When going through my options for the latest purchase in my Roth IRA, I ended up deciding to purchase more Provident Energy (PVX: chart, web, Y!).

While BIF does look attractive, it’s trading at a premium to the NAV and the return on capital is nearly 100%. While my CLM holdings are along those same lines, I don’t want to put too much into a stock that’s essentially giving me my money back.

I feel that Provident is a solid CANROY that is working hard to maintain reserves for the next decade and to provide a stable dividend to …

I came across Boulder Growth & Income Fund (BIF: chart, web, Y!) while browsing through some investment discussion boards.

Boulder is a closed-end investment management company that primarily invests in domestic common stocks, corporate bonds, and United States treasury bills. The fund also invests in various foreign common stocks. Its portfolio consists of investments in beverages, RICS, financial services, food, insurance, manufacturing, REITs, S&L, retail, and pharmaceutical industries.

BIF caught my eye quickly when I saw they are paying a 12.5% dividend in monthly installments, much like my Cornerstone Strategic Value Fund (CLM: chart, Y!) holdings. Naturally the dividend payout fits in nicely with my retirement holding strategy.

Only recently has BIF started a regular monthly payout. Up until May of this year, the distribution has been sporadic at best.

It’s interesting to note that the stock traded at a discount to the net asset value (NAV) until the fund started paying a regular monthly dividend. Now it’s trading at a premium, much like CLM.  The difference is that the BIF net asset value still shows signs of increasing, while the CLM NAV is falling off while the stock price is climbing.  Not a good combination for CLM.

BIF Nav/Discount Chart

BIF Share Price vs. NAV

Source: ETFConnect

Insiders have been buying up BIF in fairly regular and healthy installments.  There is a wide array of institutional holders, but the mutual fund following is nearly non-existent.

Whether you have a financial interest in oil, natural gas, wheat, soy beans, corn, or any other crop for that matter, the weather can be your saving grace, or the nail in your coffin.

With natural gas ($natgas: chart) it seems, the weather is nothing more than an excuse for the days trading pattern.  When temperatures go up next week, natural gas prices go down today.  Unless of course you think the increase in temperature will cause an increase in electrical demand, further stimulating the increase in price of natural gas.

Even if supplies fall, weather forecasts can trump any and all rational market activity and tip the scales in …

In a wondrous feat of extracting the power of 160 ‘AA’ batteries and applying it to flight is a sign of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going.

Evidently, the Tokyo Institute of Technology was challenged to carry a 119 lb student aloft using only 160 “AA” sized batteries.

While aloft for only 59 seconds, the flight only reached an altitude of 2 meters.  However this is a sign of things yet to come.  Alternative fuels are promising for ground-pounding vehicles, but aircraft face challenges with alternative fuels do the added constraint of weight.  Battery powered aircraft have been slow to develop due to the ability …

It’s tough to pin down exactly why the economy is doing so well, and there’s probably no one reason why we’re keeping our head above water as well as we are considering the high price of.. well, just about everything.

But as a BusinessWeek article suggests, maybe it’s the higher price of everything, namely oil, that’s keeping the air in the economy.

Along with bigger profits in big oil comes bigger investments in the U.S. economy from big oil.

When you operate in a highly speculative industry, and you’ve landed yourself a windfall throughout your industry, where is the safest place to put your …