Whew – what a wild week! World stock markets and commodities tumbled, whereas government bonds and the US dollar surged amid mounting fears that the ongoing turmoil in financial markets was foreshadowing a hard landing for the US and Europe.

Now that the bailout deed has been done, attention is shifting to whether the plan will work and break the logjam in the credit markets.

Fear can manifest itself in many ways and I don’t see fear dissipating any time soon. What should long term investors do? I think an analysis of previous bear markets will be helpful. You may be surprised to know that bear markets in the mold of the 1929 Great Depression are actually a blessing in disguise for investors.

For some time now, weekends spell a period of trepidation for investors as the Pandora’s box is opened. Bizarre announcements of historical takeovers, bankruptcies and government interventions left investors grabbing for straws in a cesspool when trading resumed on Mondays.

India's strong economic growth has increased demands for basic amenities, such as electricity and power, opening up global investing opportunities.

Emerging markets are becoming unstoppable with up-and comers challenging their Western partners. Investors will have a number of markets to invest in throughout the world.

Investors cheered the measures as the Dow Jones soared 400 points on Friday, after having surged 410 points on Thursday. This included meteoric rises for battered finance firms like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Washington Mutual.

Should we invest heavily again now that a rally is forming?

These are the quick market stats for the past week: the MSCI World Index up by 0.3%, the S&P 500 Index up by 0.3%, the Reuters/Jeffries CRB Index down by 0.1%, the US Dollar Index down by 1.6% and the ten-year US Treasury Note yield up by 4 basis points.

Before you invest heavily in stocks, you should really pore over the cash flow statement. I regard it as the bible, more important than the balance sheet or profit/loss statement. Emphasizing on earnings alone is ill-advised as devious managements can window-dress results using accounting gimmicks.

Investors not only returned to a shortened trading week after the Labor Day holiday on Monday, but also to a bruising on global stock markets, at least for those with long equity positions.

It is clear from research that September, on average, has historically been the worst month. But stock markets recovered after that and October, November, December and January have traditionally been good months. Time will tell whether the current panic mode will make way for a better period in the weeks to come.

Gloomy sentiment about credit woes and a worsening global economic picture dampened investor sentiment, resulting in a down-month for most global stock markets in August. I have put together a table of global stock markets' performances over various measurement periods, showing the bear is still in charge.

The gyrations of financial markets ahead of the Labor Day weekend tested the patience of bulls and bears alike. Nervousness about the financial system was still paramount as investors realized that none of the problems were likely to be fixed anytime soon.

As the pendulum swings between greed and fear, investors typically become over-enthusiastic during bull markets and over-despondent as the bear’s growl grows louder. The typical behaviour of investors is linked to the so-called investor psychology cycle, and this post seeks to apply this cycle to the present stock market situation.

In this article I perform technical analysis of SPY. Moreover, I analyze an options strategy which will suit to the current situation.

In real life, expenses are pretty straightforward. Anything which constitutes an outflow of money to pay for a product or service is deemed as an expense. For accounting students, an expense is recorded when an asset is used up and a liability recorded. However, there are instances when you struggle to answer this question: Should a cost be expensed or capitalized?