Put option buying has become a popular bearish investment strategy this year. But Lee Lowell says the market sell off also means some companies are trading at fire sale prices. He says put option selling is a great way to buy your favourite stocks at the best price. And the best part is you get paid to do so.

Lynn Carpenter says pension fund deficits could be a major threat to dividend payments. Legislation forces companies to keep private pension plans well funded, meaning some will have to raise large sums of cash at short notice. Lynn picks 9 firms that could soon be forced into making big dividend cuts.

Here’s the thing about forex trading: there’s always a least one or two major currencies going up at all times. This means there is always a currency safe haven out there. Sean  Hyman says currency ETFs and CDs (Certificates of Deposits) are two easy ways to play the currency market.

The Nasdaq dropped 2% yesterday as widespread panic pulled down equities across the board. However, Paul Moore says tech stocks offer good long-term opportunities. He says the best way to hedge risk on individual company shares is with put options. Alternatively, tech-sector ETFs or a market index such as PowerShares QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQQ) will diversify risk across the industry.

After watching its shares plunge more than 20% over the past month, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) decided to embrace a different strategy with regards to its looming third-quarter profit report: It opted to get out in front of the flood of corporate earnings reports that are headed this way by providing Wall Street with a preview of its third-quarter results.

Eli Outbids Bristol; Carmax Crashes; IBM Could Miss Estimates; Micron’s Loss; Cereal’s Sugar High; Canada Drives Toyota

Tuesday morning I received an email from one of financial publishing’s legends. It said, “Market crashing! Last chance for today’s flash alert!” The email came at 10:00 AM, and I didn’t open it until 10:20, minutes before I go into lock down… my four-hour communications blackout during which I write – nothing else. Of course, “Market Crashing!” is an inflammatory subject line.

With all the recent downturns in the markets, many investors aren’t sure where to put their money. Dr. Marc Faber, however, sees a light - albeit, a dim light - at the end of the tunnel, and offers some advice.

Welcome to the latest offshoot of the subprime-mortgage debacle: A burgeoning U.S. pension-fund crisis. Since the global financial crisis struck last fall, the largest 1,500 U.S. public companies have lost a combined $280 billion from their pension funds.

Last week coffee supremo Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) announced it would close 600 stores in the US and slash 12,000 jobs. But Irwin Greenstein still considers the company a good long-term investment. He says lurking behind the grim headlines is an encouraging growth story in emerging markets.