Fair Isaac Corp., creator of the widely used FICO credit score, plans to roll out a new scoring system in early 2019 that factors in how consumers manage the cash in their checking, savings and money-market accounts. It is among the biggest shifts ever for credit-reporting and the FICO scoring system, the bedrock of most consumer-lending decisions in the U.S. since the 1990s.

U.S. Army 1983: “Be Intellectually Prepared to React to Possible Encounters with Intelligent, Non-Corporal Energy Forms When Time-Space Boundaries Are Exceeded”

The S&P 500 dividend yield, at 1.89%, is no longer attractive at current stock prices. In addition, companies are free to slash their dividends – which happens during rough times for the company or the market. So dividend investors are taking significant risks for so-so yields.

Suddenly, many investors are beginning to struggle with a question: Would I rather make 2.7% guaranteed risk-free for a year, such as with Treasury securities, or risk losing 10% or 20% as I might in the stock market? The market could surge another 15%, but it could also do the opposite. Year-to-date, the S&P 500, after all the gyrations and volatility, is up only 2.0% (last time I looked) and is potentially just a rough day or two away from turning negative for the year.