Barron's: Wheat and Corn Prices Could Head Higher Soon

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you truly believe in the investing maxim “buy low, sell high,” now is the time to chew on some grain. Unfavorable weather conditions and increased global grain consumption are expected to lift prices for wheat and corn out of a slump that has lasted for years.

Wheat prices have been cut in half in the past four years, to a recent $4.63 a bushel from more than $9 in mid-2012. Corn prices have fared similarly, falling to $3.70 a bushel recently from more than $8 in the summer of 2012.

Growing conditions were so favorable in the past few years for both wheat and corn that production outstripped demand, sending stockpiles higher. But the likelihood of bad weather in the future could dramatically change this dynamic. Read more here.

U.S. News: Buying Spree Ahead for Regional Banks

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Never mind the glamour of Wall Street's enormous institutions – the real banking action is in the heartland. 

Larger regional banks are already gobbling up smaller rivals as the business suffers from reduced profitability, increased red tape and the hefty cost increases. It's a trend that looks likely to continue indefinitely. Read more here.

TheStreet: What CarMax and Google Have in Common: Hennessy Fund Stock Picks

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Spare auto-parts, used cars, and the world's biggest search engine might seem to have little in common. Yet all are top picks at the $2.2 billion  Hennessy Focus Fund(HFCSX) . 

Its performance over the decade through December is in the top 2%, when compared with other midcap funds. How's it done? TheStreet asked one of the portfolio managers, David Rainey, who works for the fund's sub-adviser  Broad Run Investment Management. He and two others pick the stocks.  

Here's what Rainey said.

OZY: The Economics Of Wall Street's Exodus

By SIMON CONSTABLE

For decades, many top grads wanted to be wolves of Wall Street, residing in trading rooms where vast sums of cash flowed in and out. And if they were lucky enough to land a position, they’d likely end up watching multiple blinking screens of asset prices all day while juggling two or three phones — and probably earning a hefty paycheck.

But something has changed. Read more here.

Forbes: Good, Fast, Cheap -- Worst Bosses Demand All Three

By SIMON CONSTABLE 
Part 14 of a continuing series, which outlines how you too can be an appalling manager. Read part 13 here.

It’s something of a economic law that you cannot get something which is good, fast, and cheap. Think for instance of the interior redecorating of your new home.

• If it is fast and good, then it will not be cheap.
• If it is good and cheap, then it will not be fast.
• If it is cheap and fast, then it will not be good.

However, you can have any two items on that list. Good managers know this as surely as they know that they cannot expect to drink the finest champagne for the same price as a no-name soda. They make tradeoffs. They know that good things will either be expensive or take time.

That’s why as an aspiring “worst possible boss” you must insist, I repeat insist, that you have all three. Here's how.

Forbes: Alexander Hamilton As U.S. Economic Architect

By SIMON CONSTABLE

How did America get so rich so quickly?

It’s a question at the heart of economics, which in one broad definition, is a study of how some countries get rich and some stay poor.

Some people, including me, would say that the United States benefited hugely from sound property rights and hands-off government (as in “keep your filthy hands off my stuff.”) Then add some bootstraps to pull, a lot of hard work, and then hopefully you get rich.

Not everyone sees it quite like that. For instance, the authors of the recently published book Concrete Economics: The Hamilton Approach to Economic Growth and Policy by Stephen S. Cohen and J. Bradford DeLong, say there was a heavy policy role for government in the early years of the republic, and one that continued quite successfully until it all went wrong starting with the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Read more here.

U.S. News: Hidden Mutual Fund Fees That Are Robbing Your Returns

By SIMON CONSTABLE

So you've accumulated a nest egg by investing in mutual funds. Congratulations! That puts you ahead of the game. 

But to grow an even bigger stash, try squeezing out the fees. 

"Make sure you pay as little of that gross return in fees as you can," says Mitch Tuchman, managing director at Rebalance IRA, a financial services company in Palo Alto, California. Fees ultimately eat into any gains made by the mutual funds you own. 

But mutual fund fees are only about 1 percent of the assets, right? Wrong – on three counts. 

Read more here.