Oxford Club’s Alex Green explains how Wall Street’s supposedly safe structured products became an investor’s nightmare. In reality, they were just a gimmick. Alex says this just underscores why investors should be cautious of any product that comes with “guaranteed” returns.

Investors are fleeing the stock market as the rules of the game keep changing. But if you know what the next shift will be, you can stay ahead of the curve. Shah Gilani outlines the five coming “aftershocks” of this financial crisis, and what they mean for your portfolio.

There is a way to join a company’s long-term employee benefit program without lifting a finger, says Jim Nelson. Some firms offer Dividend Retirement Plans (DRIPs), which allow you to both receive regular dividend checks and reinvest earnings in discounted stock. And as long as dividend payments keep coming, there is no need to worry about a volatile share price.

Karim Rahemtulla says covered call investing is a strategy that offers something great in today’s market: steady, consistent income. Here, Karim explains how to make solid gains by selling call options on the shares of your favourite companies.

We could be heading for the worst year for stocks since 1937. But Eric Roseman says US stocks are still not cheap… at least not compared to international equities or 12-month earnings and dividend payments. We are still in the throes of a bear market rally and the full impact of a deep global recession isn’t priced in yet. Eric says the Dow will soon tumble to its 2002 lows at 7,200.

Keith Fitz-Gerald gives us a simple-yet-effective portfolio strategy for the current market environment. He says two essential components of any portfolio are dividind-paying stocks and specialized inverse etf funds.