Dividend Stocks Aren't the New Bonds

Next: Retirement Planning

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  The Best in Volunteer Travel

  Ten unique trips you can take in 2012—and make a difference in some small part of the world.

  • Read the complete report.
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  When Your Retreat Is Everyone's Crash Pad

  Sure, a house on the water or the mountains sounds like a great idea. Until it becomes a magnet for friends.

  • Handle Guests Without Damaging Relationships
  • Read the complete report.
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  Cooking With Mr. Green Jeans

  "Agritourists" are signing up for cooking classes with the farmers who grow their food. Classes start in the fields and include such old-school methods as canning, preserving and butchering.

  • Video: Culinary Classes at the Local Farm
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  My Grandparents R My BFF! OMG!

  Grandparents and their grandchildren are connecting like never before, thanks to social media and other online technology.

  • Read the full report.
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  He Says Maine. She Says Florida.

  When couples disagree about where to retire, and they often do, the tension can be terrible. Here's a look at how and when to start that conversation, and how some couples have handled the situation.

  • Read the full report.
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  A Retiree Turns to Stand-Up

  Did you hear the one about the retired real-estate agent? He became a comedian—and has never been happier

  • Late to the Spotlight | Full report.
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  Finding Your Inner Artist

  Leaving the workplace behind can help spark new talents—and new careers. Here are the stories of several people who started over in second careers or retirement as fledgling artists—including as a songwriter, painter and printmaker.

  • Read the October report.

• Investing in Funds

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  Stocks or Bonds? The Pros Say...

  For long-term investors, equities may look scarier, but they seem to be poised for stronger returns over time.

  • Podcast: The Outlook for Stocks, Bonds
  • Read the complete report.
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  Five Myths About Emerging Markets

  Developing nations are growing fast, attracting lots of dollars from investors. Here are five commonly held misbeliefs -- and realities that fund investors should understand.

  • Read the complete report.
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  Rest Easy in Crazy Market

  Here are seven strategies to help nervous mutual-fund investors meet their long-term goals and still sleep at night.

  • The Ugly Math of a Bear's Bite
  • Read the complete report.
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  The Case Against Commodities

  Commodities ETFs have been hot in recent years, but history suggests they're a losing bet over time.

  • Video: A Bet Against Human Innovation?
  • Read the full report.
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  Family Feuds: Who Inherits 401(k) or IRA?

  Who's in line to get your account—or that of a parent or spouse—in case of death? You could be surprised.

  • Audio: The Battles Over Retirement Accounts
  • Read the full report.
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  When Funds Turn Cold, Do You Sell?

  When to sell a formerly high-flying mutual fund that's now closer to the bottom of the performance charts is a difficult decision. Here are insights from financial advisers weighing what to do with their clients' dollars in four such funds.

  • Read the full report.
  • Video: Sell Your Laggards?
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  New Math for Bond Investing?

  New bond funds using "alternative" strategies aim to earn positive returns even when bond prices are falling.

  • Video: New Ways to Play the Bond Market
  • Read the full report.
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  Should You Worry About Money Funds?

  Two and a half years after money-market mutual funds got caught up in the financial crisis of 2008, the debate over the riskiness of these funds is heating up.

  • Yes: Any Problem Can Spread Quickly
  • No: Well-Run Funds Are Inherently Stable
  • Where to Stash Cash
  • Debating the Value of Money Funds
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  Stress-Test Your Portfolio

  Investors should weigh their exposure to risks that are known, like inflation and rising interest rates, and others that can't be anticipated. And remember: There are hazards in playing it too safe, as well.

  • Podcast: How to Hedge Against Risks
  • Read the full report.
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  Numbers You Can't Count On

  Measures of mutual-fund performance sometimes tell you a lot less than you might think. Here's how to look at returns, peer-group comparisons and other figures with a more critical eye.

  • Video: Big or Small? Some Advice for Investing
  • A New Way to Rate Funds
  • Read the full report.
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  How to Cash Out in Retirement

  Four strategies -- including the concept of 4%-plus-inflation annual withdrawals -- could help make retirees' savings last as long as they do.

  • Video: Spending Strategies in Retirement
  • Read the full report.
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  Index Funds Get a Makeover

  Here's how the new approaches work—and tips on the market environments when they make more sense than the traditional capitalization-weighted index funds.

  • Read the full report.
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  The Incredible Shrinking Fee

  A price war is driving down expenses on exchange-traded funds—and the fight is still in the early rounds. Further cuts are likely not only among popular broad-market ETFs and funds, but also for products in niche areas such as emerging markets and industry sectors.

  • Video: Fund Firms Fight to Cut ETF Fees
  • Read the full report.

• Quarterly Markets Review

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  Spooked Investors Make a Run for Safety

  Global financial markets were racked with uncertainty and turmoil in the third quarter, leading many investors to focus on a single goal: seeking safety.

  • Read the full report.

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  Volatile Quarter Tests Investors' Resolve

  While the Dow industrials ended the quarter up 0.8%, the positive result belies the whipsaw nature of trading through many markets.

  • Read the full report
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  Dow Posts Best First Quarter in 12 Years

  Overcoming the Japanese earthquake and geopolitical turmoil in the Mideast and North Africa, global financial markets recovered amid growing optimism that the recovery had become self-sustaining.

  • Video: Big or Small? Advice on Investing
  • Read the full Quarterly Markets Report
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  Governments Help Markets Score Big in 2010

  Financial markets of just about every stripe pushed higher in 2010, thanks in large part to government efforts to keep the recovery moving. Now, the question is, can the Fed and others exit neatly?

  • Read the Year-End Review report.

• Subscriber Content Read Preview

  

  Dow Surges Even as Small Investors Exit

  Economic and political uncertainty dominated financial markets during the third quarter, fueling a continued exodus of small investors from U.S. stocks and a buying binge of bonds and gold.

  • See the complete Quarterly Markets Review.

• Subscriber Content Read Preview

  

  Dow Slides 10% in the Second Quarter

  Volatility returned to global financial markets with a vengeance in the second quarter, sending investors fleeing from stocks world-wide and driving them into defensive investments, especially U.S. Treasurys and gold.

  • See the second-quarter 2010 report.

• Markets Reports

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  As China Goes, So Go Commodities

  The outlook for global prices depends heavily on whether the country maintains its voracious appetite for oil, copper and other products.

  • Read the complete report.
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  Get Ready: Here Comes the Yuan

  China's effort to encourage trading in the yuan could reshape the global monetary system.

  • Video: Can China and the U.S. Agree?
  • What's Ahead for the Yuan?

• Subscriber Content Read Preview

  

  To the Bullish Went the Spoils

  When economic wobbles spooked their peers, the top analysts in the Journal's latest Best on the Street ranking remained optimistic. They pulled away from the pack by staying focused on their own sectors and identifying opportunities when they emerged.

  • Graphic: The Master Stock Pickers
  • Firm by Firm: Tally of Awards Won
  • How the Sectors Are Selected
  • Read the full report.
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  How ETFs Have Reshaped Investing

  Exchange-traded funds have changed the very way that stocks and bonds trade. They also have potential pitfalls, especially for individual investors.

  • Read the full report.
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  Why the Dollar's Reign Is Near an End

  For decades the dollar has served as the world's main reserve currency. Barry Eichengreen argues why it will soon have to share that role, and what it will mean for markets and companies.

  • Read the full report.
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  How to Play the Gold Game

  What's the best way to turn the yellow metal into green? Four prominent investors share their strategies, from investing in ETFs to buying and storing gold itself.

  • Read the full Commodities report.

• Energy & Environment

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  Big Oil Heads Back Home

  International energy companies are shifting their focus away from the Middle East and toward the West. And that will have profound implications for the companies, global politics and consumers.

  • Read the complete report.
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  Building a Greener City

  With urban populations expected to soar, cities will have to be rethought from the ground up to keep functioning as they do now without becoming environmental liabilities. Here are ways to make urban areas more environmentally friendly.

  • Read the complete report.
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  Green Tech Gets Serious

  The U.S. lags as China grabs market share in small but growing industries such as wind and solar power that may be one key to renewed economic growth.

  • Read the full report.
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  Technology to the Rescue

  An early look at three technologies—kinetic energy, ocean-thermal energy conversion and osmosis—that may provide more energy in the future.

  • Read the full report.
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  How to Change the Global Energy Conversation

  Forcing countries to agree to emissions caps will never work, argue Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger. Instead, they say, the focus should be on technology innovations.

  • See the full Journal report.
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  The Secret to Turning Consumers Green

  Researchers are learning how to harness peer pressure to nudge us to do the little things that help conserve energy and reduce waste and pollution.

  • Is It Worth Changing Behavior?
  • Podcast: The True Motivator
  • Read the full report.
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  Power Investing

  There's a lot of money to be made -- and lost -- in the energy markets. Watch these signposts to help tap potential winners.

  • Video: A New Strategy for Power Investing
  • Read the complete Energy report
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  Shale Gas Will Rock the World

  Huge discoveries of natural gas promise to shake up the energy markets and geopolitics.

  • Topics: Shale Gas
  • See the May report.
  • Shale Boom Reshapes Gas Markets

• Country Reports

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  The Strong, Silent Type?

  Germany has come roaring out of the global financial crisis—but the better it does, the more the world expects it to do. But the country is reluctant to bail out nations that didn't practice strict austerity measures, and it doesn't want to get involved in foreign entanglements like Libya.

  • Read the full report.
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  Can Russia Keep Its Educated Youth?

  Educated young Russians are exporting their talents across the globe. Now the Kremlin is beginning to take notice.

  • Read the full report.
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  Emerging From the U.S.'s Shadow

  Canada's strong economic performance has given it a long-sought place in the global spotlight. Now the question it faces: what to do with its new power?

  • Read the full report.
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  The Miracle Is Over. Now What?

  South Korea boomed by turning a rural economy into an industrial power. To keep growing, it's going to have to make some fundamental—and difficult—changes.

  • South Korea by the Numbers: A Snapshot
  • Read the full report.
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  Medvedev Increases the Tempo of Change

  Will the Kremlin return to its pre-crisis complacency or continue to pursue the president's new agenda?

  • Read the full report.

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  A Kingdom Connects

  Casting a light on one of the world's most secretive and interesting economies.

  • Journal Report: Gulf Region
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  For Brazil, It's Finally Tomorrow

  Brazil is now a nation with the heft, ambition and economic fundamentals to become a world power. But there are enormous challenges it must overcome before it can fully live up to its potential.

  • Video: Sustaining Growth in Brazil
  • See the full report.
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  Friends in Need

  When Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai it brought the two largest emirates in the U.A.E. closer together. Time will tell whether the entente is lasting or merely opportunistic.

  • See the full Gulf-U.A.E. report.