MarketWatch top 10 stories Jan. 9 - 13

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday but shook off enough of their big early losses to end higher for the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA �ended the week up 0.5%, closing at 12,422, while the S&P 500 SPX �ended up 0.9% on the week, closing at 1,289.

The tech -laden Nasdaq Composite COMP �posted the week�s best results, closing at 2,711, for 1.4% gain on the week.

Also please be sure to watch our Week Ahead videos

Greg Morcroft, assistant managing editor

U.S. Week Ahead: Earnings Will Rev Up

Europe Week Ahead: Greece, Retailers in Focus

Dividends don�t lie

�Earnings, book value and cash flow can all be distorted. But when a company sends you a check, you can be pretty sure they earned it,� affirms Eddy Elfenbein, while illustrating how dividends from S&P 500 constituents have recently grown at the fastest clip in 35 years. Read MarketWatch Trading Deck item on dividends

After �lost decade,� U.S. equities poised to reward investors for risk

With so much volatility in stocks, many investors have increasingly favored the relative security of bonds and bond mutual funds. Using history as their guide, and weighing current stock valuations and interest rates, various investment pros believe stocks have a much better chance than bonds to beat inflation in the long run. That isn�t to say they are particularly bullish on stocks. It�s just that they are profoundly pessimistic when it comes to bonds. Read Jonathan Burton�s Life Savings, on MarketWatch

Time to sell Apple?

Should you use Apple�s AAPL �new all-time high this week as the occasion to sell? Or to buy more?Regardless of your answer, there�s no denying that the stock�s run has been nothing short of amazing. It is up some $50 per share just since early October, the occasion of Steve Jobs� untimely death. It is more than $100 higher than where it stood this summer. What are the top performers advising us to do? That�s the question I am devoting this issue of Hulbert On Markets to answering. Read MarketWatch story about selling Apple shares

U.S. unemployment claims rise sharply to 399,000

New applications for unemployment benefits jumped last week to the highest level since late November, most likely because of end-of-the-year layoffs following the holiday season. Jobless claims rose by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 399,000 in the week ended Jan 7, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 375,000 from 372,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had estimated that claims would rise to a seasonally adjusted 380,000. See full employment report details on MarketWatch

Re-energized Intel roars back at CES

At last year�s Consumer Electronics Show, Intel INTC �didn�t get much attention.It lacked a presence in smartphones and among the Apple iPad wanna-bes. Instead, the media and investors were focused on hotter devices developed around the more power-efficient chips with designs from ARM Holdings PLC. was seen as missing the big boat in smartphones and tablets and its partnerships with LG Electronics Inc. and Nokia Corp. appeared to be leading nowhere. What a difference a year makes. Read Therese Poletti�s Tech Tales on MarketWatch