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Today is the first day of school for many children in the US and as parents wave goodbye to their kids most are likely wondering how they'll pay the mortgage let alone pay for college. Who could blame them for worrying -- the economy is dragging. But it may be time to look at the next 10-15 years instead of the next 10-15 months. To do this look no further than companies that pay dividends higher than the return in the credit markets; they're attractive because of record-low interest rates potential profit growth of 36% and a slowing economy. According

Stocks snapped a three week losing streak with the S&P 500 posting its best five day performance since early July and Dow Industrials turning positive again for 2010 after August employment exceeded expectations. Still the President who promised us a Rose Garden stood in the White House’s and warned there will be “no quick fix” to what ails the labor market. Indeed September is off to a mixed start for two who joined the ranks of America’s idle within 72 hours of each other last month. Mark Hurd late of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) quickly found a new gig at Oracle (ORCL).

Editor's Note: Read more from Jeb Handwerger at Gold Stock Trades. Point and figure charts are one of the oldest and purest charting methods in the field of technical analysis. They're not as commonly studied and practiced by technicians today as in the past however I use them as simple indicators of areas of supply and demand and to indicate new trends. Warren Buffett said “There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.” Especially in the field of technical analysis analysts seem to love making complex formulas when in reality it's completely unnecessary.

Editor's Note: This article was written by energy journalist and government energy adviser Darrell Delamaide of OilPrice.com which offers free information and analysis on energy and commodities. The site has sections devoted to fossil fuels alternative energy metals oil prices and geopolitics.Oil prices continued to move basically sideways as bullish and bearish news buffeted prices up and down in a narrow range.The benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures contract settled Friday at $74.60 a barrel off its lows for the day and slightly lower than the $75.17 close a week earlier.While stocks welcomed the new month with four days of gains

"The European Union is dying -- not a dramatic or sudden death but one so slow and steady that we may look across the Atlantic one day soon and realize that the project of European integration that we've taken for granted over the past half-century is no more."With these dramatic words begins a eulogy of the European Union in a Washington Post article.The problem isn’t just economic but more political; a re-nationalization of political life with countries reclaiming the sovereignty they once willingly ceded for the collective eurozone ideal.Economically at least on the surface things seem to be looking up

Some of the best analysis about China’s yuan policy might begin with the oft-used doggerel “Here I sit broken-hearted…” After China grudgingly acceded to a yuan revaluation in July 2005 and allowed the currency to trade higher in straight-line fashion for nearly three years it ceased and desisted without announcement in July 2008.But in a concession to the US we can summarize as “If I do it will you shut up already?” they let it be known by late March 2010 they would begin a revaluation at a time of their choosing; we discussed the market for yuan forwards in