24/7 Wall St. praises dividends. We also want to call out the myriad of great companies that need to realize that times demand investor payouts. A few companies are still buying growth, and we have identified some of these players as well. The thesis behind offering a solid dividend is that it instills confidence in investors that the company has earnings visibility for years even when the business cycle slows.

Having a real dividend policy may also be the key to keeping nervous investors from fleeing and going into cash or Treasury bonds, which pay almost nothing these days. There are just still too many companies in denial that they are still growth companies when they need to start directly rewarding shareholders. Some companies can get away without paying out a single cent to owners because the value of growth is so strong. That list is shrinking these days. Most companies we identified are in what we would call the “Dividend Sinners” category.

Our review focuses on Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY), Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A), Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG), Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), Express Scripts Inc. (NASDAQ: ESRX), Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK), Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER), United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA). We have handicapped whether investors might expect a dividend in the near-term or long-term from each of these as well.

The first order of business is to identify some of the great companies that have started paying a dividend since we (and others) have called for them to act with dividend payments in the past year or two. A few would include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) and NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ).

Marin provides a cloud-based digital advertising management platform that competes with similar offerings from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) and other, privately held firms. The company lists Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M), Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) and Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) among its customers and says it has business relationships with Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), Bing from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Google, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).

Once more, it appears that underwriters have left money on the table. The initial share price rise gives the brokers’ customers a nice profit, but the company ends up with less cash than it could have banked.

Shares are currently trading at $17.65, up about 26% over the offering price.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) cut to Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) raised to Buy at Citigroup and maintained Buy but target raised $10 to $60 at Argus.

AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reiterated Outperform with $600 target at Credit Suisse due to iPhone refresh and lower-end iPhone.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reinstated as Outperform with $30 price target at Credit Suisse.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley (full summary).

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) reiterated Outperform with $68 target at Oppenheimer.

Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) reiterated Buy with $98 price target at Argus.

Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRD) raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) reiterated as Hold but with negative comments and more questions than answers from Argus.

Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) raised to Buy at Citigroup and raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Walter Investment Management Corp. (NYSE: WAC) raised to Buy with $45 target after extreme weakness at Stern Agee and maintained Outperform but target cut to $50 from $58 at Credit Suisse.

Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) started as Market Perform at Raymond James.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Deutsche Bank has a list of key global growth and income stocks to buy now based on strict S&P 500 stock screening tools.

J.P. Morgan gave a list of 15 stocks to buy based on current market conditions.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) raised to Outperform at Macquarie.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) raised to Neutral from Reduce at Nomura.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC) started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo, started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch and started as Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) started as Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Craft Brew Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: BREW) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) and Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) were both raised to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) named Bull of the Day by Zacks.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) raised to Neutral from Reduce at Nomura.

Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) started as Buy at BB&T.

Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Standard Parking (NASDAQ: STAN) named Bear of the Day with struggling earnings growth by Zacks.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) reiterated Outperform with $27.50 target at Credit Suisse.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Here is a list of small cap stocks to buy now by Deutsche Bank.

J.P. Morgan offers a list of 15 stocks to buy based on current market conditions.

Credit Suisse gave a list of MLPs that will thrive and continue high distributions even under the risk of rising interest rates.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) reiterated Buy with $100 price target at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) reiterated Buy and target raised by $2 to $115 at Argus.

CVR Refining L.P. (NYSE: CVRR) raised to Outperform and target raised to $34 from $32 at Credit Suisse.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) reiterated Buy with $47 target at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

El Paso Pipeline Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPB) cut to Neutral but raised target by $1 to $44 at Credit Suisse.

EQT Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: EQM) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG) raised to Buy and target raised to $8.50 from $6 at Goldman Sachs.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) named Bear of the Day as copper and gold are weighing down lots of miners at Zacks Investment Research.

Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) raised to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) named Bull of the Day as cyber security threats are on the rise at Zacks Investment Research.

Synergy Resources Corp. (NYSEMKT: SYRG) started as Buy at KeyBanc.

Tesoro Logistics L.P. (NYSE: TLLP) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse; cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reiterated Buy and raised target $6 to $54 at Argus.

Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) raised to Buy at UBS.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reiterated Buy with $85 price target at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) maintained Outperform and raised target by $3 to $70 at Credit SUisse.

Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS) started as Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch, started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs, started as Buy at Jefferies, started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan and started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) was shown with a $5 to $7 valuation and was maintained as outperform at Wells Fargo on Tuesday, implying a stock that will double. Here were some of our issues with the call.

BofA/Merrill Lynch’s prized RIC Report looked great for stocks, but not for gold and bonds.

Here are 11 stocks which analysts expect to rise 50% to 100% (or more) over the next year.

Here is a list of eight companies that will benefit from the Keystone pipeline if approved.

The company counts Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M), Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), and Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) among its customers, and says it has business relationships with Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), Bing from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). Marin identified competitors Google’s DoubleClick advertising platform, Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE), and other privately held firms.

Marin expects about 23.27 million shares to be outstanding following the IPO, a total which does not include about 4.9 million additional shares issued or issuable, not does the total include shares reserved for future issuance under an equity compensation plan.

The company currently claims about 400 employees and will trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol MRIN.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) cut to Hold at Jefferies, called an attractive entry point on new post-earnings weakness by Argus and maintained Outperform but target cut to $600 from $750 at Credit Suisse.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (NYSE: SNP) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD) started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) started as Outperform and added to U.S. Focus List at Credit Suisse.

Copa Holdings S.A. (NYSE: CPA) cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) removed from U.S. Focus List at Goldman Sachs.

Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse, raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan, raised to Market Perform at Raymond James, raised to Neutral at Macquarie and raised to Buy at Lazard

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Rangold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD) raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) cut to Neutral at UBS.

Bank of America was positive on the transportation sector despite this sector’s recent gains.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) cut to Hold at Benchmark.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) started as Outperform with $90 target at Credit Suisse.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) maintained Buy with $15 target but cautious earnings comments from BofA/Merrill Lynch.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) at Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) started as Outperform with $43 target at Credit Suisse.

Exact Target Inc. (NYSE: ET) started as Outperform with $30 target at Credit Suisse.

First Energy (NYSE: FE) cut to Underperform at Jefferies.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) maintained Buy with $35 target at Argus.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) reiterated Underperform with $32 target at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: LIFE) cut to Market Perform at William Blair.

LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) started as Neutral at Stern Agee.

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE: PBF) started as Outperform with $35 target at Credit Suisse.

School Specialty Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHS) raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) reiterated Buy and raised target from $85 to $90 at Argus.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) maintained Neutral but raised target to $21.50 from $20 at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) maintained Underperform and named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) started as Outperform with $114 target at Credit Suisse.

Wesco International Inc. (NYSE: WCC) raised to Outperform with target moving up to $84 at Credit Suisse.

Goldman Sachs has issued a very favorable 2013 outlook for major media stocks.

HP’s acquisition of software company Autonomy created an $8.8 billion charge due to supposed accounting improprieties. Now HP has just one more notch in its bedpost of bad deals, after you tally up the likes of 3Com, Palm, EDS and Compaq. While HP shareholders should ban the company from ever making another acquisition, there are many other M&A sinners from the past five to 10 years.

The list of awful mergers offers keen insight into not marrying troubled assets and avoiding difficult integrations. This is not just a lesson in technology mergers. For our analysis, we screened out many questionable mergers and acquisitions that made little sense or have yet to pay off, if the share price has not suffered. That leaves deals like Medco, XTO, Sun Microsystems, Cadbury and many other financial mergers off the list for now.

Here are 10 of the worst large mergers of the past decade.

Today, Sourcefire more than repaid the favor, reporting better-than-expected results for the third quarter and putting a charge back into the security stocks. Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) just closed its third quarter yesterday, and is expected to post EPS of $0.03 on revenues of $83.7 million when it reports results in December.

Sourcefire even boosted its full-year guidance to adjusted EPS of $0.80 to $0.82, nicely above the consensus estimate of $0.76. Revenues were also forecast above the current consensus.

Over the past 12 months, Sourcefire’s shares are up about 77%, far more than any of the other players, including Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC), which grew about 13%. Palo Alto Networks, which came public in July, is up about 6%, Fortinet is down almost 11%, and Check Point is down about 20%.

Fortinet and Check Point both called out softness in the European market as a source of their lowered estimates. But Sourcefire’s international revenues grew 69%. Sourcefire’s U.S. government sales grew by just 4% in the quarter, and the looming cuts in federal spending could be a bigger problem for all these vendors than weak sales in Europe.

Sourcefire shares are up 12.8% at $48.25 in a 52-week range of $28.35 to $59.64.

Fortinet is up 4.5% at $20.25 in a 52-week range of $18.15 to $28.82.

Check Point is up 2% at $45.43 in a 52-week range of $40.60 to $65.00.

Palo Alto Networks is up 2.4% at $56.28 in a post-IPO range of $51.10 to $72.61.

Symantec is up 2.1% at $18.57 in a 52-week range of $13.06 to $19.54.

Paul Ausick