You could almost hear the champagne corks popping. After declining for five consecutive months, the S&P 500 clawed its way to a 4.7% gain in April. Yeah! Yippee! Hoo-rah!

In the currency market, the dollar rose against the euro. Late Tuesday, the euro was trading at $1.5566 vs. $1.5642 on Monday.

In the words of my father-in-law, “The stock market stinks.” Benny was lamenting over the performance of his S&P 500 index mutual fund. He bought the fund back in 1999. And he sold it just a few weeks ago.

In the world of investing, sometimes the separate parts are worth more than the whole. Those parts are called “corporate spin-offs,” and as far as investment plays go, they can be one of the safest and most-profitable hands that investors can play – especially against a market backdrop as uncertain as the one we face now.