Those elusive “green shoots” that economic optimists had been digging up lately were buried under disappointing data from the Commerce Department in Washington yesterday (Wednesday) when it was revealed that retail sales in the unexpectedly dropped in April.

Who says only Gen Xers can appreciate irony? Heck, François-Marie Arouet (a.k.a. Voltaire) was writing about “the best of all possible worlds” back in the heady days of 1759, when snotty wit like that could get you strung up by your thumbs in the Bastille.

Now that the results of the U.S. bank stress tests are finally in the books, the extent of the capital shortfalls are known and – in many cases – are actually being addressed.

This is the first major report coming out this week, and could have a real impact on the markets. Expectations are for a decline in sales since last month, albeit at a slower rate than previous months.

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.

While swine flu is spreading and certainly has potential to become a very serious situation (as does any flu outbreak) if it continues, comparatively speaking, that isn’t the case at the moment.

When people are losing their jobs and pitching tents because they lost their home, they aren’t going to go to Macy’s to buy a new pair of $100. With whatever cash they have (or panhandle) they’re going to go to Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) instead.

Corporate earnings will take center stage again this week as certain financials hope to follow last week’s upbeat announcement by banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) with some decent earnings reports of their own.

RBS Will Eliminate up to 9,000 Jobs; Mortgage Delinquencies Rise 7%; Rio Rebuffs Asia Steelmakers Discount Demands; Retail Sales Dive Sans Wal-Mart; Moody’s: More Than Half of Latin American Companies At Risk; CEO Confidence Hits Record Low; MGM in Talks to Refinance Debt; Audi Sales Fall in March

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as investors bet the U.S. economic downturn may be easing following reports on fourth-quarter economic growth and weekly jobless claims that landed roughly in line with expectations.