TheStreet: With S&P 500 in a 'Blue Period,' Investing in Art May Give You a Mona Lisa Smile

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet)-- Price gains for works of fine art have ground to a near-halt. What's worse, even those small gains are increasingly driven by fewer and fewer mega-priced trophy pieces. It could mean continued bad news for auction houses like Sotheby's (BID) , but it's a boon to investors wanting a good buy outside of the stock market.

Average price gains for fine art sold at auction are close to zero this year, according to new data from the Mei Moses World All Art index, which tracks the prices of such works. On the chart below, the rolling three-year average of price movements for 2015 is barely even visible, just a touch over zero, assuming prices for the remainder of 2015 remain static. It's a world away from the double-digit gains seen year after year in the run-up to the financial crisis of 2008. Read more here.

Photo by judith girard-marczak on Unsplash

TheStreet: Six Reasons to Discount Dire Warnings on the Stock Market

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet)-- All summer long, it seems we've been warned that stocks are just moments away from falling off a precipice and into oblivion. But I'm still skeptical. Why? There is rarely an announcement at a market top.

Here are some other reasons to be broadly bullish on stocks like those in the S&P 500 and the SPDR S&P 500  (SPY) exchange-traded fund that tracks that index.

Read more here.

TheStreet: Surprise! The Job Market Is Actually Better Than You Think

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Looking at the monthly government jobs data can leave you with a lot of guesswork and a nagging doubt that the new positions might all have been minimum wage. On top of that, there's the worry that the first set of figures will be dramatically reduced later. It can give you that sinking feeling similar to playing a distressing game of "Snakes and Ladders," when you slide all the way back down the board.

But there is another, little-used data point you can add to the equation that removes some of the uncertainty, and gives a more comprehensive view: Treasury tax withholding receipts.

Read more here.

TheStreet: Time To Buy Emerging Market Debt?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Emerging markets bonds have been on the skids, which is just one of the reasons you should consider adding some to your portfolio. Benefits of doing so include better yield and more diversification.

Overseas investors have become increasingly concerned by a slowing China, falling commodity prices and stagnant Europe. As a result, emerging market bonds have sold off.  For instance, the iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond  (EMB) exchange-traded fund, which tracks a basket of emerging market debt from countries such as Argentina, Poland, Uruguay and Peru, has dropped around 3% over the past three months. Read more here.

OZY: A Game Chicken Chicken... With Oil

By SIMON CONSTABLE

In the world of oil, a little noticed but fascinating game of chicken has broken out. And the unblinking eyeballs happen to involve a guy named Putin and a prince who enjoys fast cars, all 200 of them that he supposedly owns.

Does any of this ring a bell? As some of you may have surmised, the two biggest so-called petro giants, Russia and Saudi Arabia, are locked in a battle to maintain control over the global dominance of oil that’s slowly slipping away as other forms of energy like natural gas begin to grow in importance. Read more here.

Photo by William Moreland on Unsplash

Forbes: "Must-Follow" Twitter Feeds On Markets And Economics

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There is a lot of junk on twitter to parse through when it comes to markets and the economy. Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. In no particular order, here are some “must-follow” accounts that are great.

@DougKass  – Doug Kass, professional investor. Writes for Real Money, the subscription side of TheStreet. Has his finger on the investing pulse.

@ArthurHoganIII — Art Hogan, long time market strategist. If survival on Wall Street means gaining respect then he’s earned it.

Read more here.

OZY: King Dollar Is Back, Which Means...

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Ah, it’s a delicious feeling. You’re sitting down in a café in Provence and you can finally supersize that croissant and café au lait because your dollar is no longer a joke. In fact, King Dollar, as we like to call it, is on a roll (see what we did there?), up 33 percent in four years against a basket of currencies.

But anyone with a passport can take advantage of a strong dollar on the little stuff. It’s the bold, the brave, the people and firms big and small that play world currencies that are furiously trying to get a real edge — especially now that all signs point to an ever stronger U.S. greenback. 

Read more here.