INVESTMENT

In times of market volatility stemming from global economic and sovereign debt uncertainties, FBR Capital Markets believes investors are faced with increasingly difficult decisions about how best to position their portfolios to maximize alpha while carefully balancing portfolio risk.

BlackRock will use profits it is making in gold and bond markets to seek out bargains in falling global equity markets, James Holt, investment strategist at the world's largest money manager, said on Tuesday.

The growth of Google+ since its launch a month ago has been breathtaking. Swallowing up 20 million users in 3 weeks from the launch, Google's new social media site has now reportedly reached 2 5 million.

South Africa's ruling ANC put off discussions planned for Monday to bring its Youth League leader Julius Malema to heel after the populist politician angered the party by calling for nationalisation of mines and meddling in foreign affairs.

If, as a stock investor, you're a little jittery following Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. Government's credit rating, you're not the only one. The stock market has tumbled, and more declines may be ahead. Even so, keep in mind that a good portion of the money made in stocks stems from not panicking.

Toronto's main stock market index sank more than 3 percent to its lowest point in nearly a year on Monday as a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating shook investor confidence globally and drove commodity prices sharply lower.

Gold vaulted above $1,700 an ounce for the first time on Monday after pledges by the G7 and the European Central Bank to quell the turbulence in the financial markets did nothing to put investors at ease.

Global investors flock to precious metal as safe haven.

It is not clear that Moody's or Fitch will follow suit and cut the U.S. credit rating.

Global markets plummeted overnight night as news of the U.S. downgrade. Monday is the first day of trading in the U.S. and futures pointed sharply lower early by 6:30 a.m.

In the guessing game of which Asian sovereign credit will be downgraded next, after the United States this weekend, Japan is almost everyone's top pick, and not simply because its debt burden and messy politics are as bad if not worse than America's.

Jefferies & Co. upgraded its rating on shares of Logica Plc (London: LOG) to "hold" from "underperform", while lowering its price target to 90 pence from 105 pence.

Former Governor of New York, Hugh Carey who successfully tackled New York's financial crisis in the 1970's died on Sunday. He was 92.

The downgrade (while perhaps not a total surprise) arrived somewhat unexpectedly ? and during a period when markets are already in an extremely volatile and fragile state.

Corrupt practices, nepotism, imagery and an inadequate education system responsible for lack of scientific spirit

S&P?s stunning and controversial downgrade Friday in part reflected the firm?s assumptions about the U.S. political system?s ability to solve its problems. Others hold a more optimistic view, as Winston Churchill did. Churchill said, ?In the end, you can count on America to do the right thing - after she?s exhausted all other possibilities.?

The fact that U.S. Treasury bonds managed to cling to their coveted triple-A rating this week failed to impress several prominent bond fund managers, who say they are lightening up on Treasuries and stocking their portfolios with corporate bonds instead.

China holds a large amount of U.S. debt. Xinhua, the official press agency of China, issued a commentary on Aug. 6 titled After historic downgrade, U.S. must address its chronic debt problems. The commentary stated that the days when debt-ridden Uncle Sam could leisurely squander unlimited overseas borrowing seemed to be numbered because S&P slashed the country's AAA rating for the first time.

Part of the problem is that the downgrade (while perhaps not a total surprise) arrived somewhat unexpectedly ? and during a period when markets are already extremely volatile and fragile.

We have iPhones, iPods and iPads. Why not an ?iBank??

America is broken. Here are five ways to fix the nation's health.