Markets look shaky; Dividends in decline ...

As I wrote in today's Money & Markets column, I strongly suggest more aggressive investors take some profits in their speculative positions that have run up strongly.

Reason: We are at critical technical levels on the major indexes AND I see no major fundamental reasons for the market to go higher in the short-term.

Meanwhile, dividends are getting harder to find. According to Standard & Poor's, the second quarter of 2009 was the worst for dividends in nearly 50 years.

That doesn't mean there aren't still solid income stocks out there, of course. My Dividend Superstars subscribers have seen a number of increases despite the meltdown. However, you need to be much more selective than you were a few years ago.