I'm reiterating my Buy rating for Verizon (NYSE: VZ), first recommended on February 12, 2009 at a price of $29.86.

Verizon has born the brunt of the recession and related credit shocks well. Further, while VZ's landline business will continue to be pressured by wireless, cable, and Internet phone services, FiOS will prevent some of that attrition. Meanwhile, VZ's dividend is rock solid and it has ample cash.

In a race, when the yellow caution flag is out drivers are prohibited from advancing their position, and are subject to penalty.

In the stock market no such rule applies. When the caution flag goes up it is a sign you may be nearing an opportunity to advance your position, and it would be foolish not to do so. I think the market has definitely had the caution flag up the last two weeks as we enter earnings season.

I have written several articles regarding watch-lists encouraging our readers to be prepared for buying opportunities, and as I look at my watch-list it appears that many stocks are nearing prices that would make it attractive to add to my position.

The following list of solid dividend payers are not likely to get anyone excited about future growth prospects like some small cap tech company with a hot IPO, but in these uncertain times being able to diversify into a reliable dividend paying stock might work while you ride out the economic storm.

Bank money market accounts, CD's and treasuries are not all that compelling right now. While it is wise to keep some cash handy in these places, you need not put all your resources there.

Earlier today my colleague Steven Halpern posted a story on the safest dividend payer in the DJIA and
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) paying 6.1% was his conclusion. I recently posted about this stock pointing out the benefits of the communications companies, see: Chasing Value: AT&T and VZ, high yield plus safety

It is to be expected that a utility would show up on the list, given the strong recurring revenue and cash-flow and
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) paying 6.39% is that company. I have written many positive posts about Duke and my view has not changed.

"Following last year's dismal market performance, investors are looking for something they can be sure of in the year ahead; and for income investors, that means finding a safe and rewarding dividend yield," says Carla Pasternak.

In her High Yield Investing, she offers a fascinating review to find the "safest dividend in the Dow." Here's her assessment.

"The 30 members of Dow Jones Industrial Average represents some of the strongest names in America. So these corporate titans are a good place to start searching for the safest dividend.

"The first step in the process is not to look at the Dow at all, but to start with the 10-year Treasury note, currently yielding 3.86%.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice has begun a preliminary review of potential anti-competitive practices among large telecom companies such as Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T).

One area the Justice Department may investigate is whether wireless providers are hurting small competitors by tying up popular phones with exclusive agreements. Think AT&T as the exclusive provider of service for Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone in the U.S.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) to Hold from Sell citing reduced legacy risks and strength in the fixed income franchise.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Fuel Systems (NASDAQ: FSYS) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation, the OEM market in Europe for alternative transportation is growing faster than expected, and the $30M equity raise was smaller than expected.
• Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by FBR Capital. The firm believes that the company will benefit from copper supply issues over the long term, and it thinks the stock has reached an attractive entry point.
• Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
• American Tower (NYSE: AMT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) was upgraded at Barclays to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Nothing is worse than repeating past mistakes. Despite the awful economy, my newest portfolio is doing better than any other since 1999-2000, actually passing a 100% gain recently, although it has dropped back slightly with the market the past few trading days.

Ten years is recent enough for me to remember giving everything back and then some. I'm not doing that again. But what to do? I certainly do not like sitting with a heavy cash position collecting almost nothing. I have recently discussed this issue, see: Serious Money: ETF that's better than cash.

The solution is to find stocks that have low volatility, high yields, and the recurring revenue and strong cash flow to maintain the yield. Long term investors will not be surprised by my search leading me to AT and T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), the two largest communications companies in the land.

Analyst upgrades:

• Morgan Stanley said Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) capital needs are largely known and shares are trading "cheaply despite reduced downside risk." The firm upgraded shares to Overweight from Underweight and raised the price target to $25 from $16. Shares were also upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird citing manageable capital needs and attractive risk/reward.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation as it views the stock as inexpensive despite the recent rally. The firm has an $8 target on the stock.
• Banc of America/Merrill upgraded Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Buy from Neutral as it believes fewer hedging losses could bring upside over the next few quarters.
• Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Barclays.
  
• EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at Janney Montgomery.
  
• Westpac Banking (NYSE: WBK) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

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

• Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings as revenues surged in the quarter.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) just beat Q3 expectations despite weak same-store sales growth.
• Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO) Q1 results were dragged down by higher corn costs.
• Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) Q1 earnings sank on falling sales, job cuts and acquisition costs.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) reported a deeper-than-expected Q1 loss and suspended its dividend.
• Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings but revenue declined.

Verizon Wireless, a division of Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) may be partnering soon to take on the Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone. The iPhone, which has re-defined the mobile handset and has racked up huge sales worldwide in the 22 months in existence, needs a strong competitor. So far, all the iPhone "killers" have been anything but.

Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reported Q1 earnings on Monday, and they didn't disappoint. The telecommunication entity said it earned $0.63 per share on an adjusted basis. Okay, the growth wasn't so great. The company earned an adjusted $0.61 per share in the year-ago period. But you know the game: it's all about expectations. So, on that count, Verizon was ahead by four pennies, according to this database.

But the Verizon story isn't just about earnings. It's also about cash flow. Net cash from operations increased 19% to $6.4 billion. Free cash flow more than doubled to $2.7 billion. Verizon is a well-known dividend-paying stock, so shareholders definitely want to see good cash flows.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Buy from Hold and added the stock to its Top Picks Live List. The firm believes RIMM's outlook is more secure given its unit growth trajectory and stabilizing margins. Citi raised its target on the stock to $100 from $65.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to Overweight from Equal Weight following the company's Q3 results it believes growth is accelerating and expectations are low. The firm raised its target on the stock to $24 from $21.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Huron (NYSE: HURN) to Buy from Hold as it believes bad news is already priced in and FY09 expectations are achievable. The firm keeps a $46 target on the stock.
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
  
• Quicksilver (NYSE: KWK) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.
  
• EIG Resources (NYSE: EOG) was lifted at Goldman to Conviction Buy from Neutral.

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending The Summit Series conference in Aspen with 115 top young entrepreneurs and inspiring philanthropists under the age of 35. This event, founded by Elliot Bisnow of Bisnow Media, has created a community of the world's most influential innovators. "We are inspired by events like the Clinton Global Initiative, TED, and Davos," says Bisnow. $200,000 was raised for the four presenting non-profit organizations including NothingButNets.com, Feed Foundation, Invisible Children, and Grassroots Soccer.

These five start-ups were among the most impressive and interesting business ideas:

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if you don't want to wait for a pullback, look abroad for the next leg or find values at home.

What do you do when everyone knows we have come up too far, too fast; no one knows who is actually buying; and we are going into earnings season?

What do you do when the animal spirits are taking up the market and yet other than a handful companies -- Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) (Cramer's Take), Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) (Cramer's Take), Corning (NYSE: GLW) (Cramer's Take), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) (Cramer's Take) and Taiwan Semi (NYSE: TSM) (Cramer's Take) -- almost all companies that have spoken during the "off-season" earnings reports have been dismal?

"The completion of our nation's transition from analog to digital TV in June will allow the analog spectrum to become available for different uses," points out David Sandell.

Here, the contributing editor of Leeb's Income Performance Letter explains why AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) are poised to be the biggest beneficiaries among leading telecoms.

"Customers are increasingly seeking lower-cost services and delaying purchases of more costly equipment. But the companies are adapting, particularly through cost-cutting and strengthening their balance sheets by paying down and restructuring debt.

"AT&T and Verizon, the telecom industry leaders, were the big spenders for rights to the powerful analog signals when the FCC auctioned off much of the freed-up spectrum in early 2008.