With interest rates at historic lows and traditional low-risk vehicles paying rock-bottom returns, more and more investors are turning to once-obscure investments that promise much more income than you'll get from a bank CD right now.
Once upon a time on Wall Street, if you wanted to make big bucks, you'd head for a big bank, private equity or a hedge fund. Lately, however, things have taken a turn for the surreal. For serious coin, you might be better off running a fuddy-duddy real estate investment trust.
The average CEO of an S&P 500 company brings home almost $13 million -- but some earn much more. The AP's list of the 10 highest-paid CEOs highlights where the biggest paychecks went -- and what America's companies got in return.
With 2012's first earnings season well under way, let's go over some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead: Here's why you should be watching one major mall owner, two tech giants, three homebuilders and a couple of old media behemoths.
A third of America's indoor malls are currently in financial distress as retailers vacate for trendier shopping areas. But a surprising new breed of tenant is stepping in to fill that vacant retail space: churches.
Despite the dire warnings about commercial real estate, REITs have been on a roll. And Simon Property Group -- one of the world's largest mall owners -- is now highly favored by some investors who see it as the big winner if economic rebound gains strength.
Simon Property Group, the world's largest shopping mall operator, wants to buy General Growth Properties, its biggest competitor, which is currently working its way through bankruptcy. Simon is prepared to pay $7 billion to General Growth's creditors and $3 billion to shareholders.
At the beginning of the year, the 76-year-old publishing-industry magazine Kirkus Reviews was saved from the chopping block. A month later, Kirkus has a new owner: shopping-mall mogul Herbert Simon, who owns the NBA's Indiana Pacers.
