"Direct Investment Plans -- or DRIPs -- are a great way to investor regardless of the market environment; in fact, avoiding the emotional decisions usually made by the typical investor may be their greatest strength," observes DRIP specialist Vita Nelson.

In her MoneyPaper's Direct Investing, she reviews the basics of DRIP investing and discusses her latest "Bargain Corner" stock pick -- Regions Financial (RF).

Vita Nelson explains, "This strategy involve the four Ds -- dividend reinvestment, dollar-cost averaging, diversification, and discipline.

"Even among the broad-based market carnage of the past year, regional banks with heavy real estate exposure have been notably poor performers," notes turnaround expert George Putnam.

In The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "While investors are still wary of this group, there are cases where the market has overreacted and the stocks will eventually rebound dramatically." Here, he looks at four favorite regionals.

"Many regional banking stocks are now trading at a small fraction of their 'book value.' In more normal times, most banks will trade for two to three times book value and sometimes more.

"Most of the government 's proposed changes for the financial markets aren't new or needed; but what will happen will be a boost for some and a bane for others," says Neil George.

Long-known in the newsletter community for his expertise in income investing, the advisor has just launched a new blog service, Stocks that Pay You. Here, he looks at some winners and losers from the current proposals for financial regulation.

George says, "In my view, these supposedly massive changes amount to window dressing. Banks and other related firms can continue to do what they've always done: cherry pick regulators and play off one regulator against another.

"So, unless we get the government actually empowering the guys down the line inside all of these agencies and departments, don't look for any big changes, because - while the players and the names might be changing - the contest is staying the same.

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) started today's trading with a resounding thud after announcing a $1.25 billion stock offering. The regional banking issue said it will offer $1 billion in common shares and $250 million in new convertible preferred shares. The proceeds will address roughly half of the $2.5 billion in capital Regions was instructed to raise by the U.S. Treasury Department following its stress test results.

Despite a negative start to the session, RF has since ticked fractionally higher. The security has shed more than 34% of its value in 2009, and it's currently struggling under the weight of resistance from its 32-week moving average. Since 2007, RF has managed to notch just one weekly close above this steadily descending trendline.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) Q1 profit edged past expectations despite lower sales of Humira.
• AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) posted a smaller-than-expected Q1 loss, sending shares sharply higher.
• Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, sending share higher.
• BP (NYSE: BP) and other oil companies were downgraded due to higher environmental costs.
• Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW) Q1 earnings declined but still topped analysts' expectations.
• Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) said Q1 earnings would be lower due to a weaker dollar and lower oil prices.

The sages say to sell the news and have started calling the market grossly overbought on the near-term, yet stock enthusiasm is at the exact opposite of how negative things were 6 weeks ago. We have 6 million on the jobless claims now, although this week showed a real decline in new claims. The rally came on late in the day after the market was down triple-digits at one point. Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,125.43 +95.81 (1.19%)
S&P 500 865.29 +13.23 (1.55%)
Nasdaq 1,670.44 +43.64 (2.68%)

Top Analyst Calls

The shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) surged this afternoon after the regional bank said it expects to report a first-quarter profit. In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Chairman and CEO Dowd Ritter attributed the unexpectedly profitable quarter to recent strength in new account openings and customer deposit growth.

If Wall Street seems shocked by the news, it's because analysts were predicting Regions to swallow a quarterly loss of about $290 million, or 42 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters. Plus, with nearly 5% of the equity's float sold short, it seems that many investors were also betting on the bank to report gloomy earnings.

The FDIC took over three more banks yesterday bringing the total number of bank failures so far this year to nine. As I posted, the FDIC likes to close banks on Friday after hours so they can reopen as branches of the acquiring bank on the following Monday morning. It remains to be seen whether the FDIC has enough money in its deposit insurance fund to handle its obligations for 2009 and beyond.

As it did last year, the FDIC is closing small banks while the Treasury and the Fed continue to keep the very largest ones from collapsing under the weight of their bad assets. On Friday, regulators closed banks in Georgia and California including:

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) reported dismal Q4 results due to lower demand.
• AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) reported a bigger-than-expected Q4 loss, sending shares lower.
• Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) earnings prospects led to an upgrade.
• eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) posted Q4 and full-year results with increased revenue due to a stronger dollar.
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) reported strong Q4 numbers that beat analysts' expectations.
• International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) reported better-than-expected Q4 and 2008 earnings.
• Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) posted strong Q4 results but lowered its 2009 guidance.
• Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS) shares surged after posting better-than-expected earnings.
• Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) reported a huge loss due to write-downs and offered a bleak outlook.
• Societe Generale said that it expects to have broken even in the final quarter of 2008.
• Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) posted its second straight quarterly loss due to fuel hedging costs.
• UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) reported a huge loss on the erosion in value of oil hedges as prices dropped.
• Usana Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: USNA) posted record Q4 results despite one-time charges.

For more highlights from this week, see Apple, Microsoft, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Harley Davidson and others

It's a dismal day on Wall Street for financial stocks, and Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) is no exception. The Alabama-based bank today reported an eye-popping quarterly loss of $6.22 billion, or $9.01 per share, as results were pressured by a $6 billion writedown in its banking and Treasury operations.

On an operating basis, Regions' loss of 35 cents per share exceeded the consensus estimate for a loss of 20 cents per share. Net charge-offs for the quarter soared to $796 million, compared to $107.5 million in the year-ago period. Additionally, the company confessed to "emerging stress" in its Florida-based real estate and mortgage businesses.

"Although we're encouraged by steps the government has taken to stabilize the housing market and revitalize the economy, there is no quick fix for credit quality issues currently plaguing the financial services industry," commented Dowd Ritter, RF's chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Ritter added that he doesn't expect unemployment to peak or real estate values to bottom in 2009, and he warned that bank earnings won't improve until such a trough is reached. He doesn't foresee the need to seek new capital from the government, though Regions will look for opportunities to shore up its capital position as market conditions allow.

I think it's fair to say that there's much trepidation about the earnings season that picks up steam this week. And for better or worse, numbers from the big financials have begun to roll in. Last week we saw profit sink for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and significant losses from Bank of American Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB).

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) to be among those financials reporting fourth-quarter earnings growth this week. They anticipate that Bank of New York will post a profit of $0.70 per share, compared to $0.67 per share a year ago and $0.72 in the previous quarter. Revenue is expected come to $3.8 billion, about the same as it was a year ago. Bank of New York has fallen short of earnings estimates in two of the past five quarters, by as much as 11.1%. For the full year, analysts are looking for $2.78 per share (+5.8%) on $14.8 billion (+4.2%). The consensus recommendation of analysts is to buy BK, and the long-term EPS growth rate forecast is 10.7%. Shares are 48.7% lower than a year ago. Other financials expected to report quarterly earnings growth this week include SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) and M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB).

The Washington Post reports that Hank Paulson plans to turn the back of his hand to people who hold common shares of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) in his "rescue" plan. But Paulson may bailout the holders of their preferred shares -- which currently pay a dividend yield of about 20%.

Why does Paulson prefer the preferred to the common shareholders? That's because the common shareholders are big mutual funds with lots of small shareholders who have no importance to the economy in his judgment. The preferred shareholders are regional banks whose capital he thinks would sink dangerously if he wipes out their dividend.

Below is a list from the Post of the big Fannie and Freddie preferred holders:

• Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) which has an estimated $200 million,
• M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) with $161 million, and
• Astoria Financial Corp. (NYSE: AF) with $83 million.

Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) shares are trading higher today with other financial stocks after a slew of positive financial earnings. JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) reported a second-quarter profit of $2 billion, or 54 cents per share, beating analysts' predictions of 44 cents per share, while PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC) and Comerica (NYSE: CMA) also reported earnings and are trading higher. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on RF.

After hitting a one-year high of $33.65 last July, the stock hit a one-year low of $6.41 on Tuesday. RF opened this morning at $8.88. So far today the stock has hit a low of $8.09 and a high of $9.91. As of 12:45, RF is trading at $9.07, up 1.06 (12.8%). The chart for RF looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bull-put credit spread below the $5 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 13.6% return in just one month as long as RF is above $5 at August expiration. RF would have to fall by more than 44% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

RF hasn't been below $6.40 at all in the past year and has shown support around $7 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out on 7/22) disappoint, but most of the banks that have reported so far have responded well to their earnings reports.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in RF nor CMA. He does own and control bullish hedged trades on PNC and JPM.

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF), a financial holding company based in Birmingham, Alabama, recently down 99c to $12.76:

Friedman Billings has an underperform rating on RF. RF call option volume of 6,410 contracts compared to put volume of 37,361 contracts. RF June 12.5 straddle was priced at 85c. RF July option implied volatility of 72 was above its 26-week average of 48 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The Department store sector, SanDisk and CNET Networks were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Goldman downgraded the department store sector to Neutral from Attractive after raising its 2008 oil forecast to $149 from $115, as it believes higher gas prices will impact consumer discretionary spend and sentiment. Goldman downgraded JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) to Neutral and also removed Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) from its Conviction Buy List.
  
• JMP Securities downgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Underperform from Market Perform based on increased competition in NAND, a potential decline in royalty income, valuation, and lack of catalysts from flash-based solid state drives.
  
• CNET Networks (NASDAQ: CNET) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America following the tender offer from CBS (NYSE: CBS).

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Merrill downgraded Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) to Sell from Neutral.
  
• B. Riley downgraded Exar (NASDAQ: EXAR) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Albermarle (NYSE: ALB) was lowered to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.