As we move gradually closer to a stable economy where retail investors are again ready to enter the markets, we see a lot written about which stocks, sectors, and investment types are smart bets for future growth.

Money Magazine recently ran a piece in their Investor's Guide 2010 series entitled "10 Stocks That Can Keep Running," which offers three areas in which the markets are likely to be solid in the coming years. This author's opinion is they were mostly right. But there needs to be a little more explanation for the average retail investor.

Stocks are poised to open mixed on Tuesday as investors digest yesterday's big gains and the latest bit of economic data. The three major U.S. stock indexes were largely flat ahead of the start of trading on Wall Street. The Dow industrials and S&P 500 were each up about a point, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down slightly.

More economic data is to be released today, including a report by the Commerce Department on November factory orders due at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Consensus estimates call for a 0.1% rise for the month, according to Briefing.com. At about the same time the National Association of Realtors will release data on existing home sales for November. Expectations are that sales slipped 2% in the month, following a 3.7% rise in October.

U.S. stock markets are poised for gains Monday, the first trading day of the New Year. Investors are emerging fresh from a year of economic hardships, but one that also produced big gains for some. Ahead of the opening bell, futures on the bellwether Dow Jones industrial stocks were higher by 60 points, while those in the S&P 500 rose 7 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up nearly 22 points.

The gains in part are a reaction to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments Sunday about the role low interest rates play in creating stock bubbles. Speaking at a conference in Atlanta, Bernanke said the housing bubble, which many have blamed on low interest rates in the early part of the last decade, would have been dealt with more effectively through regulation -- not interest-rate manipulation.

One of the easiest stock picks for me to make this year is also one I made last year and for many of the same reasons. In a time of economic turmoil, high unemployment and tight liquidity, what could be more practical than pawn shops and cash advance outlets? EZCORP (EZPW) made me money last year and I expect more of the same as it continues to expand.

Most investors wish they could have gotten in on the ground floor of the hugely successful The Home Depot Corporation (HD), McDonald's Corporation (MCD), or Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) franchises while they only had a few hundred outlets. In the case of EZCORP that is still possible.

It's Monday morning. Looking at the boards, the dollar is weaker and gold climbs to another record high. Spot gold in London traded at $1,133.07 per ounce. The December gold futures contract traded at $1,133.50 per ounce.

Again today, the dollar traded down, with the December dollar contract trading at 75.105, down 32 (prices as of 8:39 EDT). The other precious metals followed gold higher. December silver traded at $17.815 per ounce up 43.5 cents. Platinum was at $1,428.90 per ounce, up $41.20. Palladium traded at $365.15, up $8.40

The stock market is rallying. Commodities are on a tear. Yet the dollar is falling. Why?

There are several reasons for the drop in the dollar, but the most obvious and simple answer is that investors around the world are selling dollars and using the money to buy stocks and commodities, particularly oil and gold.

Last week India announced that it had bought 200 tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF.) At an average of say $1000.00 per ounce, the transaction amounted to about $7 trillion dollars. Chances are that India sold dollars from their sovereign fund to buy the gold.

Despite largely positive corporate earnings reports, investor caution has set upon Wall Street. For the third straight day stocks are set to move into negative territory, with futures showing the three major U.S. indexes heading lower ahead of Thursday's opening bell.

Some blamed Wednesday's near 1% drops in the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 on a late-day sell-off driven by the latest Beige Book survey from the Federal Reserve that showed the economy is ever so slowly emerging from recession -- too slowly, it would seem, for investors.

Stocks are poised to head lower as investors continue to digest news out Tuesday about the nation's flagging housing market. While in recent months optimism had crept into builder stocks in anticipation of recovery, a report from the Commerce Department showed new-home construction flat last month.

The news sent the three major U.S. stock indexes lower in trading yesterday, and futures this morning show the Nasdaq Composite Index and the S&P 500 each lower by a half percent, along with the Dow Jones industrial average, which could be trading back under the 10,000 level.

Earnings season seems to be off to a promising start. So far Alcoa (NYSE: AA) cut enough costs to get back into profitable territory and same-store retail sales are up collectively for the first time since last year.

This sounds good and the major market indexes are up on the news reaching mid-September's resistance levels. A break here could turn into another extension of the rally. However, should investors be moving more heavily into stocks?

The market was able to stage a late day rally which erased some of its earlier losses, but still ended the day in the red, with all 3 major indexes closing down on the day.

September is typically not a good month for the market, but even with today's losses this September was positive, as more and more investors have started to believe the economy is coming out of its recession.

As we continue to question whether or not America is emerging from the recession, one indicator that a lot of people are paying attention to is consumer confidence. Unfortunately, consumer confidence fell unexpectedly this month, as more and more people are worried about their jobs.

According to the New York-based Conference Board, its consumer confidence index dipped to 53.1 in September, down from 54.5 in August.

The dip ends a three month streak, and is being blamed mostly on Americans concerns over job security. The drop raises concerns over any economic rebound, and comes at a bad time for retailers that are gearing up for the upcoming holiday season.

It's almost October and the pundits are at again, predicting that the market should sell off again. Let's look at their reasoning.

• We have an ongoing deterioration in consumer debt.
• Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate, says that "the U.S. banking sector is now in worse shape than before the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
• Bank profitability is expected to come under pressure.
• The U.S. housing outlook is grim.

Are U.S. stock markets flashing another false signal regarding the U.S. economic recovery?

Recent U.S. factory and housing data indicates signs of firming in each hard-hit sector, but my DailyFinance colleague Peter Cohan noted that a recent report on year-over-year U.S. rail traffic by The Association of American Railroads indicates otherwise: it suggests companies are cutting back inventories rather than building them -- definitely not a bullish sign for economic activity.

If you are one of the investors out there watching General Motors stock each day trying to pick the perfect time to buy the stock... don't! For whatever reason, people have continued to buy General Motors stock, despite the fact that the company and the government have issued warnings that the stock is destined to be worthless.

I read an interesting article that reported yesterday there were 12.6 million shares of General Motors traded. Maybe people do not realize that the company went into bankruptcy, or maybe they are just trying to profit off of traders that are not aware that this is not new General Motors stock, but the volumes are a bit curious.