"Between early November and mid-January, the normally staid municipal bond market plunged; and despite recovering off the lows, federally tax-exempt muni funds with an average credit quality of AA+ still carry yields of better than 6%," notes income expert Carla Pasternak.

The editor of High Yield Investing explains, "Launched in 1991, Nuveen Premier Insured Municipal Bond (NIF) is one of the longest-standing muni funds. It's managed by Nuveen, specialists in the muni area.

According to the ADP Employer Services Report, the private sector added 201,000 new jobs in March, basically in-line with 203,000 new jobs that analysts had been expecting to see.

February's figures were revised downwards to 208,000 from a previously estimated 216,000 new jobs.

March's employment gains bring the four-month average of new jobs to 211,000, more than enough to keep the labor track on path. Analysts estimate that the economy needs to add 125,000 new jobs each month in order to keep up with population growth, so any jobs over that figure result in a lower unemployment figures.

Discount retailer Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO) reported its fiscal second quarter results this morning, topping analyst estimates and sending the stock higher in premarket trading.

For the quarter, Family Dollar reported it earned 98 cents per share, topping analyst estimates by a penny. During the same period last year, the company earned 81 cents per share.

Portugal Prime Minister Jose Socrates stood by his promise and resigned late Wednesday, leaving the country with a higher possibility of a bailout. Socrates had hoped to push through structural reforms in the country in order to cut down borrowing costs and decrease its fiscal deficit.

The prime manager's resignation was just another undesirable event for Portugal, as Moody's downgraded the country's sovereign debt rating last week and gave Portugal a negative outlook. Although nothing is certain, the outlook suggests that further ratings cuts may ensue.

Shares of retail giant Best Buy (BBY) traded higher Thursday morning after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Going into the earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see Best Buy report earnings of $1.84 per share for the quarter. Best Buy topped estimates by posting earnings of $1.98 per share.

This post is part of Japan: A Special Report for Investors.

"Tokyo-based Mizuho Financial Group (MFG) is Japan's second-largest bank in terms of total assets," notes Paul Tracy.

The editor of High Yield International suggests, "Banks are typically considered cheap when they trade at a discount to their underlying book value and Mizuho currently trades at just 0.7 times book.

"The past two decades have not been kind to the Japanese banking industry, though the leading financials have been restructuring successfully.

"Our latest 'Stock of the Month' has one of the finest and most dependable dividend streaks you'll ever find," notes Nathan Slaughter.

The editor of Street Authority Market Advisor explains, "Realty Income (O) just recently announced its 488th consecutive monthly dividend, meaning it hasn't missed a payment since 1970.

"That tells me two things. One, the shareholder-friendly management team is committed to returning excess cash to shareholders. Two, it has consistently generated the profits to back up those payments through thick and thin.

This past week's data point of significance for investors has to be the February nonfarm payroll report by the U.S. Department of Labor, which indicated that the U.S. economy created 192,000 jobs last month -- roughly in-line with the consensus estimate.

The good news was complemented by the fact that January's job gain was revised up to 63,000 from 36,000 and December's to 152,000 from 121,000. January's low job tally was probably skewed lower by the winter blizzards and storms that hit the Northeast and Midwest; hence, it's safe to say that the economy is creating jobs. What it needs now is sustained demand to drive GDP growth, which will lead to stronger job growth.

Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN) mainly competes with Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz in online travel services like bookings for air tickets, hotel stays and car rentals. Priceline recently released its Q4 2010 results.

Two highlights of the results are a 44.3% year over year increase in gross travel bookings, and a 68% rise in international revenues compared to same quarter last year. Rising international revenue reiterates our view that Priceline (through its acquisitions like Booking.com and Agoda) should be able to leverage its foothold in European and Asian markets.

ArcelorMittal (MT) is currently the largest steel manufacturer in the world, formed by the merger of two steel giants, Arcelor and Mittal in 2006. The company competes with other international Steel giants like BaoSteel, Posco, Nippon Steel and ThyssenKrupp.

Our price estimate for Arcelor Mittal stands at $40.67, roughly 10% above market price.

The housing market got a bit of bad news Monday morning, with pending home sales falling faster than expected in January.

Consumer confidence has been on the rise over the past couple of months, but that boost in confidence did not carry over to pending home sales, which were down 2.8% during the month of January.

Shares of food giant Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) traded sharply lower Friday morning after it posted lower-than-expected revenues and lowered forward guidance.

Earnings for the company's second quarter were in-line with analyst estimates at $0.71 per share, but revenues came in at just $2.13 billion for the quarter. Analysts had been expecting to see Campbell report revenues of $2.15 billion.

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) issued its statement indicating again that interest rates will remain low for an extended period of time and that quantitative easing will continue with the purchase of "$600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011."

There were no dissents against the FOMC statement.

The FOMC left its options open for the future and gave no specific guidance as to what actions it will take when QE2 ends.