Investors have been on such a turbulent roller coaster that it’s easy to forget that the S&P 500 was up slightly through the first two months of the year. With April coming to a close and the major indexes firmly in the red, investors may be wondering how long volatility will last, and if now is a good time to buy stocks… 

Welcome to another installment of “How to Invest While the World Burns.” If you’ve glanced at a headline lately, or accidentally made eye contact with your 401(k), you know we’re living in an age of economic performance art. Amid Beltway buffoonery, mercurial trade policies, and worsening fears of recession, investor confidence is hanging by a thread…and that thread is fraying… 

A quarterly dividend payment from a high-quality stock may be as close to a sure thing as an investor can find on Wall Street. Even during periods of broad market weakness, the lower a stock’s price falls, the higher its dividend yield rises. Unfortunately, companies often cut their dividend payments as the first line of defense when times get tough,… 

Why do you invest? For most people, their primary goal is to build a nice-sized retirement nest egg. And that’s a worthy aim, to be sure. There’s nothing wrong with thinking bigger, though. What if you could build enough wealth within your lifetime to make — and keep — future generations of your family financially independent? Never say never. Just picking… 

Utilities, such as electricity, water, and natural gas companies, are essential services that people rely on regardless of economic conditions. This leads to stable demand for their products, ensuring steady revenue generation. Since utilities typically operate under regulatory frameworks that allow them to pass costs onto consumers, their cash flows are often both predictable and resilient, even during periods of… 

The Department of Education will restart “involuntary” repayments of defaulted student loans after a nearly five-year pause, cautioning that as soon as next month borrowers could be referred to debt collectors or even have their wages and benefits withheld. “Debt cannot be wiped away. It just ends up getting transferred to others,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday, a day after the… 

You’ll find more success when options trading by developing a disciplined approach that focuses on systematic strategy and strict risk management. Start by understanding market conditions and using reliable indicators (to avoid subjectivity) to identify profitable setups. Set clear entry points, targets, and stop-losses while keeping emotions in check. Don’t risk more than 2-5% per trade and document your results to refine your strategy. The path… 

Equity markets have been seesawing for the past two weeks. Stocks fell hard after President Donald Trump announced his tariff plans, then bounced back big once he said he would pause expanded tariffs on imported goods from most countries for 90 days. It’s hard to predict which way major indexes will move next, but amid all this volatility, it helps… 

The phrase “dumping U.S. debt” might sound like a political slogan, but its implications are deeply economic. It puts upward pressure on interest rates, tightens financial conditions, and can alter the trajectory of the broader economy. For investors, understanding the mechanics of this process is key to navigating an increasingly complex global landscape. You don’t have to be a bond… 

Most dividend-paying stocks have a quarterly distribution schedule, meaning they pay dividends every three months. A relatively small number of companies, however, pay dividends monthly. Monthly dividend stocks are usually companies that have made paying income a top priority. In addition to being more convenient, monthly dividends are a better hedge against inflation when prices are rising quickly. Simply stated,…