There is no way to sugar coat it or paint a rosy picture. This week could be disastrous for the market. Coming off eight straight down trading days, and the largest weekly percentage drop in the history of the Dow, the economic calendar provides no relief.

Stocks are whipsawing again today as Mr. Market digests a coordinated worldwide rate cut. After opening 200 points down, the Dow zoomed to a net gain of 150 points before sliding back into negative territory.

These violent swings can be devastating for the short-term investor. But Jon Herring says market volatility is handing long-term investors a once-in-a-generation chance to buy world-dominating companies at bargain prices.

Jon recommends seven stocks that are price leaders or have pricing power.

Right before yesterday afternoon’s spectacular rally in US stocks, Andrew Snyder recommended investors buy oversold shares. In particular, he said Nortel (NYSE:NT), which was down 45% since the start of the week, didn’t merit the plunge and was due a short-term bounce. NT today is up by only a fraction of a percent. This means there’s time to get in on this trade.

Given the gut-wrenching financial turmoil of the last year, many investors are looking for more secure ways of investing.

Floyd Brown says one way of doing this is to rethink the “boring” image of dividend-paying stocks. These stocks can offer great returns and a steady cash flow.

Floyd says there are five pharmaceutical companies offering outstanding dividend yields in a growing sector. And with most negative sentiment already priced into the stocks, downside risk is limited…

Drug discovery is high-risk, high-reward. It takes about 10 years and $1 billion to bring a new drug to market. And only one of 10,000 new prospects ever makes it to pharmacy shelves. Those that do fetch monopoly-like margins and can bring in billions in sales.

Banking Shares Plummet; Crude Drops on Curbed Demand; Citigroup Stock Slumps to Inception Levels; Volkswagen Chooses Chattanooga; J&J Reports 8% Jump in Profit; SEC Restricts Short Selling; 3-Year European Closing Low; Foolhardy ViroPharma Bid?

Here’s a quick heads up from Christian Hill at Investor’s Daily Edge on economic and earnings data due this week…

Wholesale Prices Soar; U.S. Bancorp Sees Earnings Slide; Johnson & Johnson Enjoys 40% Jump in Profit; China Buys 1% of BP for $1.7 Billion; Brazil’s Retail Sales Hit Four-Year Record; Crocs Stock Drops; Intel Profit Down; Big Loss for WaMu.

Although the earnings season officially kicked off last week with Alcoa reporting first quarter earnings, the real fun starts this week with seven Dow components reporting.