Fast earnings growth is a promising sign for a stock. Expectations of fast earnings growth, however, can cause trouble. A glowing forecast for next year's earnings often persuades investors to pay many times this year's earnings for shares. The result

Good news, sort of: Third-quarter financial reports, now trickling in, are expected to show that earnings per share for U.S. companies fell 6% from a year earlier. That will mark a sharp improvement from the second quarter's 18% decline, the

Savings rates are paltry. Money-market funds pay 1% and bank accounts even less. Commit to a five-year certificate of deposit and you might get 3%. Stock dividends are laughable, especially considering the extra risk attached to them. More than a

Last year, financial firms found themselves in an unprecedented downward spiral. As the nation's largest banks and Wall Street firms teetered on the brink of disaster, they relied on a hand from the federal government. The companies that survived saw

Most stocks are up big since spring and look expensive relative to earnings. The ones below are up huge, but still look cheap.Within the S&P Composite 1500, which tracks small, midsize and large companies that make up 85% of the