It was a snap-back Monday for the U.S. averages, as traders dug their heels in and bought their share of high-beta stocks that have been hit hard this past month. I certainly don’t miss the days of waiting for those bounces, whenever I let my trading discipline down (which happened less and less after learning some crucial early lessons).

Looking at today’s action, the bounce did not help the earnings stories of Lowe’s (LOW) and Campbell Soup (CPB). On the flipside, positive analyst commentary helped lift stocks like American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and Boeing (BA). Commodity/Capital goods plays like Caterpillar (CAT), Deere (DE), and Honeywell (HON) also regained a bit of their losses from the past month or so. It’s too early to tell if today marks any significant bottom for the averages, but I have more thoughts on what investors should be contemplating at this stage of the game below.

Life After Facebook IPO

As Facebook (FB) shares fell (down 12% by the close) and business commentators backpedal about what went wrong with the IPO, life for dividend investors simply proceeds as normal. The pomp and circumstance of the IPO has passed and retail investors who bought the stock are likely wondering, do I buy more, or do I sit pat? Most won’t think about selling at a loss, because human nature makes it very hard for inexperienced investors to accept bad trades/losses.

The business media is frantically trying to make sense of Facebook’s early price weakness. Of course, the media won’t look at itself for making retail investors foam at the mouth about the IPO in the first place. Instead, they’re blaming Wall Street, the underwriters, or the Nasdaq exchange itself for having trade execution issues. Smart dividend investors will look back on this story as just another lesson to keep in mind when they’re tempted to roll the dice on a hot new “can’t-miss” IPO.

Following the recent wider market pullback, we continue to look for more dividend opportunities. All the while, we’re closely watching our current picks to see if they still warrant new investing capital. If we see danger signs for the business of one of the stocks we recommend, we will not hesitate to say “sell” altogether (although most of our downgrades are simply “holds”).

Market watchers were hoping to see a bit of the ol’ “Turnaround Tuesday” action that sometimes happens after a weak Monday session, but the bulk of the rally failed to hold by the close. The European markets spent another day in the red.

Looking at today’s market movers, retailers Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) (earnings report here) and TJX Companies (TJX) (read more) saw share prices pop on better-than-expected earnings results. Meanwhile, home improvement giant Home Depot (HD) ended down following its own tepid earnings numbers.

In the M&A soap opera that is Avon Products (AVP)/Coty, the latest bit of news is that Coty has withdrawn its takeover offer, less than 24 hours after Avon finally said they would consider it. Talk about bizarre! If you’ll remember, Avon rebuffed Coty’s first advance back in April, after which Coty sweetened the deal. Nonetheless, Avon shares closed down 10% on the latest news.

JP Morgan (JPM) shares squeaked out a gain as financial sector watchers were hoping to see some stability kick in following its recent drubbing. You can bet that the fallout surrounding its recent $ 2 billion trading loss is far from over.

Elsewhere, Colgate-Palmolive (CL) shares traded higher following a Wall Street analyst upgrade this morning. Clorox (CLX) shares ended flat despite news of a dividend payout hike. Be sure to check out Dividend.com premium each afternoon when we post our regular “dividend payout changes” post that breaks down all of the day’s new payouts.

The Hunger Factor