It may seem counterintuitive, but investment banks are rolling in the dough. Despite the massive write downs of sub-prime mortgage losses trading desks are making big dollars due to high volumes and volatility. If you think of your own portfolio as a mini-investment bank, you can do the same. Here's how.

As we all know, every major Wall Street investment banks have been hit hard by the mortgage crisis. But what many investors don't realize is that many of these firms had to be bailed out by Sovereign Wealth Funds form China and other Asian countries. Here's what they do and how they bailed out U.S. Banks.

At a time when investor uncertainty is high, individuals considering throwing in the towel may be better served by letting someone else steer the ship! They can't. That's why now is the perfect time to augment your portfolio with mutual funds. And a good place to start is Dan Wiener's The Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors.

As I write this missive, the global markets are selling off in the wake of the Bear Stearns implosion. Remarkably the U.S. market is not following suit, well at least not yet. Could the markets be any more uncertain? I think not. So, what is an investor to do in this crazy environment? Ride the rails!

I'm really happy for those Wall Street fat cats that have been saved once again by our philanthropic Federal Reserve, but the recently announced bailout will do nothing to help Main Street. In fact, one could make a serious argument that the emergency action to infuse $200 billion of liquidity into the credit market will only make things worse for the average investor. While the market rallied (can anyone say DEAD CAT BOUNCE?) after the news, oil prices continued their ascent. We hit $110 per barrel and that price will hit you and me right where we can least afford it. If you are not up in arms about all of this you should be! The government is being run by a bunch of dopes that want to steal your money. Here's what you should do now.

Are you ready to ride the green wave? No, I'm not talking about Tulane! This green wave is all about alternative energy and the companies that help our society move away from the choking effects of carbon burning. Green has always been the color of money. And this clean energy stock will be rolling in it in no time!

We all know that the market is inefficient. At any moment in time we can find specific stock stories that can be exploited for short term profits. That's the theory behind Jon Markman's StrataGem portfolio offered in his top performing Strategic Advantage newsletter service. In March, his selection of Anadarko Petroleum (APC) caught my eye. Here's why...

The market takes no prisoners at times like this. As a result, some really good companies are being thrown out with the bath water. Take for example defensive play, Yum Brands (Symbol: YUM), the company that operates various restaurants, including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Since reaching a high of $40.60 in November, shares have dropped by 13%. Some reward at a time when the company actually raised guidance for 2008 from $1.82 per share to $1.85 per share. So, what gives?

By now investors should know that most Bull Market periods will end with a blow-off rally pushing valuations to unsustainable levels. When reality returns, and the business cycle ends, those stocks that have benefited from the rally tend to fall the hardest.

Richard Young recommended McDonald's (MCD) in his Intelligence Report when the stock was out of favor and struggling. Today, I suspect Mr. Young is looking long and hard at Starbucks (SBUX) as a possible related speculation. Why? Because the similarities are striking. They are both former growth stories that hit bumps in the road losing focus, customers, sales and ultimately market value. The difference is that MCD recovered after a long and painful process of redefining itself and its image. Will SBUX do the same?

With the major U.S. indexes closing another week with a loss, many are wondering if the bottom is near and if it's time to start buying again. The good news is that things are looking up for investors who are trying to capitalize on China stocks.

Shares of foam rubber shoe maker Crocs, Inc. (CROX) nosedived yesterday after reporting record 4th quarter earnings after the market closed on Wednesday. If Trending 123's, John Lansing was bullish on the stock under $33 per share, he must be jumping up and down in his CROX

Urban legend has it that the original color of Coca Cola was green. An interesting tale for certain, but not possible when you consider that the original formula called for caramel to give the drink its dark brown color. This week, shareholders of Coca Cola were seeing green. The company blew by estimates for the fourth quarter reporting sales of $7.3 billion versus consensus estimates of $7.0 billion.

It's no surprise that everyone is wondering when the current market volatility will end. I don't blame anyone for asking this question. Just in January, we experienced 16 days in which the Dow jumped up or sold off more than 100 points. This is bad enough, but when you take into consideration that there were only 21 trading days in the month, the picture gets a bit more frightening.

Jamie Dlugosch, Executive Editor for InvestorPlace, talks about Microsoft's unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo and what that says about the troika in search—Google, Yahoo and Microsoft! You won’t want to miss a word on these important developments.

In my China Strategy service, we’re kicking off earnings season with an announcement from one of our biggest gainers. If you're smart, you'll load up on this stock before earnings come out—and ride it to a double in 2008, very possibly.

There were many investment trends that we followed and profited from this year, and while some have run their course, others will continue through 2008. One of these just happens to be the 2008 Beijing Olympics, now less than a year away.

Of course the Chinese are working hard to make sure that everything is perfect for their debut in the world's spotlight. But recently, I've been listening to the news reports and bloggers go on and on about the Beijing Olympics and how the completion of the games will bring death to the Chinese economy. I couldn't disagree more and want to take this opportunity to put that argument under a microscope and see what's really in store for China's economy post-Olympics.

First of all, let's not forget that China's economy has been growing at about 10% for two decades. And believe it or not, this amazing growth spurt has little to do with the 2008 summer Olympics. The simple truth is that in China there is more innovation, technology, labor, financial capital and time (from people living longer) than ever before, and I expect these trends to continue regardless of how successful the Beijing Games are! China's booming economy is simply too hot to slow down after the Olympic flame is extinguished. There are just too many catalysts driving China's growth and few of them depend on next summer's games.

The Fed's decision last Tuesday to cut both the Fed Funds Rate and the Discount Rate by only 0.25% disappointed many investors who expected a more aggressive cut of 0.5%.

The rate cut announcement caused the market to sell off sharply. The Fed believes that inflation is still a threat, and as a result chose to be more conservative with rate cuts. Without a doubt, there's strong inflationary pressure in the U.S.—we found out last week that wholesale inflation increased by the largest amount in more than three decades.

After last Tuesday's rate cut disappointment, the Fed revealed a plan to team up with other central banks around the world to supply a coordinated liquidity injection that will provide a $40 billion swap line to U.S. banks. Given the severity of the credit problems we're experiencing right now, I believe that a liquidity injection alone won't enable banks to make the money they need to get back on a growth track. I think the Fed's conservative stance has halted the chance of a further year-end rally.

The market is looking murky at the moment, and in the next two weeks it could go either up or down.