Banking. The list of banking stocks posting losses in excess of 50% grows with each selloff. Long-time shareholders have lost billions.

Nearly 90 years ago, German researchers Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch developed a process that will solve our energy crisis. Today the term “Fischer-Tropsch” is seen frequently in articles about synthetic fuels.

It’s no fun when a door slams in your face. That’s how I felt a few years ago when I was preparing to buy into the Dodge and Cox Stock Fund. Just as I was preparing my check, the managers closed the door.

Who wouldn’t want to buy $10,000 of real estate for $6,700… especially when you could also enjoy fat, regular dividend checks while you wait for the price to rise?

The Investment U e-Letter: Issue #783
Monday, April 7, 2008

A Contrarian Strategy: Why Clear Channel Is Today’s Top Stock Pick
by Floyd G. Brown, Advisory Panelist, Investment U

One of the most profitable investments I have made came after a magazine headline hailed the coming bankruptcy of Philip Morris. It took nerves of steel to buy the lowly MO in those days. It was after the largest legal settlement in U.S. history disgorged Morris and other tobacco stocks of profits to pay the healthcare bills of the 50 different United States. Attorney General Janet Reno attacked the company in the newspapers as merchants of death.

But in the eight years since I first bought Philip Morris, at around $19 a share, I have been paid a…

Has the market hit bottom? This is the question that market timers and traders have been asking themselves since the beginning of the year. Federal Reserve loans and rate cuts lead to market rallies. But every Fed-inspired rally is followed by the relentless selling of stocks.