3:40 pm Est.

The Dow is up 13 points. The Nasdaq is down 11 points. The S&P is down 3 points. Gold closed up $13.70 to $973.70. Oil closed up 10 cents to $145.10. The 10yr. is 3.88%.

Another late day for us with meetings, calls and all that good stuff, but wanted to squeeze in a post for traders. The market looked good this morning on news that the Fed (really us taxpayers-Who are they kidding?) is going to bail out Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). As for other financial institutions, they may be on their own. Be sure to get any assets  that may not be FDIC-insured into the proper accounts. The drubbing may get worse. As for traders, the companies in oil (USO), agriculture, coal, gold (GLD) and inflation themes were working today. Check out plays like Agrium (AGU) and Cleveland Cliffs (CLF). This is not the environment for big bets. Stay focused and use indexes if you need exposure and are not sure which individual stocks to trade, like (DIA), (SPY), or (QQQQ).

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

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This week was another grueling test of a trader’s endurance. Trading can be rewarding, but unfortunately, it can lead to the eventual blowing up of one’s portfolio, when the going gets tough. Traders need to avoid making big bets when the edge is missing. That being said, let’s take a look at what may in focus in this coming week.

Earnings This Week

Genentech (DNA)-$77.75, Intel Corp (INTC)-$20.64, Wells Fargo (WFC)-$23.00, Ebay (EBAY)-$28.01, Blackrock (BLK)-$174.71, JPMorgan (JPM)-$33.16, Nucor (NUE)-$65.37, SunPower (SPWR)-$71.83, Google (GOOG)-$533.80, IBM (IBM)-$122.12, Merrill Lynch (MER)-$27.61, Microsoft (MSFT)-$25.25, Citigroup (C)-$16.19

Indexes To Watch
UltraShort Oil & Gas-$30.48 (DUG) - keep your eye on this. It may become a nice long play. Had a good week.
Gold-$95.15 (GLD) - another gain this week for gold.
Silver-$186.39 (SLV) - following Gold’s lead.
Oil-$117.39 (USO) - surprised many this week with the late-week spike.
Financials-$18.68 (XLF) - lots of traders trying to catch the bottom here

Shorting Ideas? (Use Mostly for a Hedge)
S&P 500-$123.84 (SPY), Dow Diamonds-$111.00 (DIA), Nasdaq QQQ-$44.56 (QQQQ) - the easiest way for traders to ride the down trend. We would avoid individual stock shorts right now, as the climate can be right for big snap-backs.

Strongest Plays For a Possible Bounce in the Markets
Apple-$172.58 (AAPL) - has the best tech news out there.
Agrium-$101.47 (AGU), CF Industries-$159.05 (CF), Mosaic-$141.81 (MOS), Potash-$221.38 (POT)- are all top fertilizer plays if the uptrend continues.
Cleveland Cliffs-$109.41 (CLF) - the go-to name for momentum traders looking for a commodity run.
Fluor-$174.74 (FLR) - infrastructure play is splitting this week 2-1.
First Solar-$279.10 (FSLR) - getting its momentum back.
MasterCard-$257.35 (MA) - still the go-to name for momentum traders looking for a financial stock to ride.

We would like to thank the dedicated readers and those who have just found our site. We promise that it will get better and you can say you were not only the early users, but hopefully you started your path to a better financial future with our research work. More names are getting deleted from the Best Dividend Stocks list, so be sure to come back and check our work. We are excited that “Google Finance” and now “AOL Finance” carry our Dividend content. Look for more exciting news to come!

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

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3:48 pm Est.

The Dow is down 127 points. The Nasdaq is down 22 points. The S&P is down 14 points. Gold closed up $18.60 to $960.60. Oil closed up $3.43 to $145.08. The 10yr. is 3.94%.

The markets gave traders another exhausting day with big drops, a big snap-back and then a drop again toward the close. The markets will choose a direction soon, and it will most likely be an up move (built on short-covering), barring any significant global events.  The run up in Oil (USO) is not great for an underlying market advancement. Neither is the chaos in the financials (XLF). That being said, be sure to catch our stories over the weekend. We’ll hope to navigate the way through on the long-term and the short-term for investors.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

Dividend.com

12:32 pm Est.

The Dow is down 214 points. The Nasdaq is down 40 points. The S&P is down 22 points. Gold is up $18 to $960. Oil is up $2.50 to $144.15. The 10yr. is 3.88%.

The turmoil we have been talking about in trading continues into today with word that the government may take Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) into their hands. That has the financials taking another hit. Check out the (XLF) which gives you a broad exposure of the financial sector. We also walked into record oil prices (USO) this morning on worries about Iran. Interesting rebound in (DUG) so far, considering the early move in oil prices. General Electric (GE) was actually pretty decent and has not made the situation any worse with their earnings report. Be very careful trading the markets. The public gets intrigued by the chaos, as quite evident by a call I received from a friend this morning asking if he should buy Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac stock. The point being, is that he’s not a trader. He’s Mr. Public. That’s why we are putting the efforts into getting people to buy long-term quality dividend stocks. Too many hard-working people get burned chasing the “story” of the moment.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

Dividend.com

3:55 pm Est.

The Dow is up 53 points. The Nasdaq is up 15 points. The S&P is up 5 points. Gold closed up $13.40 to $942.00. Oil closed up $5.60 to $141.64. The 10yr. is 3.81%.

The markets are in whipsaw mode today. The environment is very hard on traders right now. Getting a feel for a trend is nearly impossible. Look at the spike up in Oil (USO) this afternoon. Just when you thought the energy correction was starting, you then get a run-up like what happened earlier. The financials (XLF) are searching for a bottom, but each day brings a new liquidity crisis somewhere. General Electric (GE) is reporting tomorrow morning, so we’ll be seeing what the outlook is for the company and the rest of the market. Tomorrow is a new day!

Despite the market chaos, don’t forget to allocate some of your savings into quality, long-term dividend stock investments. Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

Dividend.com

12:24 pm Est.

The Dow is up 64 points. The Nasdaq is up 23 points. The S&P is up 6 points. Gold is up $12.20 to $940.80. Oil is up $1.75 to $137.80. The 10yr. is 3.87%.

Financial stocks are bouncing all over the place. We are seeing crazy in the Financials Index (XLF), BankAmerica (BAC), Fannie Mae (FNM), and Freddie Mac (FRE). The way to cut through this is to find any winners poking ahead of the pile. Goldman Sachs (GS) is making a nice move as Lehman Brothers (LEH) worries persist. Fluor (FLR) is up big after Shaw Group (SGR) reported a solid quarter. The volatility we have seen in these markets is the worst I have ever seen. Many traders that have been around for a while would probably agree. There are so many oversold areas that just can’t muster a bounce, and then the bounces you get seem to go too far. Look at the agriculture plays the last few days with some stocks bouncing 25 points after fast drops. That’s some unusual action. The Dow Chemical (DOW) deal this morning should have had more bulls out, but so far, it’s been a bit subdued. Be careful trading in this environment.

Don’t forget to allocate some of your savings into quality, long-term dividend stock investments. Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

Dividend.com

3:46 pm Est.

The Dow is down 216 points. The Nasdaq is down 56 points. The S&P is down 27 points. Gold closed up $5.30 to $928.40. Oil closed up one cent to $136.05. The 10yr. is 3.83%.

The markets are giving back all of yesterday’s bounce and then some. The buyers are still not following through. It doesn’t help when you see the financials (XLF) pick up steam on the downside in the afternoon. Oil (USO) had lots of news (Iran test-fires missile, crude supplies much lower than expected) that should have caused it to hold on to spikes, but it barely did. This is one of the reasons (DUG) turned on the jets this afternoon. Hope the traders out there took a look at it. We have been taking action on the dividend stock side of the market, as we have been pruning our dividend stocks list to come up with the “best of the best”. There are going to be lots of opportunities coming down the pike to load up on some high-quality dividend payers. Have a great night everybody.

Don’t forget to allocate some of your savings into quality, long-term dividend stock investments. Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

Dividend.com

12:23 pm Est.

The Dow is down 18 points. The Nasdaq is down 10 points. The S&P is down 1 point. Gold is up $2.70 to $926.00. Oil is down 4 cents to $136.00. The 10yr. is 3.87%.

The market is seeing a huge snapback in Agriculture plays like Potash (POT), CF Industries (CF) and Agrium (AGU). Steel is following suit with some upgrades out there, and U.S. Steel (X) is the highlight there. Traders may want to be careful chasing those so fast, after the drubbing they received the past week. Oil (USO) is trying to hold on to earlier gains. If it doesn’t, keep your eye on (DUG). It has started perking up again. Also, some financials are trying to manage putting together a 2-day winning streak.  Keep your eyes on Wells Fargo (WFC) and JP Morgan (JPM) in the beaten-down areas.

Don’t forget to allocate some of your savings into quality, long-term dividend stock investments. Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

Dividend.com

3:20 pm Est.

The Dow is up 122 points. The Nasdaq is up 35 points. The S&P is up 15 points. Gold closed down $5.50 to $923.30. Oil closed down to $4.67 to $136.70. The 10 yr. is 3.88%.

If you remember yesterday’s late day post, we felt the action was hinting at a bounce developing. Financials (XLF) are leading the rally higher. We saw MasterCard (MA) get its legs under it and that was a key as well. Apple (AAPL) is also making their pre-product launch run happening this Friday. Some of the commodity names that were getting trashed saw a small pop as well, adding to the rally in the indexes. These rallies should help traders get some liquidity back and possibly get them out of some losing positions. The drop we have had proves the fact it never makes sense to buy every dip you see. You would run out of money long before you’ll ever be in a position to make a profit. Have a great night everbody.

Don’t forget to allocate some of your savings into quality, long-term dividend stock investments. Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

Dividend.com

12:02 pm Est.

The Dow is up 21 points. The Nasdaq is up 5 points. The S&P is up 1 point. Gold is down $13.10 to $915.70. Oil is down $5.87 to $135.50. The 10yr. is 3.89%.

Traders are seeing some big sell-offs in the commodity stocks today. Oil (USO) is getting hit hard, which is good for the Ultrashort Oil & Gas (DUG) play we always talk about. You are seeing names like Cleveland Cliffs (CLF), Bucyrus International (BUCY), Fluor (FLR) and U.S. Steel (X) also getting trounced. The Ag/Seed plays like Monsanto (MON), Potash (POT) and Agrium (AGU) are also heading south. General Electric (GE) is trying to lead the financials higher thus far. MasterCard (MA) is still our big tell. Keep your eye on that one for any sense of a bottom. Keep your discipline as trading has been super-volatile.

Don’t forget to allocate some of your savings into quality, long-term dividend stock investments. Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as our ratings system here.

Dividend.com