the S&P500 brushed a new bear market again, dropping more than 20% from all-time highs in Friday’s intraday action before reversing course and ending with a marginal lead.

Specifically, the 500-company index fell as low as 3,810 – well below the 3,837 level that would mark a 20% decline from its record highs on Monday January 3 and place it in an official bear market. – but bounced back late in the session. to get a gain of less than a point, at 3,901.

Among the stocks weighing on the market on Friday was You’re here (TSLA, -6.4%), which fell to its lowest level since August 2021 following a Business Intern report claiming CEO Elon Musk’s private company SpaceX “paid a flight attendant $250,000 to settle a sexual misconduct complaint against Musk in 2018.” Musk called the article “political,” but it nonetheless acted as the cap on a tough week for Tesla, which was just kicked off the S&P 500 ESG Index and is facing headaches of COVID lockdown in its operations in China.

Meanwhile, Deere (DE, -14.1%) was battered despite beating sales and earnings forecasts and increasing its full-year earnings outlook. The major criticism of his report? The agricultural equipment maker’s sales outlook hinges on a strong second half of 2022, which is not a certainty.

the Dowlike the S&P 500, closed with a marginal gain at 31,261. Nasdaq fell 0.3% to 11,354 but ended its intraday lows well.

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Dan Wantrobski — the technical strategist and associate director of research at Janney Montgomery Scott who said earlier this week he was “encouraged” by Wednesday’s washout — notes that while that pullback may be weaker, investors at longer term can begin to sharpen their knives.

“At 3,800, we believe the S&P 500 is in a price range (3,600-4,000) that can lead to attractive returns over the next few years,” he says. “He doesn’t call a floor for short-term traders, but “Investors with a long-term view can start deploying secondary liquidity in small increments and build long positions for the medium to long term.”

Other news on the stock market today:

• Small cap Russell 2000 fell 0.2% to 1,773.
• U.S. crude oil futures gained 0.4% to settle at $110.28 a barrel.
• Gold Futures Contracts ended the day unchanged at $1,842.10 an ounce.
• Bitcoin staged a small relief rally in the afternoon, but still ended down $29,265.24. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices shown here are as of 4 p.m.)
• Outdoor bridge workers (DECK) jumped 12.6% after the maker of Ugg boots reported earnings. For its fiscal fourth quarter, DECK reported earnings of $2.51 per share on $736.0 million, up 113% and 31.2%, respectively, year over year. Both figures also easily exceeded analysts’ expectations. “The company was able to offset supply chain disruptions by leveraging general and administrative costs [selling, general and administrative expenses] in the quarter,” says CFRA Research analyst Zachary Warring, who upgraded retail stock to Buy from Hold. “The company continues to aggressively buy back shares while maintaining a debt-free balance sheet. We see this as an attractive entry point for stocks as the company continues to execute and grow its HOKA brand well over 25% annually. »
• Ross Stores (ROST) followed in the footsteps of fellow retailers Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT), plunging in the wake of its quarterly results. Shares soared 22.5% after the discount apparel and home fashion retailer reported lower-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue (97 cents per share real versus $1.00 per share estimated; $4.3 billion actual versus $4.5 billion estimated). ), while same-store sales fell 7% over the three-month period. However, “the big news from ROST’s first quarter earnings report is that the company lowered its earnings per share guidance for fiscal 2022 to $4.34-4.58 from $4.71-5.12 $ before and the view of $5.01 from the street,” says UBS Global Research analyst Jay Sole (Neutral). “The midpoint of the new range is 8% below ROST’s full-year 2021 earnings per share and 3% below its full-year 2019 earnings.” Sole adds that he doesn’t think today’s pullback represents a buying opportunity and that more price cuts could be in store, as inflation negatively impacts demand from low-income consumers. . Retailers’ quarterly earnings will continue to be the focus next week, with Best Buy (BBY) and Dollar General (DG) among the many names on the earnings calendar.

Make your wallet pay you every month

regular readers of Closing bell note that this week we beat the table on the role dividends can play in helping investors weather volatile downturns like the one we experienced in 2022.

We are not alone. Several strategists suggest taking charge of dividend stocks in the current environment, including Gargi Chaudhuri, head of investment strategy at iShares. “We view dividend-paying stocks as a quality alternative source, offering outperformance relative to the broader market, an attractive yield for income and diversified exposure to sectors benefiting from the current macro regime of high inflation and slowing economic growth. growth,” she said.

Most of our recommendations over the week have focused on dividend growth, namely the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, as well as their counterparts in Canada and Europe. That said, investors more interested in high current yield might find Aristocrats a bit stingy. The ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats (NOBL) exchange-traded fund, for example, is yielding just 2% at current prices.

Those looking to load their basket with juicier returns might be better off looking at another cohort: monthly dividend payers. Most US dividend stocks tend to pay on a quarterly basis, but there is a select group of stocks and funds that pay you as often as you get your bills, i.e. once a month . Many of those monthly payers also tend to come from special categories, such as real estate investment trusts (REITs) and business development companies (BDCs) that pay much higher dividends than your average blue-chip stock.

Read on as we review a dozen of these generous monthly dividend names.