Bill Barnhart

Fourth-quarter financial reports by major banks, set to begin Tuesday morning with Citigroup, hold the key to the stock market in January. It seems like a long time ago, but...

Stocks on Monday opened the week on an upbeat note, after International Business Machines reported fourth-quarter preliminary results that were better than analysts had expected. Prices of commodities and basic...

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, left no doubt Thursday that the nation's central bank will continue to ease credit conditions to fight a slowdown in economic growth. Top...

A new-year rally in commodity prices stuttered on Thursday, after Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke gave his most downbeat assessment to date of the U.S. economy. In futures trading,...

Political pollsters weren't the only ones red-faced after the New Hampshire Democratic primary Tuesday. Online prediction markets, which enable individuals to bet on the outcome of dozens of events, also...

Investors looking for a good old new-year rally in stocks were pounded again Tuesday, as share prices posted their worst opening five days since the 1930s. A steep slide in...

History shows that investors would be well advised to ignore presidential politics in their election-year investment strategizing. This time could be different. Typically, actions of the Federal Reserve, in terms...

Stocks ended little changed in heavy trading Monday, as Wall Street remained in a new-year funk. Gains by so-called defensive stocks, including utilities, drugs, tobacco and beverages, which tend to...

Acurious phrase, moral hazard, gained popularity last year in arguments about the economy and financial market outlook. Investors and everyone else would be better off if the notion returned to...

In hindsight, last year was a pretty simple one for investors. Buying almost any stock tied to rising oil and basic materials prices worked. So did avoiding stocks linked to...