Jobs are the bedrock of the U.S. and world economy. We know from academic studies and common sense that people who don't have jobs don't buy things, and people who know people who are losing their jobs also curtail their purchasing. It's a vicious cycle, and after a very weak employment report this week, the cycle may be gathering strength. Get all the details now.

Oil has finally come down off its highs, and investors are looking for the next hot sector. Want to know where they're headed next? Steel. Read on to find out which companies in the booming steel market are due for an influx of oil money.

Everyone is speculating about financial stocks and if we've seen a "dead-cat bounce" or a true bottom. Read on to get the truth about the banking industry and what's ahead for these stocks as well as the rest of the market.

Although they may recover some of their losses, the banks and brokers are unlikely to be among the leaders of the next bull market, whenever it starts. So we might as well just stop thinking about buying them as value plays every time they seem to get cheaper.

Government officials tried to pull off something that no administration has EVER come close to accomplishing: kill off short-sellers and oil speculators while quelling inflation and turning banks' losses into profits!

Even with the Dow up over 300 points in the past few days, there are still plenty of reasons why you shouldn't jump head first into this market just yet.

As investors find themselves in a bear market without the skills necessary to survive, here are seven simple steps to help smooth the transition.

You really need a scorecard to follow the flippings and floppings of our government officials over the past week as they made a spectacle of themselves with conflicting comments about the condition of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Crude oil futures rallied strongly on Thursday, and are on the move again--a move that seems surprising to many after the price had fallen by almost 6.5% in the first part of the week.

Predicting a recession is a lot like forecasting the perfect storm. It's easy to see the dark clouds sitting on the horizon, but once those gale force winds kick in, there's no telling where–or even if–it'll ever make landfall. Some pessimistic pundits say it's already here. Other optimists say not so fast. No matter when it hits, here's 5 ways to make sure you're prepared!

Oil service providers may not sound like a profitable opportunity to you, but with crude oil prices soaring past $86 a barrel, this little niche of the energy sector is producing capital gains hand over fist!

The reason for their success is simple, really. Big energy companies are looking for more efficient and profitable ways to extract more oil from mature wells, and establish new wells. And that's exactly what oil field providers do.

And this trend will continue as the tightening is due to the one-two punch of rising demand out of Asia and shrinking supply from broadening environmental restrictions and declining production from mature wells.

A report by the U.S. National Petroleum Council (NPC) said that while global energy consumption will increase as much as 60% by 2030, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that an oil supply "crunch" could arrive as early as 2012. That's less than 5 years away.

Now, I don't mean to scare you, but facts are facts. And I trade on facts—not smoke screens. I keep my eye on the indicators—the economic bellwethers of our economy—to tell me what stocks to buy and what clunkers to sell now before our profits go up in smoke!