I love when we can introduce you to people who make a lot of money not just when it's easy, but when it's most difficult. THAT'S impressive. So is Don Hodges, founder of Hodges Capital Management and manager of Hodges Small Cap Fund. He's got $750 million in assets under management and what makes him so interesting is he success. His fund is up 34% YTD, but perhaps more importantly, he blew the lid off 2009. When most money managers were losing air *and* clients, Hodges' fund was up 49%. Meet our Texas pal Don Hodges... continue reading »

The bid is still in. 5 months after social networking and multimedia entertainment company (which also happens to own Penthouse)made a $210 million dollar bid for Playboy, we at Countdown to the Closing Bell wondered, "Whatever happened with that?" We picked up the phone and invited FriendFinder's CEO Marc Bell to come on the show... continue reading »

And of course, it all happened during a Fox Business chat on Bulls&Bears. Dan Aykroyd, the Saturday Night Live superstar actor and comedian, is also a smart entrepreneur. He and his artist pal John Alexander came up with the concept of Crystal Head Vodka, a high-end spirit in a most unique, crystal skull bottle. They just marked the one millionth sale of the product and he came on to talk about that. However, just minutes before, the debate over the extension of tax cuts had just heated up as Senator Bernie Sanders... continue reading »

Don Hodges. He's not some young, flash-in-the-pan hot-shot on Wall Street. This year he's celebrating his 50th year in finance... continue reading »

That's how Austan Goolsbee, the Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisors described the situation today on Countdown to the Closing Bell. President Obama had just finished a news conference to discuss how he and Republican leaders had hammered out a deal to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts. Goolsbee's comment about this being an emergency, came in response to my question as to whether anyone on either side of the aisle was talking about *how* to pay for these $900 billion in tax cuts. Now comes the question: can the President convine his own party members to vote for the... continue reading »

That's what the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) has returned over the past 5 years. 10 years? The TA25 has bloomed a colorful 150%. Today was thee day to talk to the CEO of the TASE, Ester Levanon, because the index hit an all-time high. Over the past year, Fox Business has extensively profiled different ways to play Israel as an emerging market. We're always trying to make you, the investor, money and sometimes that means taking risks... continue reading »

It's called a "balance" sheet for a reason. It has to be balanced...not a total mess. David Cote understands what it means to balance a budget. He runs a $40 billion dollar company called Honeywell. So imagine his surprise when, as a member of the Deficit Commission, he was surrounded by some who weren't willing to compromise when it came to cutting. I don't know about you but I'm thrilled a fiscally responsible businessman is on this commission... continue reading »

Tiny, furious birds attacking pigs. Okaaaaay??? Who knew that a little video game app for the iPad would equal such big money? Apparently Electronic Arts imagined it could happen... continue reading »

Just over a week ago, John Kinnucan, founder of Broadband Research, heard a knock at this door. It was, according to Kinnucan and later substantiated by Fox Business, 2 FBI agents... continue reading »

Citigroup's Investment Research Chief U.S. Equitiy Strategist Tobias Levkovich has figured out a way to read whether emerging markets still have room to run. He and his team ran the list below.. these are companies that have 30% or more exposure to emerging markets. Most have done extraordinarily well. That tells Levkovich that, like some of our Thanksgiving turkeys, these emerging countries and their recent success may be a bit overdone. --Liz Smart Modular Technologies (SMOD): 54% Cummins Inc. (CMI): 50% Celanese Corp. (CE): 40% Mosaic (MOS): 40% Visa Inc... continue reading »