The New York Times just put up a great story on the whole “free credit report” phenomena. I’ve emphasized the importance of obtaining your credit reports from the official government website before, but this story is an important reminder that:

A. Yes, you should monitor your info as you are now entitled to

But

B.  You need not pay for that info, nor obsess over your score on a monthly basis.

I do personally receive monthly updates on my FICO score, but that’s provided as a free service from my credit union. If you have access to a similar service, by all means take advantage. But for most people, it isn’t worth paying for. 

Nilus

P.S. And if you missed my criticism of the FICO system, see this Money & Markets column.

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In the latest issue of Dividend Superstars, I said I had some concerns about MSFT’s stock in the short run … including Windows 7 proving to be a dud and further market share loss to Apple.

Well, check this out and you’ll see that perhaps my fears were well founded!

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One of the topics I discussed in last month’s Dividend Superstars issue was higher costs for higher learning. And while it’s certainly not a cost most retirees face, it does add another example to my long list of soaring prices for many of life’s biggest expenses — regardless of what the CPI shows.

Today, the College Board’s latest survey came out, showing that tuition and fees at private 4-year schools rose 4.4% in the current school year to $26,273. Meanwhile, the price of a 4-year public university education spiked more than 6% for both in-state and out-of state students ($7,020 and $18,548).

Put bluntly, I question whether many of our country’s students are really getting value for their money anymore.

I am certainly saving and investing for my own daughter’s education. But given these trends — and the money to be made from plenty of out-of-the-box careers — I will be giving her the choice to pick her own path.

Heck, would you rather go into business for yourself with a headstart of $30K - $100K or come out with a 4-year degree in the hole? That question gets harder and harder to answer.

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JNJ isn’t in the Dividend Superstars portfolio, but it is an important bellwether for dividend stocks and the overall market. And it just said sales fell while profits rose.

This is precisely the kind of result that investors are NOT looking for. They were okay with it last quarter — when any uptick on the top line or the bottom line — was welcome. But now they want signs of fundamental growth rather than profits from cost cutting.

We will have to continue watching results closely as they come out … to determine whether JNJ is setting the trend or the exception to the third-quarter rule …

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According to the latest data from the U.S Census, Florida’s population decreased in 2008 for the first time since 1946 (the only other year it happened).

I suppose you can blame foreclosures, a busting real estate bubble, and massive losses in construction and other industries.

You certainly can’t blame the weather! As one of the people who relocated out of the state in 2008 for a more northerly location, I can tell you that I start missing the Sunshine State right around the time we start planning Thanksgiving dinner.

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Hey, there. You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been posting here very often (at all, really). That’s because Twitter has given me a much faster way of shooting off little tidbits.

However, I am still checking (and responding to) all the comments posted here … and I will still update this blog from time to time.

So with all that said, here are a couple things that caught my attention this morning:

First, retail sales jumped. And the market clearly likes that. But I’m not ready to put too much importance on the result because it was obviously juiced by auto sales via Cash for Clunkers and rising gas prices. Yes, it still showed a solid uptick excluding those items, but I’m not sure you’d call it a rip-roaring result during a back-to-school month.

Second, wholesale inflation also rose twice as much as expected. Again, energy prices played a big part in this … but you know that I remain concerned about a future inflation shock. So my ears perk up whenever I hear something like this.

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Just wanted you all to know that I am now officially “tweeting” — i.e. using my Twitter account to send out short market alerts and other interesting updates.

If you want to get those quick, timely updates, just visit my Twitter page and click “follow.”

I won’t completely ignore this blog, but Twittering will be a much easier (and more immediate) way of letting you know what I’m seeing and thinking out there in the markets. I may even throw some more personal updates on there, too … especially on my house hunting excursions!

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Stocks have been showing real strength throughout this earnings season, and it does look like the bulls want to make a run at 1000 for the S&P 500.

All along, I have said stocks would end the year somewhere around that level, though I was thinking we would see one more major dip first. That still remains a distinct possibility, especially with forecasts of Dow 14,000 starting to hit Yahoo Finance.

But for now, I suggest taking a wait-and-see approach. If you’re a Dividend Superstars subscriber, your core stocks are piling up gains now. So there’s no need to go whole hog on a ton of new positions just yet.

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As my Money & Markets article was getting sent to you, the total retail sales numbers for June were getting released. And if you look at just the headline … they rose a better-than-expected 0.6%.

What gives? Didn’t I say same-store sales stunk in June?

Yes.

The retail sales numbers released today include items like gasoline and automobiles, both of which had relatively strong showings in June. (The former because of a price spike, the latter because of pity and strong incentives.)

However, if you strip out autos, sales were up only 0.3% vs. economist expectations of 0.5%. And sales at the nation’s general merchandise stores were DOWN 0.4%.

Separately, a report from the National Retail Federation says the average family plans on spending 8% less during the back-to-school season this year compared with 2008.

Bottom line: I’m sticking to my guns on the retailers. It’s gonna be slow going for a while.

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