ETFs

Friday's action notwithstanding, in which gold prices rose as the stock market sold off, safe-haven assets are suffering at the expensive of equities and other riskier assets. That's what happens when the global economy appears to be picking up steam.

China's economy is booming, and Western nations are increasing their demands that its currency be allowed to rise to its natural value. Who knows if that will happen, but if you want to bet that it will, the Bank of China just made it easier: Now, Americans can open renminbi-denominated accounts.

Some are convinced the precious metal will keep rising, others that it's tracing out a classic speculative bubble that's ready to burst. Nobody has a crystal ball, but an "agnostic" technical analysis of the charts provides some good clues about gold's future.

Everybody knows gold had a great year in 2010, rising 27% and beating most other investments. But silver actually did much better, climbing a breathtaking 83%. Can the "poor man's gold" keep beating its more costly big brother? Many analysts think so.

Laura Morrison, head of U.S. ETF trading and listings operations at NYSE Euronext, explains what these increasingly popular investment vehicles are and how they can best be used in an investment portfolio. She also talks about how how interested investors can purchase ETFs. [Video]

With interest rates so low and corporations sitting on $2 trillion in cash, a slew of mergers and takeovers across a number of industries appears likely in 2011. But picking individual companies is awfully tough. Here's a better way to capitalize on the coming M&A boom.

Prices for copper, gold, wheat, corn and oil are soaring. But how can small investors can take advantage of this growth without taking on way too much risk? That's a good question, indeed. And here are some good answers.