Your otherwise mild-mannered reporter became utterly ecstatic when she received word of the Dow's movement into the 9,000 range earlier this very day. This, she notes, follows on the heels of economic news as dismal, dreary, and sopping wet as the weather that has dominated the country's mid-section thus far this summer (Global warming? Bah, humbug!).

Just yesterday, she recalls with her elephant-like memory, economists droned on about a nationwide recovery that likely won't gain momentum til Santa and his reindeer begin their annual trek, at the earliest. These same economists, who, your insightful reporter is quick to point out, are not likely Optimist Club members, further predicted that Michigan's economy will, in the best-case scenario, have to wait thrice as long.

Among the companies fueling the Dow's fire is one that resides in your worldly reporter's very hometown of Detroit, AKA, "The D." Indeed, Ford Motor Co. joined AT&T and 3M in reporting earnings that beat expectations. These reports, coupled with a rise in existing-home sales for the third consecutive month, only served to further your reporter's theory that the one thing predictable about the stock market, short term, is its unpredictability...

Onto this week's headlines...

SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE
Guru Gerlach Embraces DRIPS, Direct Purchase Plans

Seasoned investors know that long term, the stock market trend has historically been up, up, up… Slow and steady does indeed seem to win the race, and what better way to participate in the market long term than via DRIP and Direct Purchase plans?

This is the proverbial fork in the road that SC Founder and Guru Doug Gerlach has chosen, and though her crystal ball is still on the blink (note to self: inquire of Dan Abraham as to repair status), your reporter is quite confident that to follow in Guru Gerlach's footsteps would constitute a very wise move.

"I've decided to take the proceeds from our recently disbanded investment club and invest them in a portfolio of dividend reinvestment/direct stock purchase plan stocks," Guru Gerlach announced in a StockCentral post this very week.

The companies Gerlach chooses must meet this stringent criteria:

If they offer automatic investing options, Gerlach notes, so much the better. For starters, he has posted studies on two initial candidates, AFLAC and Procter & Gamble, the former of which garnered immediate feedback from SC Member Danny Matthews, who comments in the AFLAC Forum: "I note that you are writing off 2008 in Section 2. This strategy might apply to a lot of SSGs on companies that are not directly entangled in the subprime/credit mess, but rather being the baby in the bath water. I will be adding as AFL bumps around the $28 or lower price range."

Check out Doug's most recent SC post to get the entire low-down and nominate your favorite company for a future stock study.

InvestEd 2010 Location To Be Unveiled
As "Messenger," Gazette Reporter Fears Life, Limb

Though she acknowledges that she risks the loss of her very life, which she readily admits she has grown quite fond of over the years, your diligent and faithful Gazette reporter feels obliged to honor her oath as a conduit of information by revealing that the location of InvestEd 2010 will be announced early on the afternoon of Sunday, August 9, 2009 at the InvestEd 2009 Conference.