Investeens

Years ago, someone assigned a name to the countries whose prospects looked especially bright and to which investors should turn their attention. Brazil, Russia, India, and China, collectively became known as the "BRIC" countries.
Not to be outdone, someone with a little too much time on his (or her) hands came up with an acronym for those European countries which are in financial trouble. The acronym: PIIGS. The countries? Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain.

There are so many ways to lose money investing that if you stick around long enough, you may experience many of them. Losses are more frustrating when they come out of nowhere. A recent example is the Toyota saga. During the bad old days of the 1970s, manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda began to offer really small, but fuel efficient and reliable cars here in the U.S. To a nation stunned by oil shocks that sent the price of gas through the roof and caused rationing (eg: if your license plate ends in an odd number, you buy gas on an odd-numbered day of the month), these cars were the perfect antidote.