Although there were only four trading days in the past holiday-shortened week, there were enough market gyrations to last a month.

On March 11th, the Dow Jones Industrials shot up 416 points on reassuring news that the Fed was pumping $200 billion in loans to liquidity-stricken financial institutions. Unfortunately, those gains unraveled within a few short days after worries intensified that Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) was in dire need of a bailout.

And those fears came to surface this past Monday when word got out that JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) had engineered a deal to acquire the beleaguered company (which has borne the brunt of the mortgage-backed security meltdown) for the fire-sale price of $2 per share — a remarkable collapse for a stock trading above $150 at this point last year.

However, Bear Stearns' troubles were brushed aside on Tuesday, thanks in part to better-than-expected news on the earnings front — from Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) no less. But a sharp interest rate cut of 3/4 of a percentage point was what really jump-started the market.

The Fed has now slashed rates six times in the past six months, aggressively lowering the benchmark fed funds rate to just 2.25%, less than half of where it stood last summer. And traders showed their appreciation, sending the Dow up 420 points (+3.5%), while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both shot up more than +4% — the biggest one-day surge in more than five years for all three of the major averages.

Unfortunately, in action very reminiscent of the prior week, the Dow surrendered nearly 300 points of that gain the very next day, before bargain hunters came rushing back in on Thursday. For the week, all the averages finished sharply higher.

As the age-old battle between fear and greed wages on, there is a growing sense that the Fed's intervention, along with the economic stimulus checks set to arrive at the doorsteps of 130 million households over the next few months, might be just enough to give the economy a soft landing.

However, while plunging interest rates can resuscitate the economy, they can also weaken the dollar, which has already slipped to new lows against foreign currencies across the board. And below, High-Yield International editor Nick Lanyi lays out a strategy for investors to take advantage of the situation and rake in yields approaching 25%.

After that, Half-Priced Stocks editor Nathan Slaughter gives an upbeat diagnosis for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT, $55.66). With a well-rounded (and recession-resistant) product line, the company has had the financial strength to boost dividends every year for the past three decades, and thanks to a recent pullback, investors can now pick up the shares on sale.

Good investing!

— Paul Tracy
Chief Investment Strategist

If you've traveled abroad recently, then you probably understand the impact of a weaker dollar when it comes to purchasing power.

In early 2002, it took about $0.83 to buy one euro — now it will cost you about $1.55.  In other words, the same 200 euro-per-night Paris hotel room that cost $166 several years ago will now set you back about $310.

Fortunately, what's bad news for the U.S. traveler can be great news for the U.S. investor.  And the best way for you to make money off the tumbling dollar?

Buying foreign securities.

Suppose you invested 10,000 euros ($8,300) in a European stock in 2002.  Even if its share price went nowhere, thanks to a falling dollar you could sell your shares, and those same 10,000 euros would now be worth $15,500.  That's an +87% gain from the currency fluctuation alone — with no share price appreciation.  Of course, most foreign stocks have been surging lately, which would make the gains even more dramatic.

Likewise, dividends paid in foreign currencies are worth more when converted into U.S. dollars.

Suppose you invested in a European stock that paid an annual dividend of 5 euros per share.  This dividend would have been worth only $4.15 annually in 2002.  But thanks to the falling dollar, the same 5 euro dividend is now worth $7.75 — also an increase of +87%.  How many U.S. stocks have you run across that have raised their dividends +87% since 2002?

Currency Fluctuations Lead to Big Gains for U.S. Investors

Whether you're investing in Zanzibar or on the NYSE, you're making a currency bet.

Get the currency right and you've already won more than half the battle.  If you can get into a country when its currency is 200 units to the dollar and get out when it's 100 to the dollar, you've already doubled your money.  And that's on top of any capital gain on the stock or interest on the bond.

I hate to discourage all the stock pickers out there, but the simple fact is that it's much more important to be in the right countries than the right stocks.  An appreciating currency pushes the dollar value of your investment ever upward, even if its price in local currency doesn't move a bit.

Take Australia, for example.  You could have bought any Australian stock five years ago, and with the currency doubling against the dollar, you would have had an extra 100% in your pocket — on top of whatever the stock appreciates.  The +160% return of Australia's All Ordinaries Index became a +301% gain for U.S. investors.

Almost the exact same thing happened in New Zealand.  Over the past five years, stocks have soared +92% there.  But American investors gained +176% because of the currency effect.

In Germany, stocks rose +165% in euros, but in dollar terms they were up +273%.

It goes on and on around the world.  In Great Britain, stocks rose +94% for British investors, but +145% for their U.S. counterparts.

In Brazil, the currency effect was like rocket fuel.  Local investors saw their shares soar +518% . . . but in dollar terms Brazilian stocks gained an eye-popping +1,203%!

Profit from Today's Most Attractive Currencies . . . and Lock in Dividend Yields of up to 24.9% 

Over the next several years, foreign currencies should continue to skyrocket versus the U.S. dollar.  After all, U.S. economic growth is slowing, foreigners are pulling their money out of U.S. treasuries, and money is flowing into other countries like Brazil, Norway, Poland, Australia and New Zealand in an effort to capture strong returns and relatively high interest rates.

With all of these factors in mind, I believe the U.S. dollar will continue to fall versus many other foreign currencies, leading to an ever-increasing stream of capital gains and dividends for U.S. investors.

In fact, millions of investors have already locked in gains of up to +1,203% and healthy average dividend yields of 8.5% simply by investing in foreign stocks . . .

These recent returns have been nothing short of spectacular, but if you're investing in today's markets, then you need to know where to put your money NOW in order to capture both high yields and strong capital gains.  That's where my premium newsletter — High-Yield International — comes in.  It's the only newsletter of its kind devoted exclusively to finding high-yielding securities in today's best-performing foreign markets.

In recent issues, I've profiled some of the most attractive dividend payers on the planet, including a rock-solid Australian utility with a 21.1% yield, an international shipping company paying 15.7%, an emerging Europe fund with a 21.5% yield, and a Canadian trucking giant with dividends of 24.9%, among many others.   

If you'd like to learn the names of these companies — plus receive a steady stream of foreign stocks, funds and other investing ideas with abnormally high dividend yields each and every month — then I'd like to extend you a personal invitation to try my premium international investing newsletter . . . High-Yield International. Visit this link to learn more.