Recent research has determined that there are significant degrees of happiness among Americans depending on what cities and regions of the country they live in and that, in particular, those living in cities with declining populations were exceptionally sad.. This post provides a make-up of the research and a map of the U.S. illustrating the various degrees of happiness - or unhappiness - by area.

What happens when gold has transitions from a cyclical bull market to a cyclical bear market? What motivates gold to enter a bull market phase? This article has the answers.

With valuations stretched, investors seem to be justifying their stock purchases here with the argument that we have yet to reach the mania of 1999-2000 but history has shown us that there doesn't have to be a bubble for there to be a sharp decline in stocks. As we saw in 2007, it doesn't mean there is no risk of a significant market decline or that valuations are compelling and that investors should be expecting above average long-term returns from here. They should not.

It never ceases to amaze me just how dumb and misinformed financial commentators are, often looking in all the wrong places for script, when the fact is that stupidity, greed, and stubbornness runs rampant amongst paper market gold speculators.

I read hundreds of financial articles every week and most are nothing more than "financial entertainment" - unfounded forecasts, fear mongering or cheer-leading. That being said, there are a number of articles that are absolutely MUST READS if you are to become an informed investor and be in position to understand what is evolving in the financial environment and act accordingly. Introductory paragraphs and links to a number of them are provided in this post.

How safe is the cash in your wallet? Just as with hard currencies such as dollars and pounds, the safety of your bitcoins depends on your own vigilance. If you are thinking about using Bitcoin, or already are, this infographic outlines the security concerns and how to go about alleviating them.

Statistically speaking there is an optimal time to buy or sell a security and knowing such, or at least knowing when not to do so, would be quite beneficial to your financial health. This article provides the answers as to what are the best months, and work its way down to half-hours of the trading day, to engage in trading.

In the investment management process...[it is important to] actively monitor both short- and long-term cycles...in order to manage expectations based on historical patterns...[as well as] oscillators - diagnostic tools that help us measure a security’s upward and downward price volatility - but to understand how oscillators work, though, you first need to become familiar with standard deviation and mean reversion. In this article, we do just that.

Financial markets are influenced by relatively predictable cycles and should play a big role in one's decision-making process just as they do in our day-to-day lives. This article takes a look at several and discusses their relevance to one's investment management process.

There is an idea floating about to stimulate the economy via providing cash directly to consumers. It may just be a trial balloon at this point, but I expect the idea to gain traction. Here's why.