As recently as February, General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) had hopes of maintaining its dividend payout.  “We’ve got the cash flow to pay the dividend,” GE Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Immelt said in a Feb. 5 interview with The Wall Street Journal.

I promise. Alexander Green and I are not in cahoots about the coming boom in corporate takeovers… We both researched the possibility separately. Unprompted, I might add. And yet, armed with different evidence, we arrived at the same conclusion. If you ask me, such a convergence of analysis in a narrow space of time shouldn’t be ignored. So today, let’s move on from why a takeover boom is imminent and focus exclusively on three takeover targets you can profit from…

Despite efforts by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to thaw the credit markets, normal lending remains hamstrung. This is a both a significant problem and an enormous opportunity.

Barring some dramatic – and unforeseen – news this week, expect investors to tread water until Thursday, when the government is expected to release the results of the bank stress tests it conducted on the 19 largest U.S. banks.

Talk about a winter of discontent… Over the past seven weeks, we’ve seen quite possibly one of the best examples of stock market fear in history.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is taking his sweet time to work out the details of TARP II.  But for all the uncertainty surrounding his plans, we know one thing:  Zombie banks will not be allowed to go under.

In the past few years, a strange new “defensive” asset has appeared in the market.

Investors use the “defensive” label to describe businesses that enjoy steady demand for their products – like food, cigarettes and electric utilities.

When Pfizer Inc. (PFE) unveiled a $68 billion buyout offer for U.S. rival Wyeth (WYE) last week, it sparked hopes that the deal might re-ignite the moribund merger market. But when the Wall Street dealmakers take a closer look, those flames will likely be doused in cold water.

Is Washington replacing New York – and more specifically, Wall Street – as the city that drives America?

It wasn’t too long ago that a bad bank just meant one with long lines, rude tellers and high fees. But times are changing and the definition today is completely different.