Infrastructure | Gold Stocks Today

Traffic Jam on the Superhighway

There's growing congestion on one of America's highways and reports say the problem will only get worse. In just the past few years, America's technological network—our information superhighway—has gone from hare to tortoise. Dropped calls, Internet outages and surfing at a snail's pace now seem to be commonplace.

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The Next Big Emerging Markets?

When countries get grouped together for economic or political purposes, an acronym or other shorthand device is soon to follow. OPEC, EU and G7 are a few of the old standards, while G20, PIIGS (European nations with dangerously large sovereign debt burdens), and of course BRICs are newer examples.

Consistently adding to its long list of “world’s largest fill-in-the-blank,�? China – having already invested more than $20 billion in Brazil so far in 2010 — is now projected to become Brazil’s biggest investor. Although China’s year-to-date investment is an enormous increase over last year (when it was 29th), China had already become Brazil’s number one trading partner in 2009.

China, ever growing in power (no pun intended) and influence, is again questioning Western experts inclined to tell it where it stands on the global stage, this time in terms of energy usage.

On Monday, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) announced China had overtaken the US as the world’s largest energy consumer. By Tuesday, China’s National Energy Administration had promptly shot down the allegation, suggesting that the IEA lacks understanding of China’s “energy conservation and renewable energy.�?

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The Future Market for Alternative Cars

On Tuesday, Tesla became the first American automaker to go public since 1956, as shares began trading under the ticker TSLA on the Nasdaq. With its most expensive car selling for more than $100k, Tesla is looking to strike a chord with wealthy yet environmentally conscious car buyers. Later this year, Chevrolet hopes its Volt (a price tag about half the size of the Tesla Roadster) will become the first electric car for the masses.

After about 110 years as the world’s leader in manufacturing output, the US is likely to hand over its leadership mantle to China in 2011. Despite a century-long head start, elite universities, as well as historically world-class technology and infrastructure, the US will not retain its title much longer.

Viewed through the lens of the greater than $3 trillion federal budget, the expense of a $700+ billion per year military clearly doesn't stand alone as the nation's biggest financial threat. Mandatory entitlement expenses including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are already higher and rising more quickly, and, of course, there's the national debt at over $13 trillion.

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Peering at China’s Ghostly GDP Quality

What’s Driving Russia’s Outperformance?

Traffic Jam on the Superhighway

The Next Big Emerging Markets?

China to be Brazil’s Number One Investor, Trading Partner

On Energy, China Argues Against Western Expertise… Again

The Future Market for Alternative Cars

Biggest Manufacturer Since 1890s, US Now Slipping Behind China

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