U.S. News: How to Save $10,000 in 6 Months

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Hardly a month goes by without some report or another stating that Americans aren't saving enough for retirement. It's a sad state of affairs, but it is also one that doesn't have to be inevitable, at least not if you are smart.

There are easy ways to jump-start the savings process. Here are some ideas that will generate savings of an additional $10,000 in six months. Read more here.

WSJ: Investors Expand Their Appetite for Commodities

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Desire for commodities-based funds is expanding beyond just oil and gold.

In recent months, investors also have developed a healthy appetite for funds focused on agricultural products and industrial materials. Indeed, the entire commodities complex has become a magnet for fund investors’ money, according to new research. Read more here.

Molten Gold Being Poured

Allen Drebert, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ: What Do Chart Gaps Mean for Investors?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Some investors watch for “gaps” on daily stock-price charts as meaningful signs of future price moves. What exactly are they?

Stock charts show vertical bars with opening, high, low and closing prices. Most of the time, the price ranges overlap from one day to the next, but sometimes—say, a stock opens higher than the previous day’s trading range and stays there—there will be a gap, or empty space on the chart where no trading occurred. Technical analysts see some gaps as harbingers of a change in trends. Here are two key types:

Photo by Behnam Norouzi on Unsplash

WSJ: The Big Interview With Robert Shiller

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

A blast from the past: With Robert Shiller discussing economics.

Barron's: Getting Mileage From Gasoline Prices

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

Gasoline prices look set to trade in a sideways range over the summer, but there are profits to be made for investors willing to play the options market. The main caveat: It will require taking on significant risk by selling options rather than buying them. 

Experts say gasoline prices won’t venture far from the recent active month futures of $1.50 a gallon on the CME. Few are expecting a return to the days of $3 or $4 a gallon fuel—and there seems little chance we’ll see $1 a gallon. Read more here.

Photo by Gab Pili on Unsplash

U.S. News: After Brexit, Keep Calm and Carry On

By SIMON CONSTABLE

After two days of relative panic, global markets are beginning to return to normal following the U.K.'s surprising vote to leave the European Union, which would end four decades of membership of the free-trade area. The referendum result crushed the value of Britain's currency to lows not seen since the 1980s.

The referendum result was seen as a monumental move by the U.K. to extricate itself from the superstate, which itself was developed in an effort to end the devastating wars between the nations of Europe. How Britain's exit works out will depend on all the parties involved.

What should investors make of all this? Read more here.

TheStreet: Small-Cap Manager Bets on Steel, Concrete to Lift Returns

By SIMON CONSTABLE

At least one small-cap manager is going old school with his stock picks. Never mind a portfolio stacked with small but potentially game-changing tech-stocks. Instead, think steel girders, pre-mixed concrete and airlines. 

That's at least part of the story at Dallas-based Hodges Capital, according to Eric Marshall, the company's president and a portfolio manager of the Hodges Small Cap Fund  (HDPSX) .

Marshall says the investment philosophy centers around buying stocks as if the fund were becoming a private owner. Then it does extensive bottoms-up analysis of industries, individual stocks and the management of the companies in which it invests. 

"We want to be looking where others aren't," he said in an interview with TheStreet. "If it's on a screen" -- referring to ideas mentioned by news services and investing platforms -- "then the chances are someone has already discovered it."

Following is an edited summary of Hodge's comments here.