June wasn’t kind to the stock market. In fact, the S&P 500 had its worst month since September 2002 and its worst June since 1930.

So far, July hasn’t been much better.

End result: The S&P 500 is now back below 1300, the same place it was at in the beginning of 2006. In other words, it has given up all the gains made throughout 2007.

In fact, the S&P 500 was at the very same 1300 level as far back as 1999. In between were massive rallies, sure. But over the last eight years, the market has basically gone nowhere.

You can see why I continue to think select dividend-paying shares are the perfect way to get paid while the market idles in neutral and interest rates remain insultingly low….