It's often said that the best time to buy stocks is when everyone else is selling -- or sitting on the sidelines. That's when you get the best deals. So does that make stocks a good investment for you today?

No question, Americans are still wary of the stock market. The S&P 500 has remained within a narrow range for more than a year. Not surprising given the U.S. high unemployment rate and the fall in values of homes. On top of that, the world is jittery over the debt crisis in Europe, the possibility of inflation in China (even though China so far has not raised interest rates), and skirmishes taking place between North and South Korea. And then there are well-known economists such as Gary Shilling and David Rosenberg who are sounding alarm bells that now is not the time to invest in stocks.

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovering near 11,000, you may be persuaded that times are getting better and that there is money to be made by investing in stocks. James Altucher, managing director of Formula Capital, believes that stocks are going up. But even so, he says there are better ways to make money.

His suggestion: In the video below, he argues that if you have $20,000 to $100,000 to invest, put your money into something that will make a big change in your life, instead of in stocks. If you are a photographer, for example, buy a top of the line camera. The payoff in producing better photographs should help your photography business far more than putting $3,000 in stocks.

Muriel Siebert, often known as the First Woman of Finance, has long been an advocate for the individual investor. Now, two years after the collapse of Lehman, she says that there is still a great deal that needs to be done so that investors can make educated investments.

Siebert, also known by her nickname "Mickie," has a great deal of perspective on these matters. She is the former Superintendent of Banks in the State of New York, the first woman to buy a seat on the NYSE, one of the earliest creators of a discount brokerage firm, plus a former money manager.

Some economists say inflation is inevitable. Others say we are headed for a deflationary economy. Chances are, we could be headed for deflation first, and inflation later.

Gary Shilling, president of A. Gary Shilling & Co., is a well-known market bear and says that we are entering a period of deflation that could last a decade. Part of his reasoning: the consumer price index which measures inflation, has been falling. That, plus the government's massive debt and consumer debt are further reasons for why the Fed's efforts to save the economy may not have succeeded.

After selling off its three month lows of $1,156.90 per ounce, prices of gold have been coming back. Driving the yellow bullion higher is the euro, which is strengthening against the U.S. dollar, and rising prices of oil and even stocks.

But as gold comes back off its lows, is it time for investors to get in? If stocks continue to rise, it seems that gold could fall further.

We turned to James Altucher, managing director of Formula Capital to find out.

As the stock market gains strength today, Hilary Kramer, editor of GameChangerStocks.com, says that there are certain stocks that will do better in a rising market -- and that will be able to sustain their gains over the summer. Among her summertime picks: Cabela's (CAB), Morton's Restaurant Group (MRT) and Anheuser - Busch InBev (BUD).

Watch the following short video to see why these stocks should sizzle over the summer.

Later this year, Playboy Enterprises (PLA) will be opening up a Playboy club, along with the Sands China, in Macau. By 2012, the company will also add a 30,000 square foot Playboy Mansion. And recently, the company announced that it would be restructuring in an effort to save $3 million annually.

What does all this mean for the stock? Hilary Kramer, editor of GameChangerStocks.com discusses whether these developments could mean upside potential in the video below.

Hilary Kramer, the editor of GameChangerStocks.com, says that investors should consider ways to profit from rising revenues in investment banking. Kramer says that now, as the credit crisis abates and mergers and acquisitions begin to pick up, investors should closely watch a couple of fast growing New York City-based boutique investment banks that she says are undervalued.

One of them is Evercore Partners (EVR). Evercore was founded by banker and statesman, Roger Altman and specializes in mergers and acquisitions. The bank has been expanding internationally, partly through its acquisition of the British firm Braveheart Financial Services as well as a Mexican-based financial services firm. Kramer says Evercore should grow its asset management business by some 20% under its new chief executive, Ralph Schlosstein. Schlosstein, by the way, was the co-founder and president of Blackrock Group. Kramer expects that as M&A activity picks up and as the company's asset management grows -- and becomes profitable in the fourth quarter -- the stock should perform well, rising by 25% over the next year.

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) hovering around 11,000, Hilary Kramer, the editor of GameChangerStocks.com, says that in the short-term, stocks will continue to rise. Driving shares up will be first quarter earnings, which are expected to triple over year-ago comparisons.

But Kramer warns that once earnings season is over, investors should brace for a pullback of 7% to 10%. In this interview, Kramer talks about her views for the market, her strategy for picking winning stocks in unpredictable times and then recommends three undervalued stocks with great prospects.

Watch the video for Hilary's picks.


Hilary Kramer is the editor of Hilary Kramer's GameChangers.

Redbox, the fast-growing DVD rental arm of coin-counting giant Coinstar (CSTR), recently agreed to a deal with Warner Bros. that will mean the chain gets access to the studios new DVD releases 28 days after they hit stores.

Other studios have restricted Redbox's access to new releases, so the company has acquired the DVDs from other outlets. But that's come at the expense of profitability and the company has had difficulty in securing enough copies.

Ahhh, Hulu. That wonderful destination where I can re-acquaint myself with my favorite Justin-Timberlake-on-SNL moments, catch up on episodes of Greek, and search for those old Silver Spoons clips I remember so fondly. The two-year-old website is a joint venture between Walt Disney's (DIS) ABC Network, General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal division, and News Corp.'s (NWS) FOX Entertainment Group, and is partially funded by Providence Equity Partners.

But just as online news readers may soon be charged to access The New York Times online, we may have to open our wallets for certain corners of the Hulu universe (they will likely still let me watch Silver Spoons for free).

Will shrimp's eyes help create a better DVD? The answer is yes. Researchers at the University of Bristol, England, who are studying the shrimp's eye have found a way to create a better DVD.

How is this possible? Scientists discovered that the Mantis shrimp, found off the coast of Australia, can see in 12 primary colors, four times that of humans. The shrimp's eye can detect different kinds of light polarization which is the direction of oscillation in light waves.

The CIA is everywhere in the media. Now, according to Wired, here's the newest wrinkle. In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA, is putting cash into Visible Technologies to spy on social networks.

Who is being spied upon? Visible Technologies is souring "open source intelligence," information that is publicly available to survey the content on such sites as TV shows, newspaper articles, blog posts, online videos and radio reports generated every day.

With all the gloom in the global economy, I got to wondering whether there is anything else going on in the world of business. I'm looking for growth because I think that's what will ultimately bring the economy out of the doldrums. Not surprisingly, that growth is coming from technology companies. In Growth Matters, I look at consumer technology companies that point the way to growth trends -- and in the process introduce services and products you may want to explore.

If you want to make sense of all the video on the Internet so you can view just the good stuff, then Veoh Networks may be worth a visit. I interviewed Veoh Networks' CEO, Steve Mitgang, who told me an interesting tale about Veoh's history: "The founder of Veoh [Dmitry Shapiro] was an expert in security for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks. Video was active around enterprises as employees were watching more videos on YouTube."

There are times when I have been behind the times but not like the investment gurus that laughed at Peter Schiff over the past few years as he called it like he saw it, and he happened to be spot on with his facts and his conclusions. For those that follow the blabbing of Arthur Laffer -- he in particular never looked more laughable than he does in this compilation video of his business show appearances, that has been floating around the web for a while.