Video

Stocks closed modestly mixed on light volume Friday in the last full trading week of the year, which marked the third week in a row of overall gains. While drugmakers Pfizer and Merck put a damper on the Dow, robust earnings from Oracle and Research In Motion helped lift tech stocks.

More people are abandoning "buy and hold" investing strategies in favor of day trading but Formula Capital's James Altucher says that is a big mistake. Besides the difficulty in timing the markets correctly, day trading can lead to health problems such as insomnia and even suicide.

China and other emerging markets will be a growth story for a long time to come, creating opportunity for American companies and investors. Nikhil Hutheesing and Dan Burrows face-off in this video about which U.S. stocks stand to benefit the most.

Economic news from China, South Korea, Europe and the rest of the world can have unpredictable consequences for U.S. stocks. But in this short video, fund manager James Altucher says our economy can handle the ups and downs and explains why stocks will do well in 2011.

Traders face plenty of economic news this week, and considering how much the market has risen, it could be time for a bit of a pullback. But at least one trader thinks that's just what's needed to create a base for further gains ahead. [Video]

Where are the best deep-value investment opportunities? Where there is the most pessimism, of course. In this short video, fund manager Tom Villata talks about where he sees the greatest opportunities among blue-chip tech stocks and financials.

The markets ended the week on a high note with encouraging economic news, a surprise jump in consumer sentiment and a drop in the trade deficit, among other things. Is the Fed's latest round of stimulus working?

Hilary Kramer, editor of GameChangerStocks.com, talks about three consumer companies that she says are set "to do very well this holiday season and see their stocks soar." She's full of good cheer about Sirius XM Radio, Zales and Ruth's Chris Steak House. [Video]

Modesto, California, located 90 miles east of San Francisco, had the nation's third-highest home foreclosure rate during the third quarter of 2010, just behind Las Vegas, Nevada, and Cape Coral/Fort Meyers, Florida. DailyFinance's Todd Lapin recently visited Modesto and came away with a gallery of haunting photos that illustrate the country's ongoing foreclosure crisis.

Las Vegas has always been a place of dreams, promising that pennies can turn into fortunes, cities can rise from the desert, and property values can rise without limit. But you can also lose your shirt there, and the real estate crash has hit Sin City harder than any other place in the country.