiar with. Nevertheless, more than 1,250 of these securities trade on U.S. exchanges. They invest in every almost every possible sector and niche of the market (from stocks and bonds to… Read More

Here I sit, bundled up in a turtleneck shirt and bulky sweater. The trees outside my window have lost their leaves and my lawn has turned a brownish green. As I look out at this stark scene, my mind wanders to the warm sunny beaches of Bermuda, about 1,100 miles… Read More