Brazil investments and BRIC funds are on the march. Brazil's domestic bond market looks ready to pick up the slack despite other global debt woes. As of June 15 five Brazil companies have bond sales worth $2.2 billion on tap. That's a huge shift from the first half of June when no BRIC investment company sold bonds because fears that the euro debt crisis would spread to Brazil had closed down the local debt market.

Penny stock investing is exciting because these investments by nature have tremendous profit potential. Low priced small cap stocks don't have to move the needle very far to see a huge jump in share price and deliver big gains to investors. What's more, penny stocks are often agile and quick to adapt because of their small operations and can see groundbreaking changes that deliver big returns in a matter of months - as opposed to blue chip stocks that take years to roll out growth strategies.

High yield dividend stocks are easier to find then you think. Income investors looking for safe dividend stocks to stash their retirement money in are already familiar with many blue chips that have hefty yields. It's just that when investors stop at the grocery store or pay their phone bill, they aren't thinking about how the big brands they're doing business with are actually good income investments.

The announcement by China currency officials that the peg between the US dollar and Chinese yuan or renminbi has been loosened gave global stock markets a significant boost today. But labor unrest in China, particularly in the auto manufacturing sector with Honda (HMC) and Toyota (TM), could constrain the effect of the government's action on the China yuan currency exchange rate.

China is revaluing its currency, the yuan, in a way. China pledged over the weekend to allow greater flexibility in exchange rates for the currency. Forex investors cheered this This is the second move to de-peg the yuan or renminbi against the U.S. Dollar but it is not a free-float of their exchange rates. The good news is that there is an ETF for this via the WisdomTree Dreyfus Chinese Yuan (NYSE: CYB).

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) and Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) are two dead money biotech giants which are trying to turn their ships around. The reason for each being dead as a stock is a night and day difference. But both have a quest to boost long-term value, and so far both have resisted the call to begin making high yield dividend payments.

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) has agreed to buy the project pipeline of US Solar, which is an affiliate of Arclight Capital Partners LLC, for an undisclosed amount. According to NRG, the purchase nearly doubles the company's solar development projects to 1,150 megawatts. Nine projects are involved in the acquisition, ranging in size from 20 megawatts to 99 megawatts, and all could be in operation between 2011 and 2013.

Four years ago, it appeared that no one on Earth was going to be able to buy a cup of coffee without the Starbucks brand on it. SBUX had nearly 6,500 retail locations worldwide, and they were on track to buy out almost all of their major competitors. They purchased the Seattle's Best Coffee chain from AFC Enterprises (AFCE) and all of the West Coast based Coffee People stores from Diedrich Coffee (DDRX). Not all was well though. First, in 2007, Starbucks halted its plans to expand into India. They continued to expand internationally in 2008, opening outlets in Agentina, Portugal, and the Czech Republic, but closed 900 underperforming retail locations throughout that year and into 2009. SBUX stocks hit all time lows in March 2009.

Earlier in the year, Target (TGT) broke ties with Visa (V) over its store-branded credit cards Rather than let the credit card giant take a cut, the big box retailer decided it would process the payments itself and limit sales to in-store purchases only as opposed to a broad use Visa credit card that consumers could use to buy just about anything. Now Target Corp is offering a 5% discount to consumers using its TGT store brand credit card.

Major financial stocks like Bank of America (BAC), JP morgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (Citi) and Wells Fargo (WFC) are considering charging for checking accounts. After the financial crisis, these stocks had to reduce their risk. That means fewer bad customers subsidizing checking accounts with bank charges and other fees.

What's up with housing stocks and homebuilders right now? With the governments homebuyer tax credit now expired and the economic recovery hitting something of a soft spot, many are worried what's next for the beleaguered housing market.

U.S. auto stocks Ford, GM and Chrysler have finished ahead of foreign automakers for the first time ever in the 2010 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study. U.S. cars averaged 108 problems per 100 vehicles compared with 109 problems per 100 vehicles for imports. The following chart tracks initial quality for the past 12 years.

When investing retirement money in stocks, investors should consider simple trading strategies that work no matter what the market is doing. That means following the money to the best stocks to buy based on consumer trends. To help you cash in on this investing strategy, here are my five favorite guy stocks to buy right now - Playboy (PLA), Morton's Steakhouse (MRT), Rick's Cabaret (RICK), Cabela's (CAB) and Anheuser Busch InBev (BUD).

Retirement investors may be surprised to learn that some of the best stocks to buy right now are actually luxury stocks and consumer discretionary plays. While it's true that overall spending isn't quite as impressive as it was before the financial crisis, many luxury stocks, clothing companies and discretionary retailers are doing big business.