Weaker-than-expected economic data (jobless claims, existing home sales, etc.) kept a lid on today’s stock tape as investors scrambled to find areas of the market to position themselves in. News that ratings agency Moody’s (MCO) cut be setting up to cut more bank ratings also added to the selling intensity we saw in the afternoon. On those rumors alone, Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and Deutsche Bank (DB) were down between 3-4% on the day.

Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), which by the way is not a dividend payer but should be, reported disappointing guidance and the stock got hit hard (down 17%). Other home-related retailers like Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW) were also lower early on as a result. On the flipside, earnings results helped lift packaged-food maker ConAgra (CAG) higher. Lastly, tobacco play Phillip Morris International (PM) ended lower following the company’s reduced EPS guidance (marking the second time in recent months the company has trimmed expectations).

Each business encounters occasions where opportunities present themselves. Whether looking at expanding existing business or venturing into a new business arena, businesses must answer to one almighty request: profits.

If you’re looking to sustain a business for the long term, it’s wise to carefully choose the products you’re putting your name behind. If you have to sacrifice even a sliver of your integrity or quality just to get into a specific area, you’ll likely hurt your existing business more than help it. Many “one and done” businesses can be clouds that hang over entrepreneurs. After all, if someone were to tell you so-and-so ran “xyz” business for a brief period before it went out of business, you’d likely be skeptical of the business owner’s prospects of succeeding in their new venture.

We sometimes hear from Dividend.com readers that wonder why our Best Dividend Stocks List isn’t larger (we currently only have 19 recommended stocks on the list). It would be easy enough to appease the needs of those who want more stocks to consider for their investments, but at what cost? To us, the cost of quality is worth leaving some users wanting more, rather than upsetting everyone with picks that perform poorly. It’s never worth the gamble in my opinion, and for anyone else that gets tempted to make more sales at the risk of lowering the quality of your service, I urge you to step back and consider the ultimate price you may pay.

We removed another dividend stock from our Best Dividend Stocks List this morning. We still like the name, but would wait to add new money to the shares for now. Check out the name we downgraded along with a full explanation here.

We recently updated our list of dividend stocks that have been paying out dividends for 25 years or more. Be sure to check out the latest list of names here.

Financial blog DailyReckoning.com recently took a look at the difference dividend payouts made in the overall return investors saw throughout the prior decades. Here are some of the highlights:

- The Nasdaq is down 28% since the end of 1999. Even the “blue chip” S&P 500 stocks are down 15% during that time frame…until you add back those “boring” dividends. With dividends included, the S&P 500′s 15% loss flips to a 6% gain.

- Without dividends, the S&P 500 index would have produced a loss for the 25 long years from August 1929 to August 1954. Then again, without dividends, the S&P 500 produced a 5% loss during the 13 years from September 1961 to September 1974. But with dividends included, the S&P’s loss became a 46% gain.

- Over the course of the last half-century, dividends have contributed more than half of the stock market’s total return — 56%, to be exact.

Of course, you can’t discuss the potency of dividend investing without making mention of how awesome compound returns are. I can’t stress enough the power of compound interest: you take a small amount of money and turn it into a large amount over time. Finding the right companies at the right price points which not only grow earnings, but also grow their dividend payouts as well!

Be sure to check out our weekly Top 50 High-Yield Watchlist Names post that is out today, exclusively for Dividend.com Premium members. This list gives readers a good idea of what stocks we’re watching behind the scenes here for potential upgrades.

We know many of you enjoy reading the daily newsletter, but remember that with our Dividend.com Premium service, the newsletter is just one small component of what we offer. Here are the “Big Three” benefits of our Premium service:

- The Best Dividend Stocks List is used by tens of thousands of investors to help build their own portfolios.

- Creating your own Watchlist allows you to track the performance, news, and upcoming dividend payouts of the particular stocks you care about.

- Finally, we offer the most complete and easy-to-use dividend data on the web. Many subscribers use this data as part of a “Dividend Capture” trading strategy, but long-term investors can use it to keep track of impending payouts. Just visit our Ex-Dividend Calendar for a complete outlook on which companies will be paying out soon.

We don’t ask for a credit card to use our free trial, and we don’t bill you when your trial ends. No obligation whatsoever! So keep enjoying the newsletter, but please give Dividend.com Premium a shot if you haven’t already subscribed!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.