Countless studies demonstrate that dividend-paying stocks outperform non-payers by a wide margin. From 1972 to 2006 dividend-paying stocks returned an average of 10% annually versus 4% for non-dividend payers, according to Ned Davis Research.

U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat open on Tuesday after data showed April home prices in 20 U.S. cities declined, but less than expected.

The most fundamental tenet of investing is that risk and reward go hand in hand. The greater the potential reward, the greater the risk. The lower the risk, the lower the reward you can expect.

What if deflation wins?   While we think the odds are strongly stacked against it, particularly given the government’s furious pace of money printing, the prudent investor understands – and respects – the time-tested adage, “Nothing is guaranteed.” So while our chips sit squarely on the spot marked “inflation,” what will happen to gold stocks if we’re wrong?

I suggest you only purchase companies that have a history of consistently raising their dividends.  These companies will survive and thrive no matter what happens in the economy.

Bailout purgatory is bad for everybody, apart from the banks, their shareholders and their unsecured creditors. As Roubini points out, the government has been siphoning money into banks via capital injections, loan guarantees and financing with no strings attached.

If you’re like many investors, you are probably sitting on the sidelines right now, unsure of what to do. If you want to buy, you may be thinking “let’s wait a little longer.” If you want to sell, you might be concerned about “missing out.”

How many times have you heard, “the economy won’t turn around until banks start lending?” It’s so damn obvious…

I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it looked like the earnings of the S&P Industrials Index went down last week, plummeting to $65.86 from $85.90 the week before…

I just can’t write about stocks today. I want to, but I can’t. My mind is on baseball. You see, I manage my 8-year-old son’s Little League team. And they had their first playoff game last Thursday.