My final all-American brand is Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL). The company is well-known for its toothpaste and toothbrushes. But Colgate-Palmolive also owns dozens of strong brand names, including Irish Spring, Speed Stick, Ajax, and many others.

Some investors may think of Colgate-Palmolive as a dull stock. That's fine by me.

The shares are far less volatile than most stocks on Wall Street. Even though the market overall is well below the highs it reached in the third quarter of 2007, shares of Colgate-Palmolive were never punished nearly as hard.

Since President Nixon opened the doors to China back in the 1970s, the relationship has certainly been interesting – and complicated. Of course, now China is a critical piece of the global economy and a huge funder of U.S. debt, which is even more important in light of our massive deficit spending.

So, will China continue buying up our Treasuries? Perhaps so. This is according to a piece in the FT. The director general of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Luo Ping, said there is really no other place to put lots of cash (at least in a safe way). In fact, he wasn't too thrilled with the U.S.'s financial moves over the years. And, he even thinks the U.S. dollar will continue to sink (yes, not really a ringing endorsement from our financial sugar daddy).

"Like other US Treasuries, Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPs) have virtually no credit risk," explains fund expert Mark Salzinger.

The editor of The No-Load Fund Investor adds, "Unlike other US Treasuries beyond short-term bills, however, TIPs also have no inflation risk." Here, he looks at an EYF based on TIPs.

"Twice a year, TIPs' principal valuis are adjusted upward by the amount of the increase in the Consumer Price Index Urban (CPI-U), thus protecting their holders against increases in inflation.

"The total return of the bond equals its yield plus the change in principal value based on inflation, changes in real interest rates (published interest rates minus inflation) and supply-demand in the market for TIPs.

"TIPs' yields are lower than those of regular Treasury sercurities of similar maturities. That's one of the disadvantages of TIPs.

"The other is that any increase in principal value due to the biannual inflation adjustment gets taxed every year as if it were received income.

"Derivatives - the 'global Vesuvius of debts and bets' that we have been warning about since 2006 is beginning to erupt," says Martin Weiss.

The editor of The Safe Money Report explains, "The time is now to build cash and the best place to put it is in United States Treasury bills or equivalent." Here, he looks at the benefits of Treasuries and the various ways that investors can add them to their portfolios.

"We now have overwhelming evidence of a severe recession. And we have a solid confirmation in the stock market itself. But we also forecast that the Fed would fight back, and do so aggressively, fomenting an
inflationary recession.

"They're pumping in massive amounts of money, trying to calm markets and seeking to avert a recession. But it's too little, too late for the economy. And it's too much, too soon for the already-shaky dollar. *Result: Gold has surged along with other commodities.

"And consumer price inflation, long a side-show on the American scene, is now surging back. Our urgent appeal: If youhaven't done so already based on our earlier issues, the time is now to shift from complacency to protective action ... from bull-market plays to income opportunities ... from risk to safety.

This past Tuesday I wrote an article on dividend-paying stocks offer investors more protection in tough times. It has only been three trading days since the Tuesday hit and looking back now, the stocks discussed with high, sustainable dividends are holding up just fine.

Whether it's AT&T, Inc. (NYSE:T), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), CitiGroup, Inc. (NYSE:C) or Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), the stock movements have been negligible. These stocks have been attracting investors seeking safety of principal and a high yield. But remember, most excellent dividend paying companies have a history of raising those dividend payments, and with that fact comes a higher stock price as well.

If the Federal Reserve begins to lower interest rates in the spring and summer, and I believe they will, the yields on these stocks becomes even more valuable. As riskless treasuries are in the 4%+ neighborhood now, if the Fed lowers rates and those yields fall into the 3% neighborhood, the stocks of underlying high-dividend payers will go up.Current yields tend to go together especially if underlying quality is present. For example, for Bank of America to yield 3%, the stock would have to go up to the mid $60's. If you own the stock here at $50-51, you have locked in a 4.40% yield, and if we see declining interest rates, for the stock to remain competitive with US Treasuries, the share price would soar. Not to mention, BAC will probably raise their dividend in 2007, 2008, and beyond.

This is where high dividend paying stocks can be powerful investments...

Georges Yared is the author of recently released books Stop Losing Money Today and Baby Boomer Investing...Where do we go from here?

The most valuable thing on earth after life itself is TRUST.

Why is President Bush watching his approval rating collapse month after month -- Do you trust him? What has he done to build trust? Why are we so comfortable living with England having nuclear weapons and are panic-stricken by Iran's having them -- do you trust them? What have they done to build trust?

What was the cause of Adam & Eve's being banished from the garden of Eden? A breach of trust. Right from the start, up until this very moment it is trust that creates brotherhood between peoples and also builds strong brands. Trust that allows a temporary leap of faith until the facts are known and it is trust that positions the market place for "just-in-time" manufacturing and without which the process would come to a swift and grinding halt.

Johnson & Johnson did all the right things way back when they had the now-historic Tylenol tampering scare to contend with and they wisely focused their attention on maintaining trust at all costs. Enron did all the wrong things. Arthur Anderson drowned in a sea of mistrust flowing from their own questionable ethics and we witnessed a very valuable enterprise rapidly collapse. In my architecture practice I have lectured on this subject constantly to everyone who would listen; staff, clients, consultants, public officials etc. Anything that builds trust is a good thing, anything that reduces trust is a bad thing!