investment

With sales estimates gloomy, the Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services ETF may be a great bet. So far in 2011, it has had a return of just over 2.6% and a dividend yield of .5%

With a high ROI and steadily increasing dividends, insurance holding company AmTrust Financial Services is poised to pay off for investors.

Market turbulence and economic uncertainty create fear and anxiety among investors. Unfortunately, many turn to advice freely dispensed by self-styled investment gurus -- who claim they can predict the direction of the markets or pick outperforming stocks.

Mergers and acquisitions are becoming ever more popular, with activity up 24% in the first two months of this year -- after already growing 23% in 2010. Here's how your portfolio can benefit from this trend.

Approximately 60% of first-year U.S. senators and 40% of House of Representatives freshmen are worth at least $1 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That makes them far richer than most of the Americans they represent: Just 1% of the country's population has reached the $1 million mark.

The moods that dictate underlying prices can quickly swing from one extreme to the other. Such swings often create opportunities for investors. For instance, the rush back to domestic markets is leaving opportunity on the table overseas again.

Skyrocketing prices don't have to bring only pain. Investors can also find some relief with investments that can benefit from oil's recent -- and likely future -- increases. Here are some ETFs and mutual funds worth considering, based on performance, risk and cost.

Goldman Sachs drew some undeserved ire when it recently pointed to proposed cuts in federal spending as a key near-term risk. While the proposed cuts are modest, they could still undermine the rebound at a critical time.

Using stories of how his company's therapeutic horseshoes were the choice of Olympic athletes, and were bought by a prince in Dubai for his camels, a New Jersey man bilked would-be investors out of $1.7 million. If any of the more than 300 investors -- many of whom were police officers and...

Oil prices fell Friday in Asia after the U.S. Labor Department reported that more unemployed workers applied for aid last week. Fears that the U.S. economic recovery could be slow is keeping oil investors wary.