Powerhouse 

By Ben Johnson

The REIT industry, now 50 years old, has outperformed all of the major stock indices since 1972. But it hasn't always been a joyride....

Are apartment reit stocks overheated? 

By Joe Gose

Apartment reits are up 50 percent over the last year. Time to sell?...

Gold, the Portfolio Hero of 2010 

By Brad Zigler

But which one? Gold mining stocks or gold bullion?...

Gold, the Portfolio Hero of 2010 

By Brad Zigler

Gold rocked in 2010. But what is the best, least volatile way to play the barbarous relic? Gold mining stocks or gold bullion via the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)? ...

Commodity Funds or Commodity Exchange-traded Products? 

By Brad Zigler

There's very little real difference between the performance of mutual funds and ETPs in the commodity space, but there's a whole lot of difference in the products' risk characteristics....

Indexing Hedge Funds 

By Stan Luxenberg

Hedge fund-replicating mutual funds for the retail set are young, but they have demonstrated an ability to limit losses in downturns....

UBS Beefs Up Alt Investments for Risk Reduction  

By John Aidan Byrne

The brokerage unit of Swiss banking giant, UBS AG, is beefing up its alternative investments to meet growing demand for risk-reduction and portfolio diversification strategies, especially among its affluent clients....

Commodity Funds or Commodity Exchange-traded Products? 

By Brad Zigler

There’s very little real difference between the performance of mutual funds and ETPs in the commodity space, but there’s a whole lot of difference in the products’ risk characteristics....

Does Your Portfolio Really Need All Those Commodities? 

By Brad Zigler

Or are gold futures the simple answer?...

LoanMeMoney.com 

By Christina Mucciolo

Online social networking creates the peer-to-peer lending industry....

China Bulls Still Running Rampant 

By Nate Wendler

In recent months the chorus of skepticism regarding Chinese economic and stock market performance has reached a greater crescendo. But there are plenty of bulls left....

REITs, Goodbye or Good Buys?  

By Jennifer Popovec

I’ve been full of optimism when it comes to U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs) --- and have been since December 2008. People called me crazy, but I was right. Here is my story....

Cold Call with Bob Whalen 

David A. Geracioti

The executive vice president of Brewer Investment Group talks about managed accounts....

Buy Farmland, Gold and Run for the Hills, says Dr. Doom  

By David A. Geracioti, VonAldo.com

Dr. Marc Faber, who predicted the 1987 crash and the recent financial crisis, is predictably gloomy. Buy farmland, gold and head into the country to avoid a "dirty" war, he told a conference. For more, please go to VonAldo.com, the blog of Registered Rep. Editor-in-Chief David A. Geracioti....

How To Size Up An ETF 

By Stan Luxenberg

The best ETFs are cheap to buy, easy to trade and benchmarked to quality indices. ...