Forbes Video: What Is The Presidential Predictor

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When it comes to forecasting election results, many pundits got egg on their face recently. It only takes a quick look across the pond to the United Kingdom’s recent referendum on E.U. membership to see the problems in accurately predicting which way the vote will go. At least it was for the usual pundits. Read more here.

U.S. News: The Current Case for an ARM

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you are planning to buy a home, how should you finance it? The question is simple, but the answer may not be what first comes to mind.

"People like to go right to the 30-year, but that's the wrong thing to do," says Richard Rosso, a partner at Clarity Financial in Houston, referring to the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which was the traditional way people could borrow to buy a home up until the early 1980s.

It's hard for some to believe, but the adjustable-rate mortgage as a widely available way to borrow is only a few decades old. Maybe for that reason, the idea that the fixed-rate mortgage as the go-to product seems to have stuck in the American psyche like chewing gum on the sole of a shoe. Read more here.

TheStreet: 3 Must-Watch Economic Indicators for the Summer

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Not all economic indicators or market metrics are created equal. What counts changes with time and place. Here's what matters this summer:

Outside on the Street: What is the Recency Effect?

By SIMON CONSTABLE



What Is the Recency Effect? from Simon Constable on Vimeo.

Outside On the Street: What You Need to Know Before Adopting a Pet

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Joey Texiera and his dog Mervin the Chihuahua join me to discuss.

What You Need to Know Before Adopting a Pet from Simon Constable on Vimeo.

TheStreet: Why Trading Oil Became So Sticky

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Trading oil has always been a tricky business, but a decade ago, things changed to make it downright perilous. 

It wasn't that it became more volatile -- the crude market has always been choppy. Rather, the returns from investing in futures became disconnected with the real market. Here's the detail of what happened and how you can avoid the pitfalls.

The energy market became increasingly oversupplied, which in turn led to an unfavorable flip in how the futures markets for the energy perform. Read more here.

U.S. News: Yes, Risky Investments Have a Place in a Portfolio

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Many people will tell you to stay away from risky investments. But if you follow that advice, there is a chance that you might throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Think of risky investments like you think about salt: Too much could eventually kill you, but too little can be bad in other ways.

The same is true for assets like gold, industrial metals, grains, or even art. A little can be a good thing. Go overboard with it and you'll probably go bust.

Read more here.