Baltimore (TFN): What is wealth? It is a question all of us need to ask ourselves every so often. If not, we lose track of where we are heading and where we’ve been.

As you’re reading this, I am nowhere near my computer. In fact, I’m not even in the office today. I spent the last three days increasing my “wealth.”

We all have different definitions of the word. Some of us give it a strictly monetary connotation. There is nothing wrong with that. In its most straight-forward definition, wealth is the abundance of money.

But if I can take the risk of getting touchy-feely for a minute or two, I’d like to take it a bit further. To me, wealth is the abundance of everything good in our lives.

If that truly is the case then move over Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, I am one wealthy guy. I bet you

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We all invest in stocks for the same reason, to make money. However, investment styles can be as unique as fingerprints. Amazingly, investor surveys show that most of us do have one thing in common…we love small cap stocks.

Typically, the higher potential returns is what draws us to these smaller companies even though they carry higher risk. Research clearly shows that small caps outperform the rest of the market by a wide margin. Most investors would agree its worth bearing that extra risk.

Why do small caps outperform? And why should you consider putting even more of your money into these stocks? Read on for the answers.

Who Doesn't Want to Beat the Market?

As I said earlier, we are all in the market to make money, so why not be in stocks that outperform the S&P 500 by 20%? Yes, 20%. In a study conducted over the 80 years prior to

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Microsoft Down But Not Out

by The Investment U Research Team

There has been a lot of news on tech bellwether Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) recently – most of it negative. The stock took a nosedive on Friday after reporting quarterly profit had dropped.

The news ranges from Microsoft forced to add other browsers to its software to avoid antitrust issue in the EU, to its bottom line harmed by netbooks and the broader economy.

This doesn’t even get into the ignored weakness in the tech sector.

Far from out, Microsoft is a phenomenal buy right now. Friday’s drubbing makes the stock even more attractive – from a growth or income perspective.

We’ve talked before about Microsoft’s Windows 7, but let’s get more to the point of profits. We know

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When oil prices moved to over $30 a barrel in the mid 1980s, it was considered a significant event. It also signaled the birth of small ethanol companies in the Midwest. Many of them managed to hang around long enough to get a second wind when Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Gulf War pushed oil prices past $40.

But the renewed interest in ethanol proved to be short-lived, as oil retreated below $20 a barrel just four months later. As a result, many of those smaller ethanol companies couldn’t survive as profitable alternative energy investments.

Flash forward to today, where we’ve seen crude oil prices double in just the past four months. Worldwide oil demand has soared, particularly from fast-growing countries like China and India, and although the global downturn has seen the pace of demand slow, when the global economy gets back on track, it should prove even more bullish

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Alternative Energy Investments: Three Scenarios For Clean Energy

by Jim Stanton, Contributing Editor, Sector Watch

When oil prices moved to over $30 a barrel in the mid 1980s, it was considered a significant event.

It also signaled the birth of small ethanol companies in the Midwest. Many of them managed to hang around long enough to get a second wind when Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Gulf War pushed oil prices past $40.

But the renewed interest in ethanol proved to be short-lived, as oil retreated below $20 a barrel just four months later. As a result, many of those smaller ethanol companies couldn’t survive as profitable alternative energy investments.

Flash forward to today, where we’ve seen crude oil prices double in just the past four months. Worldwide oil demand has soared, particularly from fast-growing countries like China and India, and although the global downturn has seen the pace of

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When oil prices moved over $30 a barrel in the mid 1980s, it was considered a significant event.  It also signaled the birth of small ethanol companies in the Midwest. Many of them managed to hang around long enough to get a second wind when Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Gulf War pushed oil prices pushed past $40.

But the renewed interest in ethanol proved to be short-lived, as oil retreated back below $20 a barrel just four months later. As a result, many of those smaller ethanol companies within the alternative energy market couldn’t survive.

Flash forward to today, where we’ve seen crude oil prices double in just the past four months. Worldwide oil demand has soared, particularly from fast-growing countries like China and India, and although the global downturn has seen the pace of demand slow, the global economy gets back on track, it should prove even more

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Russia's richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, likes to grip it and rip it.  Joking aside, what he is saying about living between the extremes says a lot about doing business in Russia - not for the feeble.  Plus you've got to admit that doing a flip on a jet ski and carving up the mountain on skis is pretty cool - I don't think we'll catch Bill Gates doing such things.  Is Prokhorov building a profile as Russia's new Richard Branson?

Insider Buying: The Best Buy Signal You Can Get

by Alexander Wissel, Editor in Chief, Investment U

Did you miss the perfect insider buying opportunity? You might have.

Over the past two months stocks have climbed almost 40%. After hitting historical lows - and being completely oversold - the markets have been clawing their way back up, week by week.

And even with the ugliness caused by the release of the banking stress tests last week, it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing values plunge. There’s simply too much money sitting on the sidelines, and it’s slowly creeping back in.

Since 1987 the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) has conducted a monthly survey on how we allocate our money between stocks, bonds and cash. And per the most recent survey, the percent of direct investments in individual stocks is at an all-time low of 17%, nearly half the

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Note from editor:  These days, those of us who haven't yet fallen into a catatonic stupor listening to the procurators' voices droning away in a dingy courtroom in Moscow have been hearing a litany of fantastic crimes supposedly committed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky in violation of all the known laws of physics and economics, not to mention the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

So it comes as a refreshing change of pace for us to hear something nice about Khodorkovsky for a change. We recently received this guest essay by someone who has benefitted directly from Khodorkovsky's vision, and who is keeping the faith and continuing the spread the gospel.

Vera Buldakova is an ordinary Russian schoolteacher. Or rather, she WAS one until she went through a training program on using the internet in education, offered at no cost to teachers out

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by Mara Hernandez-Capili

Warren Buffet is Americas most famous investor. Any investor, especially those who want to be experts into trading stocks are looking up to him as a role model. He is famous because he was the richest man in the world for the year 2008; next to him is Microsoft owner and founder Bill Gates. He was also famous for his frugal living despite the fact that his company is worth to $69 billion dollars.

This piece is written to provide you with some insights on the famous investors strategy. The methods are actually simple questions that you need to ask yourself before plunging into a stock trading. First question is Is this business simple and understandable? It is easier for an investor to invest in a company that he is knowledgeable of in order to effectively forecast problems or growth events should they arise.

Second is to …