07/03/07 - The Rails Return
by Chris Mayer "The Chinese are expanding there railway system by leaps and bounds...and recently, two of the world’s most savvy investors took a sudden interest in the good old railroad business. It’s clear: the rails are back. Chris Mayer explores..." 06/12/07 - Fighting the Last War
by Chris Mayer "You have probably heard the expression about generals always fighting the last war. Investors, too, tend to invest by looking in the rear-view mirror. In both cases, the consequences are costly. Chris Mayer explains…" 05/23/07 - Asia's New Silk Road
by Chris Mayer "Asia’s ancient Silk Road was the dominant trade route for a thousand years, embracing almost every national and ethnic group from Arabia to Japan, before it died out in the 16th century. Now, this fabled Silk Road is back – at least metaphorically. Chris Mayer explores..." 05/01/07 - China Takes the Ruhr
by Chris Mayer "You may not be surprised to learn that Germany lost thousands of steel mill jobs to China. But you may be surprised to learn that it also lost the steel mill itself. Once in Dortmund, Germany, the same mill now works on the banks of the Yangtze in China. Chris Mayer explores…" 03/27/07 - India - Now What?
by Chris Mayer "The emergence of India as an economic force, along with China, is one of the biggest stories on the investment landscape in recent times. And like China, India’s success has come despite massive head winds. But is now the time to invest? Chris Mayer explores..." 02/20/07 - The Key to the Commodity Boom
by Chris Mayer “Since most commodities rose significantly in price over the last several years, the recent slide begs the questions: What does it all mean? Is the commodity boom over? Chris Mayer answers those questions - and more - below...” 01/24/07 - The Perfect Storm In Power
by Chris Mayer “Recently, Chris Mayer reported on the pressing issues facing power grids all over the world. Today, he points out the investment opportunities that relate to this power crunch. Read on...” 01/20/07 - Swimming in Oil
by Chris Mayer "The big news this week seems to be the rather stunning and swift drop in the price of crude oil. It actually dipped below $50 a barrel on Thursday. That's a long fall from $78.40 in July. Despite all warnings to the contrary, it seems we're swimming in the stuff." 01/04/07 - The World’s Push for Power
by Chris Mayer “The North American power grid is the largest in the world. Chris Mayer explains that investment in the power grid will top $100 billion by 2015 - but that’s nothing compared to what other countries are going to spend...” 12/06/06 - No Refuge in the Herd
by Chris Mayer “As investors, every year can't be 1982, when you could buy just about anything because just about everything was cheap. Every investor must make do with the market he finds himself in. Chris Mayer explains...” 11/15/06 - Global Treasure Hunting
by Chris Mayer "There are good mid-size and small companies tucked away in places other than the United States. Stateside investors ignoring these other opportunities are like wine drinkers who don’t want to try imported wines." 10/14/06 - The Supermarket of Dreams
by Chris Mayer "The supermarket of dreams." That's what Max Gunther calls the stock market in The Zurich Axioms. Indeed it is. Especially when the market is going up - but there's more to the story when you start to look at it a little closer." 10/12/06 - The Paris of South America
by Chris Mayer "Investors have been wary of putting their money into Argentina since the country's financial meltdown in 2001. But Chris Mayer explains that five years later the Argentine economy is quickly growing - and there are many opportunities to profit. Read on..." 09/14/06 - The Consequences of a Blistering Summer
by Chris Mayer "We may have had a relatively mild summer here in the United States, but in Spain, the summer of 2006 brought wildfires and drought." 08/10/06 - The Blowoff in Emerging Markets: Buy Turkey?
by Chris Mayer "The lira is selling off, down 21% against the dollar since April. Unemployment is still high, around 11%. And I haven’t even discussed the political turbulence in the Kurdish south."
07/18/06 - Buyer's Market in Water Utilities
by Chris Mayer "In a big-picture sense, water utilities look like a great place to be. The conditions that helped produce those great returns in the past look only more favorable going forward. The basics of the business have not changed." 06/29/06 - Clean Water Crisis
by Chris Mayer "Getting clean water to growing populations - that is the nut that has to be cracked. Whether you’re building a new suburb in the States or piping water through the Andes, there is a tremendous amount of build-out required." 05/11/06 - The Church of Buffett and Munger
by Chris Mayer "What does Buffett, a long-time newspaper investor think? Buffett thinks the current woes are part of a longer-term trend that is not likely to reverse. And valuations on newspaper stocks don't reflect this." 04/25/06 - Forgiving - Or Forgetful?
by Chris Mayer "Russia is a veritable storehouse of Mother Nature's useful goodies. Russia is the largest, or among the largest, producers of palladium, platinum, diamonds, nickel and gold. Russia is also rich in oil and gas."
01/05/06 - A Magic Formula
by Chris Mayer "If there were only a simple and reliable way to find great stocks, a combination to look for or a magic formula of some kind...something the average investor can use and depend on." 12/08/05 - The Gold Standard Gets No Respect
by Chris Mayer "The gold standard is nothing more than a straitjacket. To those who see gold’s charms, that is precisely its chief merit. You see, the gold standard checks the creation of new money." 11/15/05 - Ka-Ching...Love That Sound!
by Chris Mayer "Corporate America is flush with cash...Lots of it. This little-noticed fact could create great opportunities for value investors like ourselves." 11/10/05 - Is Japan Back?
by Chris Mayer "Normally, I wouldn’t get excited about something so hashed out in the mainstream media. But it’s hard to ignore the world’s second largest economy." 11/03/05 - Oil, The New Reserve Currency
by Chris Mayer "I borrowed the title of today's column from Robert. At last week's Grant's Investment Conference, he used this title to provide a context for his bullish remarks about oil and oil stocks." 11/02/05 - The Next Enron
by Chris Mayer "A 'seismic shift' is underway, Jim Chanos warned a packed house at last week's Grant's Fall Investment Conference in Manhattan, 'and it will destroy the profitability of several well-known American companies.'" 10/30/05 - Monetary Mischief
by Chris Mayer "In Bernanke, I think we get a Fed chief who will reliably stay with the Greenspan playbook, at least in the near term. But I think Bernanke will prove easier than Easy Al."
10/19/05 - Let's Play Monopoly
by Chris Mayer "The volatile oil stocks took another wicked tumble yesterday, while boring old New Zealand Telecom gained more than half a percent...Sometimes boring is better." 10/12/05 - The Booming 51st State
by Chris Mayer "Credit cycles turn, dear reader, and this one will turn also - both in the mainland United States and in the future 51st - and anywhere else easy money has left her unmistakable footprints."
09/21/05 - Black Horsemen, White Knuckles
by Chris Mayer "Over in the housing market, the cocktails have been flowing for a good, long while. Not surprisingly, therefore, most housing bubble participants have become a bit light-headed, especially the mortgage lenders."
09/15/05 -Corporate Road-Kill
by Chris Mayer "Vulture investing may seem like a dirty business...but hey, someone has to profit" 09/06/05 - The Wrecked Techs
by Chris Mayer “Since the tech bubble burst, there are a number of cash-rich busted-up and bombed-out tech stocks lingering around. Chris Mayer gives a lesson in how to sniff out the ones worth looking into...” 09/01/05 - Sell China, Buy Mexico
by Chris Mayer "Every contrarian investor pledges allegiance to the following creed: Shun whatever the masses love; love whatever the masses shun." 08/24/05 - The Black Arts of Finance
by Chris Mayer “Author John Brooks has observed, ‘Conglomerates, like prostitutes, had from the first a sufficiently shaky moral reputation to call for the use of euphemism.’ Chris Mayer explores this short chapter in financial history...” 08/18/05 - If You Must Own REITs...
by Chris Mayer "Unfortunately, the values available in the REIT sector aren't quite as fresh as they used to be...or ought to be." 08/09/05 - The Art of Short-Selling
by Chris Mayer "What follows is a summary of James Chanos three favorite situations – broad categories in which he has found good short candidates." 07/21/05 - What Red Menace?
by Chris Mayer "The Chinese do not have all the answers, but many Chinese companies certainly have the right ideas, capitalistically speaking." 07/19/05 - How Losers Win
by Chris Mayer "During my two hours with Ralph Wanger, he shared the three key investment tactics that propelled his fund to such dazzling gains..." 07/07/05 - The Riches Of Humility
by Chris Mayer "How do cash-rich corporations spend their money wisely? By investing in their own shares of course." 05/20/05 - Value Investing... By A Nose
by Chris Mayer Because a 50-1 long shot named Giacomo won this year's Kentucky Derby, a few lucky trifecta punters cashed in on a $133,184 payday. Be one of the lucky few, Chris Mayer shows us how... 05/19/05 - A Spinoff Study
by Chris Mayer “The money to be made in investing can come from knowing where to look for bargains. Chris Mayer shows us that fortune swims not in the busy waterways, but in the quiet shallows, where people are not usually looking for it...” 04/13/05 - Bandag Bandit
by Chris Mayer “There is an overlooked industry, which may not be growing by leaps and bounds, but could still be profitable for patient investors. Chris Mayer explores the this industry, and explains the hidden fortune in - retreaded tires...” 03/24/05 - The Decay Of Paper Currency
by Chris Mayer“In the 20th century, the rising cost of living is nothing new. Since the creation of the Federal Reserve, the dollar has lost about 95% of its purchasing power. Luckily, there are other options for making sound investments...” 03/21/05 - The Riddle Of The Nile
by Chris Mayer “What does an English hydrologist, a Harvard economics professor, and the Nile have to do with predicting the ups and downs of the stock market? A lot more than one would think..." 02/23/05 - Investing In The Bubbles Of Tomorrow - Today
by Chris Mayer "Investors are always looking for the next big thing to make them rich...but how can you be sure that your "sound investment" doesn't turn out like the tech bubble of the 90's - just a flash in the pan?" 02/07/05 - Let The Revolution Begin
by Chris Mayer "There are two things, really, that are pushing commodities to all-time highs. In fact, I call this a double-barreled bull market...and it has only just begun. The first barrel is one readers of the Daily Reckoning will be well versed in..." 02/07/05 - Commodities vs. The Dow
by Chris Mayer "It is a similar story for the adjusted monetary base, or the super money that the Fed lends to banks, who in turn lend it out in multiples. The surplus cash key component of the adjusted monetary base is rising at an even more alarming..." 12/15/04 - The World's Workshop
by Chris Mayer "When customers start demanding things, you know it's going to start topping out," says Arnold Van Den Berg, the 64-year-old founder of the eponymous money management firm that has soundly beaten..." 11/26/04 - Treading Carefully In China
by Chris Mayer “This brings me to an interesting point. Emerging market investing is cyclical and fraught with peril. While China presents enormous opportunities, it also brings specials risks as well. Emerging markets can experience gut-wrenching peaks and valleys.” 11/02/04 - Good Seats Still Availiable
by Chris Mayer "Our beat is markets...and what moves markets. They are not moved by individuals analyzing businesses as if they were their own, but by the great mass of lumpen humans who do no analysis of any kind." 10/28/04 - Tangible Assets That Sweat
by Chris Mayer "It is an old adage on Wall Street to buy cheap and sell dear. But it is often overlooked, as investors continually overpay for businesses that they have fallen in love with." 10/21/04 - Panic And Profit
by Chris Mayer "Panics always have their beginnings in the boom that precedes them. Just as all hurricanes first develop over warm waters from pre-existing conditions, financial storms are spawned by surging growth in money" 09/29/04 - White Elephant
by Chris Mayer "...How did Forepaugh do it? Easy. He faked it. His animal trainers and handlers scrubbed an ordinary gray elephant with white plaster and used peach-colored tint around the animal's ears, trunk and feet..." 08/24/04 - Dead Fish
by Chris Mayer “Most people want to buy strong companies with growing sales and expanding markets and a bright future. No one wants to buy a company that has problems to work through, that has been hit with one setback...” 08/13/04 - The Nut Flush
by Chris Mayer “There is a difference between recognizing dangers and making a prediction that something bad is going to happen. As Hussman writes, "An open quart of gasoline next to the barbecue is a recognizable danger..." 07/21/04 - The Poet Of Finance
by Chris Mayer "...Such a system, only loosely tethered to gold, allowed considerable inflation. As Rueff noted, it was 'probably one cause for the long duration of the substantial credit inflation that preceded the 1929 crisis in the U.S....'" 07/01/04 - Bubble Blower
by Chris Mayer "...I have the distinct feeling that when the GSEs are finally stricken by crisis, it will be written as if it were obvious all along. Just as the history of LTCM - where one is prone to shake one's head..." 06/02/04 - The Tapestry Of Monetary Collapse
by Chris Mayer "...The threads of this story form a grand tapestry that will one day tell a sorry tale of monetary collapse. For the time being, we can explore the tapestry in bits and pieces, as one might examine the shards left in the trail..." 05/04/04 - The Suzerain
by Chris Mayer "...this added uncertainty is not without consequence. Capital as a financial concept is defined by the price of money. Monetary calculus takes place in dollars, or yen, or euros, amongst a myriad of other monetary symbols..." 04/25/04 - Awaiting Inflation
by Chris Mayer "Neill then went on to develop his idea of contrarian thinking. Contrary thinking certainly has roots older than 1954, but perhaps never before had any writer so carefully and explicitly dealt with the subject as Neill did." 04/14/04 - Snowdrifts Of Debt
by Chris Mayer "...Inflation (an expansion of the money supply), or legalized counterfeiting, is the modern spin on an old idea. The forces that led to these earlier swindles are converging now on a debt-laden America..." 03/24/04 - The Itchy Need To Rescue Failure
by Chris Mayer "With JP Morgan's acquisition of Bank One, America can claim to be the home of two banks with assets in excess of $1 trillion each (the other being Citigroup). On a list traditionally dominated by foreign banks, US banks will now claim two of the top three spots." 03/18/04 - The Short Happy Life Of Fiat Currency
by Chris Mayer "...The performance of fiat currencies in the past century has been dreadful. But the monetary shackles on today's central bankers are, I would argue, much more lenient. Hence, the threat of inflation is far more lethal..." 02/19/04 - Increasingly Wicked Inflation
by Chris Mayer “...A different sort of inflation is now beginning to emerge, a growing menace to indebted consumers. What we are talking about here might be more accurately described as price inflation..." 11/18/03 - Crisis Begets Crisis
by Chris Mayer "...The history of attempting to maintain certain fixed exchange rates by international agreement has a long, rich history of failure, once again illustrating that government power is no match for the relentless..." 07/30/03 - Gasbackwards
by Chris Mayer "Today, natural gas is delivered to about 175 million American consumers through a 1.3 million-mile network of underground pipe. Unfortunately, many of the natural gas wells in the United States are beginning to run dry." | 
Christopher Mayer
