ADP

Besides news regarding the debt crisis in Europe, futures and Forex traders will be focusing on today’s Challenger jobs report and the ADP private sector jobs report for direction. Traders expect the ADP report to show a loss of 20,000 jobs. An amount greater than 20,000 should support the Dollar as it will indicate a weaker economy.

Weekly roundup of stocks moving in and out of the Magic Formula Investing screen.

I am a firm believer that asset allocation plays a significant part in a portfolio’s long-term results. Recently, I received a question asking if you could have a diversified portfolio of dividend stocks. It is an interesting question that deserves further examination.

U.S. stocks markets are trading flat ahead of this morning’s ADP Employment Report. Expectations are for this report to show that 30,000 jobs were lost during the last month. This is better than the 84,000 lost in December. Today’s ISM Non-Manufacturing Index Report should be a market mover today. Traders are looking for this index to cross over the important 50 barrier.

There are certainly many ways to categorize the different styles of investing in dividend stocks, including yield, risk, growth, etc. Over the years, I have found that most dividend investing styles fall into one of the three major categories listed below:

The U.S. Dollar finished the day higher against a basket of major currencies. The weaker than expected ADP Employment Report encouraged investors think twice about buying higher yielding assets. This afternoon’s Fed Beige Book offered nothing new for investors to react to and the Dollar held its ground.

Traders will be focusing on the U.S. ADP Report this morning. The report is expected to show that the pace of jobs loss in the U.S. is slowing, bringing the economy closer to sustaining its current recovery. The early estimate is for a job loss of 150,000 versus a loss of 203,000 in October.

We all want to succeed in everything that we do, including investing in the stock market. Though I have no analytical data to back it up, I am convinced that most people will lose money in the stock market over their lifetime. So why do so few people succeed at investing?

Looking for the perfect dividend stock? In an utopian world, the perfect dividend stock would be one that is both high-yield and provide a high dividend growth rate. Its share price would appreciate with its increasing dividend. All of this would be driven by increasing earnings and cash flow.

In everything we do, we always want to be the best or be associated with the best. You never hear fans yelling, ‘We’re number 2, we’re number 2?, while holding two fingers in the air. The same is true when selecting dividend stocks.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. is one of the world's largest independent computing services companies, provides a broad range of data processing services. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

Over the last several weeks, the number of dividend stocks my model identified as a buy has greatly declined. On July 3rd it flagged 14 stocks as potential buys verses only 7 stocks on August 29th. Needless to say the recent market rally has made many dividend stocks expensive.

The first trading day in the month of September has been extremely active, which is characteristic of thin trading conditions. U.S. economic data was positive providing temporary relief for the equity and currency markets but the rally was short-lived as concerns about fresh losses in the banking sector swept over the market.

The markets have seen some significant gains since their March lows. Each time this occurs there is a new round of experts calling the bottom. Time and time again the market throws them a cruel twist and heads lower. Will this time be different?

The buy-and-hold investment strategy has taken a lot of abuse since the market turned down. But this isn’t the first time it has happened. Eventually, the market turns, the naysayers disappear and the buy-and-hold investors make a lot of money.