I was recently asked how it is that I can regularly tout certain stocks because they’re cheap and at the same time recommend others at what seem to be selling at high valuations.

China’s communist government and international humanitarian groups might seem like odd bedfellows, but they seem united in their dislike of the World Bank’s annual Doing Business survey—the 2013 survey is available now. For different reasons, of course.

By now, you've likely heard of the woppping energy bonanza know as the Shale Revolution. Thanks to hydraulic fracturing (aka fracturing), the US is awash with cheap natural gas, giving energy firms a new source of revenue and businesses nationwide cheaper energy costs.

Good(ish) news! Headline GDP since 2007 may get revised up a bit this July. However, it will (likely) be tied to GDP accounting changes by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), not an update to actual economic data.

What is the most common investor mistake? Trading–getting in and getting out at all the wrong times, for all the wrong reasons.

"Japan has run into a big wall...and we have turned invward looking. If Japan becomes the only one that turns inward, there is no chance for our growth. No businesses would want to invest in such a country and talented people would not be interested.

There've been so many recent examples of nations making fiscal choices at odds with long-term economic aims, it's easy to miss choices aimed at wooing corporations and job creators to their shores.

What do sugar and pogo sticks have in common?

Not much, unless you want to use pogo sticks to illuminate a concept, broadly accepted by most of humanity, known as comparative advantage.

Just days after this bull market’s fourth birthday, the S&P 500 is mere basis points from its all-time high of 1565.15.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shouldn't have anything in common. The former stands for liberty and the rule of law, and he seems not to mind being subject to the electorate's whims. The latter's a proto-fascist who's waged war on freedom and wiped out many checks and balances on executive power.

In case you've been living in a bunker, the "sequester" (maybe) kicks in March 1.

I'm hoping it happens for one very specific reason: If the sequester proceeds, it robs politicians of a go-to wedge issue they can repeatedly dredge up as heated, campaing-fundraising fodder, then slap it with a sloppy Band-aid and push it out to another politically expedient future time.  Rinse, repeat.

If you haven’t paid much attention to Cyprus’s bailout negotiations, I suggest you start: There’s a plan afoot that could, if enacted, set a dangerous precedent for private property rights in the eurozone.

What can the UK expect after being downgraded? Almost certainly, lots of political finger-pointing and hyperbolic headlines. But also, quite possibly, lower interest rates

Most Asian markets are closed this week, but the region's far from quiet: It's the Lunar New Year! As folks everywhere celebrate with scrumptious feasts and red envelopes, we think it's a great time to see what's in store for China in the year of the snake.

The Big Easy. No, I’m not talking about the movie or New Orleans. I’m talking about my current approach to finding winning stocks.

It’s tough out there for a credit rating agency.

It appears S&P is being sued by the Justice Department. Lest anyone think this is payback for its downgrade of Uncle Sam, the suit will allege S&P played a key role in the 2008 credit crisis—issuing too rosy ratings on mortgage-backed securities and other collateralized debt obligations when they knew such securities were toxic.

New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe got his wish this week: The Bank of Japan (BOJ) boosted its inflation target to 2% (rebranding it as a “goal”) and committed to open-ended monthly asset purchases of ¥13 trillion ($143 billion) to get there. And all Japan’s problems were … complicated.

A record 7.9 million people tuned in for the recent US premier of Downton Abbey's third season—but if you ask me, that's far too few. The episode teaches a crash course in how not to invest—a course every investor on Earth should heed.

Thanks to the joint efforts of the World Trade Organization and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the case for free trade got a whole lot stronger last week. 

With much of the world experiencing slower economic growth over the past year, I’ve seen a surge in the number of editorials forecasting a Japan-style “lost decade” in some nations. Based on a quick Internet search, the US, UK, Ireland and South Korea are just some of those purportedly at risk—sure, historically they’ve been resilient, but this time it’s different.

The Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB), an agency set up as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, has been tasked with the relatively unobjectionable aim of protecting consumers of financial products and services. Fair enough. No one really wants consumers to be unprotected. And yet, there are already lawsuits working their ways through the court system challenging the body's constitutionality. And to me, this is hardly surprising.

How far must the S&P move to breach past highs?

It’s a trick question.