Stock futures point to weaker Wall St
(Reuters)

Reuters – LONDON (Reuters) Stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower opening for U.S. shares on Wednesday, extending a decline from the previous session, as worries about the financial health of the euro zone’s banks resurfaced. * At 0841 GMT futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down between 0.1 and 0.2 percent.

Stock futures edge up ahead of U.S. jobs data
(Reuters)

Reuters – Stock futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq were 0.02 to 0.2 percent higher at 0917 GMT (5:17 a.m. EDT), pointing to a slightly firmer start for equities on Thursday.

Wall Street futures point to weaker open
(Reuters)

Reuters – Stock futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.1-0.2 percent, pointing to a slightly weaker start on Wall Street on Wednesday.

Stock futures point to higher open on Wall Street
(Reuters)

Reuters – Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.39 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.27 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.33 percent at 0811 GMT (4:11 a.m. EDT).

Market Wrap-Up for Aug.16 (STRA, DE, EOG, SYY, JCI, more)

Thanks to the Federal Reserve deciding to keep interest rates at near-record lows, the rewards for people that love to save are almost non-existent at banks today.

Talk to any of your older friends and relatives who like to research CD rates are and you’ll see the look of disgust on their faces. At Dividend.com, we are continuing to carry the torch for what people need to be doing today with their hard-earned capital. We are not wildly bullish about the stock market, but at the same time, we see areas of potential opportunity for investors to continue the discipline of putting their money to work.

When we see the carnage of momentum trades heading south, as in this morning’s case of Capella Education (CPLA) (which opened up today down almost 20%), we feel fortunate to not be pushing investors to taking extreme risks in the market. Trading is a tough game, and for most, a dangerous game. In the case of for-profit education play, CPLA, and others such as ITT Educational (ESI) and Strayer Education (STRA), the last 2 weeks have been bloody. Capella was trading at $93 a share two weeks ago, and just sunk to below $60 earlier today. Data out from the Department of Education is showing that only 20% of students are repaying their federal student loans. This has caused a panic in the education sector that new government regulation could be forthcoming. Again, if you are one to take risks in the market at times, adopt a form of discipline that will limit your losses.

Elsewhere, the market was able to creep up off of earlier lows. Trading was mixed all around, with stocks like Deere (DE) and Johnson Controls (JCI) finishing higher, while EOG Resources (EOG) and Sysco (SYY) lagged. Volume continues to drag, with 3.14 Billion shares traded on the NYSE and 1.6 Billion shares traded over on the NASDAQ.

As always, be sure to check out our currently “Recommended” dividend stocks on our Best Dividend Stocks List. See you tomorrow!

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.

Stock futures slip amid global growth woes
(Reuters)

Reuters – Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Monday as worries about the global economy persisted. At 0900 GMT (5 a.m. EDT) futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq were 0.3 to 0.4 percent lower.

Market Wrap-Up for Aug.11 (UNP, BRCM, MEE, HPQ, WFC, DIS, M, more)

Prior to today’s sell-off, we’d witnessed several weeks of unimpressive volume totals, yet the market continued to move higher.

Today was a totally different story, as the global markets have all decided to take yesterday’s Fed commentary/action as a clear sign an economic recovery is not as close as certain market pundits would have you believe. I talk to numerous people from different industries and there is still a lot of caution when it comes to spending on new projects and other business development ideas. Granted, many great businesses are often built in tougher times, but today’s economic landscape is quite a bit different than what we have seen in the past. Still, there are plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs to go into business today, with start-up costs that are much less than even just a decade ago (with an emphasis on web-based businesses). Despite what some see as opportunities, poor planning often throws the initial focus off track and incur ongoing costs — and more importantly, one’s time. The idea of “work at home and make lots of money” usually robs someone of much-needed capital that could be used to invest for the long-term, or even paying debts that have piled up.

Taking financial responsibility and knowing what you can afford to do is the key. I talk about investing in quality dividend-paying stocks as a great way to build up your future income, but if you are spending like there’s no tomorrow as well, then that is a risk that could eventually negate all the good you might be doing on the investment side. Saving is a mantra that needs to also be adopted if the work you’re doing for the long-term is ever going to make a real difference down the line. Make smart decisions all around, not just in the stock market.

As for today’s sell-off, there were numerous sectors in the red. Some of the key names seeing lots of selling included Union Pacific (UNP), Broadcom (BRCM), Massey Energy (MEE), Hewlett Packard (HPQ), and Wells Fargo (WFC), just to name a few. Walt Disney (DIS) was lower following the company’s results. Macy’s (M) actually traded higher after its earnings release, bucking the overall trend. Some of the big winners on our recommended list are in a mini-slump, and we are carefully monitoring those names as well. We’ll be sure to keep subscribers posted if we make any changes. Volume picked up the pace with 4.51 Billion shares traded on the NYSE and 2.22 Billion shares traded on the NASDAQ.

Be sure to check out our list of the Best Dividend Stocks that are ripe for investment right now.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.

Market Wrap-Up for Aug.9 (HPQ, V, MA, CLF, MCD, PNC, more)

I was just reading quite an amazing stat out this morning that may not actually be a good thing when it comes to economic stability.

According to new research from Moody’s Analytics, the top 5% of Americans by income account for 37% of all consumer outlays. Outlays include consumer spending, interest payments on installment debt and transfer payments. The “Plutonomy” effect of depending on the spending and investing of the wealthy makes for a far less stable economy. The wealth being distributed in this manner could only lead to further stock market gyrations, especially if the affluent decide to pull in the reins on spending. Hopefully Washington realizes the solution is not to tax the demons out of the rich, but instead offer incentives to corporations to begin hiring and more importantly, innovating.

Back to the action today, the market is off to a good start this week. We had some investors coming in to scoop up shares of Hewlett Packard (HPQ), which sold off late Friday, following news the CEO of the company was resigning due to sexual harassment allegations. The company also used the Friday afternoon announcement to raise guidance in a clever spin of what was terrible news at the top. That’s the Wall Street way of doing things I guess!

Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) led today’s rally, with Cliff’s Natural Resources (CLF) also moving up. McDonald’s (MCD) delivered some solid July sales numbers and the stock gained nicely. PNC Financial (PNC) was one of the few bigger names we were watching that ended the day lower. Volume really fell off today, with just 3.1 Billion shares traded on the NYSE, and just 1.56 Billion shares traded on the NASDAQ.

Be sure to check out our Best Dividend Stocks List for our currently recommended dividend plays!

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.

Gordmans Stores Prices IPO At $11/Shr, Below Expected Range – Update
Thursday, Gordmans Stores, Inc. (GMAN), an off-price department store chain said that it has priced its initial public offering of 5.36 million shares of common stock at a price of $11.00 per share, which is below its recently estimated range of $13.00 per share to $15.00 per share. The company’s shares began trading today on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Eyes on data as stock futures signal dip
(Reuters)

Reuters – U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday following the previous session’s strong gains, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.41 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.31 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.28 percent at 3:55 a.m. ET.