Retirement Q&A: Utility funds useful for income?

Utilities funds have been a haven for income investors pretty much since there have been utilities. But are they a good investment for retirees?

The answer is yes — if you're comfortable with the risk from stocks, even mild-mannered ones such as utilities.

Utilities are a group that includes not only electric utilities such as Duke Energy (ticker: DUK) and Southern Company (SO), but telephone utilities such as AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ), as well. Because utilities often have limited growth potential, they tend to pay generous dividends. And because people usually don't go without telephone or power in tough times, they tend to be more stable than most other types of stocks.

Compared to what you can get from bank CDs and money market funds — which is to say, almost nothing — dividend payouts from utilities look pretty generous. Duke, for example, has a 4.42% yield, which is the payout over the past 12 months divided by the current stock price. Southern's dividend yield: 4.95%. AT&T and Verizon pay 5.1% and 4.2%, respectively.

Utility companies also have the ability to raise dividends, which helps investors keep up with inflation. Duke, for example, paid out a quarterly dividend of 0.245 cents per share on Dec. 16, 2010. It will pay out 0.78 cents a share the same day in 2013.

The drawback: They're still stocks, and they often lag when investors think rates will rise. That has been the case this year: Utility stocks have gained 13.2%, including dividends, vs. 29.1% for the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index.

And being stocks, they can lose money. The worst 12-month period for utility stocks, according to Morningstar, was in inflation-wracked 1974, when the average utility fund lost 41.2%.

A good way to start investing in utilities is through a low-cost mutual fund, such as Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU), which has a 12-month yield of 3.84% and charges 0.18% in annual expenses. Two other low-cost utility funds:

• Vanguard Utilities ETF ! (VPU), 3.66%

• iShares U.S. Utilities (IDU), 3.21%.

Have a retirement question? Send it to jwaggoner@usatoday.com for consideration in a future column.

Follow John Waggoner on Twitter: @johnwaggoner.

Publicly Traded Patent Collectors Plaguing Google, Apple

In more than two decades as a publicly-traded company, Spherix Inc. (SPEX) developed diabetes treatments, marketed a low-calorie sweetener and handled campground reservations. Now it's dealing in something completely different: patents.

Two months ago, Spherix merged with North South Holdings Inc., owner of a portfolio of 224 patents. The new Spherix, which calls itself an "intellectual property development company," is pursuing infringement cases against the likes of T-Mobile US Inc. and buying former Nortel Networks patents from a consortium set up by Microsoft Corp. and Apple (AAPL) Inc.

Spherix's overnight transformation from a struggling scientific research company into a patent collector is the latest step in the race to turn other people's ideas into dollars. In the past 16 months, at least five U.S. companies have used deals to become publicly traded patent owners, adding the firepower that comes with raising funds in the stock market to lure investors with the potential of a big payday as mobile and Internet technologies proliferate.

"I may be either delusional or naive, but I'm doing this because this is an asset class that is evolving," said Anthony Hayes, the former chief executive officer of North South, who took the helm of Spherix after the deal. "We're at a tipping point. The guy who gets it right will have the chance to build something."

Investors betting on Hayes are not just backing a risky business model. They're also joining an escalating debate over the practice of buying up patents without making products or developing technology.

FTC's Plans

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is planning to examine whether patent monetization helps or hinders innovation. Technology providers including Google Inc. (GOOG) and Adobe Systems Inc. say more needs to be done to curb so-called trolling, in which patent-focused entities send royalty demand letters to hundreds of companies at a time.

Hayes, who previously worked as a trial lawyer, says his model rewards inventors who may otherwise receive no compensation for their ideas. Reverse mergers, where private companies combine with listed entities, can also breathe life into ailing public companies.

Spherix had not generated as much as $2 million in annual revenue in seven years and was burning through cash in an attempt to develop and market drugs. North South was formed a year ago to acquire patents and "monetize those patents through sales, litigation or licensing," according to its website.

Raising Capital

Earlier this month, Spherix, based in Tysons Corner, Virginia, about 15 miles west of Washington, D.C., raised $2.24 million in a private placement to go after patents in areas like WiFi, cellular communication and antenna technology. The financing almost doubled the company's cash on hand, based on its reported figure at the end of September.

Patent-licensing firms have targeted companies such as Google, ZTE Corp. (000063) and Apple, which have mobile and cloud products. The rationale is that if they can win, licensing firms can generate sustained royalty revenue on products that big companies sell.

It's an expensive proposition. Against such competitors, even a small case can require $650,000 in legal fees, with bigger cases costing more, according to a survey by the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Furthermore, a case could take years getting through trial and appeals.

Monetizing Patents

"There's no way to monetize a patent, no matter how brilliant an inventor you are, without access to capital," said Ron Epstein, CEO of patent brokerage Epicenter IP Group LLC in Redwood City, California. "Ten years ago, contingency fee lawyers were your only source for capital. Now billions of dollars are looking to invest itself in patent enforcement."

Public-market investors have to be prepared for a bumpy ride. Spherix, with a market value of $23.6 million, has dropped 11 percent since the merger closed. Vringo Inc. (VRNG), a provider of software for mobile and video applications, has tumbled 19 percent since merging with intellectual property company Innovate/Protect Inc.

Vringo entered the patent market after struggling to build an ad-supported ringtone business. Eighteen months after its June 2010 initial public offering, the stock fell below $1.

Vringo acquired Innovate/Protect in July 2012, and in November was awarded about $30 million from Google and some customers over patented ways to generate ad revenue. Vringo has sold about $75 million in stock to fund the new business and used part of the proceeds to buy telecommunications patents from Nokia Oyj.

Microsoft Deal

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In May of this year, it got six telecommunications and data management patents from Microsoft as part of a settlement deal in which Microsoft agreed to pay $1 million plus 5 percent of whatever related royalties Google pays in the future. Vringo shares rose as much as 10 percent on May 30, after the announcement, and closed up 2.6 percent.

"The market reacted very positively and we realized that we could use that liquidity to acquire additional assets," Andrew Perlman, CEO of the New York-based company, said in an interview. "I'm a big fan of the licensing model. When it works, there's no better business."

Vringo's stock-market value jumped to $235 million at the end of 2012, from $9.9 million a year earlier.

Dig a little deeper and a cautionary tale emerges. In the win against Google, Vringo had sought almost $500 million. When the jury announced a $30 million award, Vringo shares sank 9.6 percent.

Herd Investing

"If you don't know what you're doing and you're investing alongside the herd, that can be a problem," said Kevin Rivette, a managing partner in the Silicon Valley office of 3LP Advisors LLC, which has advised companies on patent strategies. While there are good patents for investors to back, "Some you look at and say, 'You've got a better chance of finding gold in Palo Alto,'" Rivette said.

A bigger concern may be that businesses are fighting back. Companies like Google and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), which get dozens of royalty demands a year, are pushing the courts and Congress to limit suits that involve common technology, such as wireless networking.

Of the past 12 trials in East Texas, the most popular venue for patent suits, 10 were unsuccessful, according to Michael Smith of law firm Siebman Burg Phillips & Smith LLP in Marshall, Texas.

Since July, Spherix has filed a complaint against T-Mobile for geolocation technology, and infringement lawsuits against VTech Holdings Ltd. and Uniden Corp. for patents related to cordless handsets.

Nortel Patents

The case against Uniden is tied to patents Spherix bought from Rockstar Consortium US LP, a joint venture that Apple and Microsoft created in 2011 to hold some of the Nortel patents acquired for $4.5 billion in 2011.

Document Security Systems Inc. (DSS), based in Rochester, New York, is suing Facebook Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. for infringing technology covering online collaboration. The patents were acquired in a reverse merger with Lexington Technology Group Inc., an intellectual property company. The shares have fallen 33 percent since the deal closed on July 1.

Peter Hardigan, Document Security's chief operating officer, said investors looking for fast returns have turned away from his company.

"IP investors tend to be very quick on the trigger," Hardigan said. "We're building a business and trying to manage it for the long term."

Investors with 3-4 yr goals should infuse debt in portfolio

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If you are investing for three to four years, pick up a fund which has about 20-30% into equity and rest into a debt based instrument.

Gaurav Mashruwala

CFP

"Pick up a fund which should have about 20-30% into equity and rest into a debt based instrument," he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

He says that investors who have a timeframe of more than five years can look to be more aggressive and invest solely in equity funds, but other debt should be included.

Below is an edited transcript of his interview.

Q: An investor wants to invest Rs 10,000 per month for a time frame of three- four years. How should he allocate the money?

A: If you are saying that after about three to four years you would want a kind of corpus which you can use as seed capital to start your own enterprise here is my recommendation. Pick up a mutual fund scheme which would have a combination of debt and equity, that's because you are saying three to four years. If it goes beyond five I would probably encourage you to take a slightly aggressive call on an equity fund, but since you are saying three to four years pick up a fund which should have about 20-30% into equity and rest into a debt based instrument.

There are several mutual fund companies which has fund of funds which can help or you can take two separate funds. A debt fund is one which predominantly invests into government securities and bonds, and an equity fund which puts into stock market. So either take two separate funds or make a combination of that. As and when you require money just start redeeming from that. But you can keep investing, you can give 12 post dated checks or you can give an ECS mandate to a mutual fund company and they will keep debiting your account and keep investing for you based on NAV and at the end of three years you would have a corpus.

Will Nike Stock Run Higher?

With shares of Nike (NYSE:NKE) trading around $61, is NKE an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Nike is engaged in the design, development, and worldwide marketing and selling of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. The company sells its products to retail accounts, through retail stores and Internet sales, and through a mix of independent distributors and licensees around the world. Nike focuses its product offerings in seven key categories: Running, Basketball, Soccer, Men's Training, Women's Training, Nike Sportswear and Action Sports. It also markets products designed for kids, as well as for other athletic and recreational uses. Looking around, many consumers and companies are advocating and opting for a lifestyle with increasing outdoor and physical activity time. As the staying active and fitness movement sees progress, Nike is a company that is poised to see rising profits.

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T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

Nike stock has been on an explosive bullish run over the last several years. The stock is now consolidating near all-time high prices so it may need time before making a run. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Nike is trading between its rising key averages which signal neutral price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Nike options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Nike Options	32.83%	96%	95%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts, as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
July Options	Flat	Average
August Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Improving Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Nike’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Nike look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

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	2012 Q4	2012 Q3	2012 Q2	2012 Q1
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	58.33%	-16.00%	-9.56%	-5.42%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	9.39%	7.37%	9.67%	21.97%
Earnings Reaction	11.06%	6.16%	-1.12%	-9.39%

Nike has seen improving earnings and rising revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been upbeat with Nike’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Average Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Nike stock done relative to its peers, Under Armour (NYSE:UA), Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX), Deckers Outdoor (NASDAQ:DECK), and sector?

	Nike	Under Armour	Crocs	Deckers Outdoor	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	19.22%	19.97%	10.35%	28.09%	17.84%

Nike has been a relative average performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Nike provides widely demanded athletic apparel and footwear in a time where this trend is exploding. The stock has been on a powerful run higher but is now digesting gains and may need time before continuing. Over the last four quarters, investors in the company have been upbeat as earnings have improved while revenue figures have been rising. Relative to its peers and sector, Nike has been an average performer, year-to-date. Look for Nike to OUTPERFORM.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014

As Federal Chairman Ben Bernanke concluded his two-day tour of Capital Hill today, and investors were handed a better-than-expected jobless claims report, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) and the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) �set new all-time record highs. The blue chip index ended the session higher by 78 points, or 0.5%, and set a new all-time closing high at 15,548. It also set a new all-time high at 15,589 during today's session. The S&P 500 rose 8.46 points, or 0.5% and also set a new record closing high at 1,689, and a new intraday high at 1,693. While the Nasdaq didn't set any new records today, it did increase by 0.04%.�

The better-than-expected jobless claims number came in at 334,000 last week as analysts were expecting 345,000 for the week.�This report, along with a number of earnings reports, helped push stocks higher. This morning, I explained why three of the Dow's components were moving lower due to lackluster earnings results;�now let's take a look at a few of the Dow's components that ended as big winners as a result of strong earnings today.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Thalman]

  So what happened? The problem was that some of the Dow's most heavily weighted stocks were the big decliners, while some of the more lightly weighted ones were the top winners. Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) , and Verizon, the Dow's biggest losers last week, fell by a respective 2.04%, 2.99%, and 1.5% -- and combined, those stocks carry 13.1% of the Dow's total weight.

• [By Charley Blaine]

  Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) reports fiscal-fourth-quarter results after Monday's close. Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) reports after Wednesday's close. Oil giants Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) report on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Douglas A. McIntyre]

  More evidence surfaced that the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5c�is a failure. To make matters worse, it has been in the market such a short time. Apparently, consumers do not want the under-featured, over-prices smartphone–no matter how many colors it comes in. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that Apple’s new flagship–the iPhone 5s– is an unqualified success.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) as well has been stung by slowing growth, and even the expected introduction of the iPhone 5S won't be enough to prop up sales for long, while�BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY  ) , which had pinned all of its hopes on its Z10 phone, is finding carriers slashing the price to just $50 from $200 a mere six months after its introduction.�Nokia was also hoping for a big splash when it switched over to Windows Phone devices, but sales cratered 27% from the year-ago period.

Hot Oil Companies To Buy For 2014: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  It's one of the steadiest dividend payers on the market, and it's continuing to fly level. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) has declared a fresh quarterly common stock dividend, which is to be $0.34 per share, paid on August 15 to shareholders of record as of July 23. That amount matches the firm's previous distribution; this was paid in May. Prior to that, Colgate-Palmolive handed out $0.31 per share.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Colgate-Palmolive Co (NYSE: CL) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.73 per share on revenue of $4.46 billion.

  Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $2.83 per share on revenue of $2.36 billion.

• [By James Well]

  Analysts��Consensus Position on Pfizer
  
  Thirteen analysts including those at TheStreet, Thomson Reuters/Verus, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley and Argus Research are optimistic about the performance of Pfizer going forward and, hence, reiterated a consensus buy recommendation at an average target price of $31.78 per share. Last Wednesday, analysts at Goldman Sachs removed Pfizer from Goldman�� conviction buy list (CL) where Pfizer has been since Aug. 9, 2011, and placed it on the buy list but raised its price target from $34 to $35 per share. Jami Rubin, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, claimed that Pfizer has gone up by 82.5% since being added to the CL as against 53.9% for the S&P 500 during the period and, therefore, there was the need to replace Pfizer with AbbVie at a price target of $60 because they claimed AbbVie has greater upside at this time.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) Reached the 52-Week Low of $83.79
  
  The prices of Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $83.79, which is 15.1% off the 52-week high of $96.73. Philip Morris International Inc. is owned by 31 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 14 have added to their positions during the past quarter. Nine reduced their positions.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]

  Philip Morris provides cigarette and tobacco products through established brands to an increasing consumer base around the world. The stock has done very well over the last few years and is now trading at all-time high prices. Earnings and revenue figures have been increasing and decreasing, in recent quarters, which has confused investors a bit. Relative to its strong peers and sector, Philip Morris has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Philip Morris to OUTPERFORM.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But amid the euphoria, it's important to keep a sense of perspective, and two of today's losing stocks make a more bearish case about prospects for the U.S. stock market. IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) was the worst performer in the Dow today, falling almost 2% after a Wall Street analyst downgraded the stock, citing sluggish emerging-market business activity. The drop comes after two straight days on which IBM has announced acquisitions, with today's purchase of private virtual-management company CSL following yesterday's closing on its buyout of SoftLayer Technologies, a cloud infrastructure company. Given the amount of influence IBM has on the Dow, a failure of the company to execute on its earnings-growth promises could point to difficulty throughout the tech sector, hurting one substantial contributor factor in the Dow's four-year bull market.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]

  IBM is a technology company that provides valuable and essential products and services to consumers and companies around the world. The stock has been on a strong run extending back several years but has been in consolidation as of late. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been increasing while revenue figures have been decreasing, overall producing mixed feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, IBM has been a poor year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what IBM does in coming quarters.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Bo Rader/Wichita Eagle/MCT via Getty Images In the food world, pumpkin is the new black. The squash offshoot that was once relegated to jack o' lanterns on Halloween and whipped into pies for Thanksgiving is experiencing a foodie renaissance. A lot of coffee houses, restaurants, and fast food chains are embracing the pumpkin for a seasonal spark on their menus. Here are some of the many ways that consumers are enjoying pumpkin this season at publicly traded eateries. Starbucks (SBUX) It's safe to say that pumpkins had arrived as a trendy menu add-on when Starbucks introduced them into its seasonal latte line. The Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is a combination of espresso, steamed milk, and pumpkin-flavored syrup -- topped with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spices. It's as decadent as it sounds. A venti-sized offering made with whole milk clocks in at 510 calories and a whopping 12 grams of saturated fat -- 60 percent of the recommended daily fat intake in a single cup. But you can nix the whipped cream and go with skim milk for a fat-free indulgence. How popular is the drink? Starbucks claims to have sold 200 million of them over the years before it began pouring them out last month. The grande 16-ounce option will set you back $4.55, on average (prices do vary from location to location). McDonald's (MCD) It's been a few years since the world's largest fast food chain ripped a page out of the Starbucks playbook with its McCafe line of premium coffee beverages. This season, it's moving a step closer to Starbucks by offering its own Pumpkin Spice Latte. McDonald's knows how to price its offerings aggressively. It's 16-ounce version sells for $2.89, and it will be available through mid-November. It's not the only way that McDonald's is playing up the gourd this season. Customers can also order a pumpkin pie treat, served in the same turnover style as its baked apple pie. Jamba (JMBA) You know it's fall when pumpkin finds its way into Jamba Juice's blender

• [By Matt Thalman]

  Another company that has been battling the obesity issue and is falling today is McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) . Shares are down 1.04% after the company announced that key sales figures fell again in April. The company is blaming fears of the avian flu as reason for the weak performance in China. Sales fell 0.6% globally in April, even though the U.S. market increased by 0.7%. But the largest decline came from Europe, were sales dropped 2.4% during the month.�

• [By Reuters]

  Ricardo Ricote Rodríguez/Flickr World's biggest fast-food chain seeks new ketchup for its famous french fries. McDonald's Corp (MCD) on Friday said it plans to end its 40-year relationship with ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co, since that company is now led by Bernardo Hees, the former chief executive of hamburger rival Burger King Worldwide Inc. "As a result of recent management changes at Heinz, we have decided to transition our business to other suppliers over time," McDonald's said in a statement. "We have spoken to Heinz and plan to work together to ensure a smooth and orderly transition," said McDonald's, which has more than 34,000 restaurants around the globe. Heinz declined to comment. "As a matter of policy, Heinz does not comment on relationships with customers," company spokesman Michael Mullen said. The switch will be more apparent overseas than in the United States, as McDonald's only serves Heinz ketchup in two domestic markets - Pittsburgh and Minneapolis, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Friday. Indeed, ketchup packages handed out at McDonald's restaurants in the United States often say only "fancy ketchup." Most in-store ketchup dispensers are not branded. The move from McDonald's could benefit Heinz ketchup rivals Hunt's, owned by ConAgra Foods Inc, and Del Monte. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and an investment fund affiliated with 3G Capital bought Heinz for $28 billion in June and immediately named Hees CEO. Burger King went public in June 2012, less than two years after it was taken private by 3G Capital Management LLC, which retains a stake in the fast-food chain.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2014: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  What's in your wallet? The tag line might not be Visa's (NYSE: V  ) , but the answer almost certainly is. At the end of 2011, there were 261 million Visa credit cards and 392 million Visa debit cards circulating in just the United States. People around the world are more likely to have a Visa card than they are to have a cell phone, and are far more likely to have a Visa card than they are to hold any competing card:

Apple's Biggest Challenge May Be Apple

A recent report from Fast Company suggests that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) failed to follow the wants of its user base in developing its most recent series of products. The report details how social media, through sites like Facebook (NASDAQ: FB  ) , can provide critical information to companies about what customers want. While that message was delivered to Apple, it was actually reflected in products that run on Google's Android instead.

In the video below, Fool.com contributor Doug Ehrman discusses two paradigms for product development and why Apple may have to shift from one to the other, as well as where the company may be its own worst enemy.

Apple has a history of cranking out revolutionary products... and then creatively destroying them with something better. Read about the future of Apple in the free report, "Apple Will Destroy Its Greatest Product." Can Apple really disrupt its own iPhones and iPads? Find out by clicking here.

Editor's note: The author misspoke; Android devices have switched sooner to LTE, not LTD.

Dow Heads Higher With the Help of Home Depot Stock

Blue-chip stocks are broadly higher today following a better-than-expected earnings report from Home Depot (NYSE: HD  ) and a key Federal Reserve official's comments about a continuation of quantitative easing. With an hour left in the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  ) is up by 76 points, or 0.5%.

Shares of Home Depot are among the Dow's leaders this afternoon, up by 3%. The home improvement retailer reported expectation-stomping first-quarter results today. For the three months ended May 5, the company reported net earnings of $1.2 billion on $19.4 billion in revenue, equating to respective increases of 18% and 7.4% over the same time period of last year.

The impressive performance was the result of two trends. First, the housing market is improving. This is particularly the case as we enter the prime season for home sales. And second, Home Depot continued to benefit from rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged the East Coast in the latter half of last year.

According to the company's chairman and CEO, Frank Blake, "In the first quarter, we saw less favorable weather compared to last year, but we continue to see benefit from a recovering housing market that drove a stronger-than-expected start to the year for our business."

Further fueling the optimism of stocks today were comments by two Federal Reserve officials about their support for continued quantitative easing. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said that the program has been "effective" and that he supports its continuation. William Dudley, the president of the New York branch, followed this up by intimating that the central bank hasn't set a course on winding down the program.

And in one last piece of news that's spurring shares of the nation's largest bank by assets, the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) won a proxy vote allowing him to continue occupying both positions. Jamie Dimon's dual roles had been challenged after it was reported last year that the bank had suffered a multibillion-dollar trading loss known as the "London Whale" scandal. Shares of JPMorgan are currently up by 1.6%.

Former Microsoft Corporation Manager Charged with Insider Trading (MSFT)

Former Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) senior manager Brian Jorgenson was charged with insider trading on Thursday.

Last month, Brian Jorgenson a senior manager in MSFT’s Treasury Group was with his wife and four children when the FBI showed up for questioning. Jorgenson confessed that he had given a friend, who was an experienced day trader, confidential information three times in the last year and a half. The former manager said that the two profited by nearly $400,000 from betting correctly that MSFT’s stock would fall after its Q4 earnings and rise after its Q1 earnings.

On Thursday, Jorgenson and his friend Sean Stokke were charged with 35 felony counts and will be forced to forfeit their profits. MSFT reported that it has a zero tolerance policy against insider trading and had helped in the investigation.

The charges allege that the two friends planned to use the money to start a hedge fund, which indicates that they knew what they were doing. Jorgenson apologized for the illegal trading and reported that greed led him to make the trades.

Microsoft shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Friday. The stock is up 36% YTD.

Global auto sales expected to hit 100M by 2018

Automakers will have an opportunity over the next several years to tap into rapid growth overseas while sales in the U.S. will increase more gradually.

The rapid global expansion of the automotive industry will put even greater pressure on North American parts suppliers as manufacturers continue to increase the pace of new product introductions, according to analysts from IHS Automotive.

"At no other time in recent history has the North American automotive market been as well positioned as it is today," said Mike Jackson, director of North American vehicle forecasting for IHS Automotive.

In the U.S., automotive sales have recovered to an expected total of 15.5 million this year from a low of 10.4 million in 2009.

U.S. sales will continue to increase over the next four years in the U.S., but the pace will slow at the same time that product introductions increase, said Jackson, one of several analysts to speak this week at an IHS event.

That slowing growth rate will put more pressure on automakers as they launch 57 new cars and trucks in the next year and vie more intensely for greater market share. "What we are going to get to in the next 18 to 24 months is a much more competitive dynamic," Jackson said.

But at the same time that sales will grow slowly in the U.S., global sales are expected to increase 22% over the next four years, from about 82 million this year to more than 100 million by 2018. That will give manufacturers with a North American production base the opportunity to expand production here and boost exports by about 2 million cars and trucks annually to a total of 18.2 million by 2020, Jackson said.

Charles Chesbrough, economist for IHS Automotive, said the economic outlook for almost all regions of the world — including Europe — is improving. "We are going to finally see economic growth in Europe."

But even with Europe recovering, the real opportunities for automakers will be global markets, ranging from China to Thailand and Brazil to Chi! le. "In every major economy in the world we are expecting economic growth," Chesbrough said.

Hot Cheap Companies To Buy For 2014

Mortgage rates have skyrocketed over the past few months. Just one week ago, they set a record for the largest single-day increase in history, leading industry experts such as Matthew Graham, chief operating officer of Mortgage News Daily, to characterize it as a "catastrophic surge."

The impact on the mortgage market can't be denied. At the end of last week, the nation's largest mortgage originator, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , reported that its mortgage refinancing volume had fallen by 23% in the second quarter compared with the same time period last year. And industrywide, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that the same figure is down by more than 50% since peaking seven months ago.

But what does this mean for prospective homebuyers? In a word: nothing, or at least, much less than one would instinctively conclude.

Even though mortgage rates have vaulted higher, the monthly payments on a $250,000 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remain historically low. At today's rates -- roughly 4.5% -- the monthly payment would be an estimated $1,266. That's 34% smaller than the average since 1976. In other words, mortgage rates are still dirt cheap. For an additional take, click here.

Hot Cheap Companies To Buy For 2014: SMTC Corporation(SMTX)

SMTC Corporation provides advanced electronics manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide. The company?s services include product design and engineering services, printed circuit board assembly production, enclosure fabrication, systems integration, testing, and configuration services. It also provides enclosure and precision metal fabrication, cable assembly, interconnect, and engineering design services. The company offers its integrated contract manufacturing services to OEMs and technology companies primarily in the industrial, computing and networking, communications, consumer, and medical market segments. SMTC Corporation was founded in 1985 and is based in Markham, Canada.

Hot Cheap Companies To Buy For 2014: Hewlett-Packard Company(HPQ)

Hewlett-Packard Company and its subsidiaries provide products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), as well as to the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. Its Personal Systems Group segment offers commercial personal computers (PCs), consumer PCs, workstations, calculators and other related accessories, and software and services for the commercial and consumer markets. The company?s Services segment provides consulting, outsourcing, and technology services to infrastructure, applications, and business process domains. Its Imaging and Printing Group segment provides consumer and commercial printer hardware, supplies, media, and scanning devices, such as inkjet and Web solutions, laser jet and enterprise solutions, managed enterprise solutions, graphics solutions, and printer supplies. The company?s Enterprise Servers, Storage, and Networking segment offers industry standard s ervers, business critical systems, storage platforms, and networking products, including switches, routers, wireless LAN, and TippingPoint network security products. Its HP Software segment provides enterprise IT management software, information management solutions, and security intelligence/risk management solutions. The company?s HP Financial Services segment offers leasing, financing, utility programs, and asset recovery services; and financial asset management services for enterprise customers, as well as specialized financial services to SMBs, and educational and governmental entities. Hewlett-Packard Company also provides business intelligence solutions that enable businesses to standardize on consistent data management schemes, connect and share data across the enterprise, and apply analytics, as well as licenses its specific technology to third parties. The company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Thalman]

  Lastly, the once PC king of the world,�Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) , has lost 3.99% today as it seems the whole PC industry is under attack. Despite the company being in the middle of a massive turnaround, which, up to this point, has gone really well, investors may be losing faith that Meg Whitman and her team can fully right the ship before weak PC sales sinks the boat.

• [By Benjamin Pimentel]

  On the upside, H-P (HPQ) �rose 6.4% to close at $25.92, while Groupon (GRPN) �jumped 8.7% to close at $9.93.

• [By John Divine]

  Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) , which was up nearly 2% earlier in the day, ended only slightly in the negative, posting losses less than 0.1%. Sadly, that made HP the Dow's top performer of the day. The resilience to broader declines comes as CEO Meg Whitman shakes up company executives in an effort to continue a turnaround that has sent shares up nearly 80% year to date. Shareholders are starting to trust her intuitions.�

Hot Performing Companies To Buy Right Now: The Travelers Companies Inc.(TRV)

The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Business Insurance; Financial, Professional, and International Insurance; and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers property and casualty products and services, such as commercial multi-peril, property, general liability, commercial auto, and workers? compensation insurance. It operates in six groups: Select Accounts, which serves small businesses; Commercial Accounts that serves mid-sized businesses; National Accounts, which serves large companies; Industry-Focused Underwriting that serves targeted industries; Target Risk Underwriting, which serves commercial businesses requiring specialized product underwriting, claims handling, and risk management services; and Special ized Distribution that offers products to customers through licensed wholesale, general, and program agents. The Financial, Professional, and International Insurance segment provides surety and financial liability coverage, which uses a credit-based underwriting process; and property and casualty products primarily in the United States., the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals. It distributes its products through independent agents, sponsoring organizations, joint marketing arrangements with other insurers, and direct marketing. The company was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Finally, Travelers (NYSE: TRV  ) has climbed 1.3%. Insurance companies generally cheered the dissipation of Tropical Storm Chantal to a "tropical wave" this week, as the threat of yet another costly hurricane hitting insurers' net income represents the most unpredictable aspect of investing in insurer stocks. More importantly, though, rising bond yields have raised the ability of Travelers and its peers to generate greater income from their investment portfolios without taking on undue risk. The resulting increase in investment proceeds should fall straight to the bottom line as profit, helping Travelers make the most of its premium revenue.

• [By Alex Planes]

  Perhaps it could. On June 8, 2009, the Dow's editors tapped Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO  ) to replace the belly-up automaker, and also replaced floundering Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) with Travelers (NYSE: TRV  ) , its onetime subsidiary. When the change was announced, Dow Jones editor-in-chief Robert Thomson noted that Cisco was the right choice "because its communications and computer-networking products are vital to an economy and culture still adapting to the Information Age��-��ust as automobiles were essential to America in the 20th century." Citigroup's ouster was necessary as well, since its financial-crisis struggles had left the government with a substantial stake, and had left the bank in the midst of a "substantial restructuring."

Hot Cheap Companies To Buy For 2014: LifePoint Hospitals Inc.(LPNT)

LifePoint Hospitals Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates general acute care hospitals in non-urban communities in the United States. The company?s hospitals provide a range of medical and surgical services comprising general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic care, coronary care, rehabilitation services, and pediatric services, as well as specialized services, such as open-heart surgery, skilled nursing, psychiatric care, and neuro-surgery. Its hospitals also offer outpatient services, including one-day surgery, laboratory, x-ray, respiratory therapy, imaging, sports medicine, and lithotripsy. As of December 31, 2009, LifePoint Hospitals owned or leased 47 hospitals with a total of 5,552 licensed beds in 17 states. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Lifepoint Hospitals Inc. (NasdaqNM:LPNT) operates independently of HCA Inc. as of May 11, 1999.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  The fun wasn't just limited to the big three hospital operators. Lifepoint Hospitals (NASDAQ: LPNT  ) stock jumped 5% on the CMS news, reflecting a $109 million market cap expansion. Likewise, Vanguard Health Systems (NYSE: VHS  ) shares climbed 5%, bumping its market cap up by�$55 million.

Hot Cheap Companies To Buy For 2014: Kohl's Corporation(KSS)

Kohl?s Corporation operates department stores in the United States. The company?s stores offer private and exclusive, as well as national branded apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men, and children; soft home products, such as sheets and pillows; and housewares primarily to middle-income customers. As of January 29, 2011, it operated 1,089 stores in 49 states. The company also offers on-line shopping on its Web site at Kohls.com. Kohl?s Corporation was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Asit Sharma]

  The rub
  The key term here is "liquidation value." In asset-based credit lines, the lender sets the terms, and Penney's terms are rather onerous. Companies with decent credit can borrow against "net realizable value," which is the selling price of the inventory less selling costs. Companies with not-so-glamorous credit ratings borrow against liquidation value, which is the value of the inventory under liquidation sale conditions. The lender sets the rate by which inventory value will be discounted. Incidentally, companies with stellar credit, like competitor Kohl's (NYSE: KSS  ) , for example, can borrow totally unsecured. Kohl's has an investment grade rating and a $1 billion unsecured credit line.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Its strong day has also helped boost other retailers.�Kohl���(KSS), for instance, has gained 1.4% to $55.51, while�Macy���(M) has risen 1.1% to $45.40. Sears Holdings�(SHLD), however, has dropped 1% to $55.34.

• [By Tom Taulli]

  Competition: While TJX attempts to undercut more traditional retailers, it has plenty of competition in the deep-discount game, Ross Stores (ROST), Kohl’s (KSS) and Burlington Stores (BURL). TJX also must contend with big-box operators like Target (TGT). So far, TJX has been able to dig itself a niche and remain fairly differentiated, but it’s fair to point out the danger in slipping — in retail, customers always have plenty of alternatives.

Hot Cheap Companies To Buy For 2014: Compass Minerals Intl Inc(CMP)

Compass Minerals International, Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces and markets inorganic mineral products primarily in North America and the United Kingdom. The company operates in two segments, Salt and Specialty Fertilizer. The Salt segment produces salt and magnesium chloride for use in road deicing and dust control, food processing, water softeners, pool salt, and agricultural and industrial applications. This segment also purchases potassium chloride and sells as a finished product. The Specialty Fertilizer segment produces and markets sulphate of potash crop nutrients and industrial grade sulfate of potash for use in the production of specialty fertilizers for vegetables, fruits, potatoes, nuts, tobacco, and turf grass. The company also produces and markets consumer deicing and water conditioning products, ingredients used in consumer and commercial food preparation, and other mineral-based products for consumer, agricultural, and industrial applications. In ad dition, Compass Minerals provides records management services to businesses located in the U.K. The company operates rock salt mines in Goderich, Ontario, Canada; and Winsford, Chesire, the United Kingdom. It primarily serves producers of intermediate chemical products used in the production of vinyls and other chemicals, and pulp and paper, as well as water treatment and other industrial uses. The company markets its products through direct sales personnel, contract personnel, and a network of brokers or manufacturers? representatives. Compass Minerals International, Inc., formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation, was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  PotashCorp's difficulty sustaining its pricing power is underscored by recent reports from sulfate of potash (SOP) producer Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP  ) , which charged a hefty premium of almost $300 per ton against Potash Corp's prices for muriate of potash. Efforts to move away from SOP sales seem to be the right choice -- PotashCorp peer Intrepid Potash's�SOP sales fell by 37%, while the average price received has slumped nearly 14% in the last quarter. Even ore miner BHP Billiton�has recently jumped into the fertilizer industry with a $2.6 billion build-out of a potash mine in Canada, which is all but certain to produce further downward pressure on potash prices.

Electronic Arts founder Hawkins: New iPad app w…

Trip Hawkins assembled the team that got millions of players hooked on the Madden NFL video game franchise. Now, more than 20 years later, he is focused on your kids: He wants to teach them how to be better people.

Founder of the seminal video game studio Electronic Arts, Hawkins now co-leads If You Can, a small group of developers and educators working to bring a subscription-based iPad adventure game to life. Based on the concept of "emotional intelligence," made popular in the mid-1990s by journalist and author Daniel Goleman, the new game is called simply IF…

Hawkins says the game will debut at the end of January and be aimed at kids ages 6 to 12. The first chapter will be free to play, but after that he hopes to entice parents to sign up for a monthly subscription.

Goleman's best-selling 1995 book Emotional Intelligence popularized the idea that a child's ability to control his or her impulses, delay gratification, persist in the face of setbacks and generally be a more empathetic person could be bigger factors in his or her success than raw intelligence. More recently, educators — including the influential KIPP charter schools — have focused much of their college-completion efforts on kids' ability to show "grit" in everyday life.

Hawkins, a father of four kids aged 9 to 20, says the lessons are valuable, but that teaching them in a classroom isn't so easy. And he doesn't expect to see parents asking their kids to study the concepts after school.

"You have to meet people where they're at," he says. "Where are our kids right now? They've got their fingers on a device."

While players work through each level, the game assesses 20 skills behind the scenes, including self-awareness, resilience, empathy, the ability to listen and to manage emotions, among others. From time to time, game characters even encourage players to put down the game and try out their skills in the real world.

IF… looks like your typical colorful adventure title, with players dropp! ed into the imaginary village of Greenberry and given the choice of playing as a dog or cat. But in this particular world, something isn't right. The village is a mess and everyone's fighting. Hawkins likens it to the scenes in It's a Wonderful Life in which Jimmy Stewart sees what his hometown would be like if he'd never been born.

"We start out with the town being trashed," he says. It's up to players to set things right.

Trash actually plays a role in the game — players are encouraged to pick up trash in the game world, something Hawkins has done, with little fanfare, for years in real life. As an illustration of how small acts can have big effects, he recalls that at a recent presentation at his daughter's school, she surprised him by telling the crowd how her dad picks up trash, even though he'd never called attention to it or asked his kids to follow his lead. She loved the idea, she told the crowd, and had started doing it herself.

Hawkins actually gets a little emotional in the retelling, saying, "I had never heard that — and here it was radiating out to this group. It's one of those things where you realize that every little bit you can do makes a difference and creates these ripple effects that are much bigger, and possibly more profound, than you had imagined."

If You Can website: http://www.ifyoucan.org

Should Microsoft Kill Windows 8 Immediately?

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) Windows 8 is totally killing the PC market. As if PC shipments weren't already stagnating, Windows 8 just knocked unit volumes down for the count.

The 14% decline in the first quarter that IDC estimated is the worst quarterly contraction in nearly 20 years. There were initial indications that Windows 8 wasn't taking off, such as when IDC pegged fourth-quarter PC units at negative 6.4%. The new operating system was released about a month into that quarter, so it was fair to say then that Windows 8 maybe just needed some time. It was simply too early to call it for sure.

Well, we can now call it for sure: Windows 8 has bombed. Don't just take my word for it. IDC's Bob O'Donnell makes it quite clear:

At this point, unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only failed to provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market. While some consumers appreciate the new form factors and touch capabilities of Windows 8, the radical changes to the UI, removal of the familiar Start button, and the costs associated with touch have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices. Microsoft will have to make some very tough decisions moving forward if it wants to help reinvigorate the PC market.

Windows 8 was a huge risk. It was a risk that Microsoft needed to take in the face of lackluster global PC shipments, but after five months on the market, the data show that consumers just aren't buying into Microsoft's vision, literally and figuratively. Users want the Start Menu back; some certified technicians even offer services to downgrade brand-new PCs back to Windows 7 (that'll be $125, please), allowing users to go back to the familiar interface and embrace of that OS.

Should Microsoft just kill Windows 8 immediately in order to minimize the damage it's doing to the PC market? That's not likely, considering how much time and money the software giant plunged into developing it. That would be about the toughest decision Microsoft could make.

This is before we even consider Windows RT, the less-capable variant that doesn't support legacy apps. Surface RT sales haven't made a dent in the market, and many OEMs are already abandoning the platform. Samsung just shuttered Windows RT sales in Europe, which it was using as a testing ground before possibly bringing those devices stateside. Other Windows RT OEMs are already dropping prices to clear out inventory.

Here's IDC's tablet guru Tom Mainelli last month:

Microsoft's decision to push two different tablet operating systems, Windows 8 and Windows RT, has yielded poor results in the market so far. Consumers aren't buying Windows RT's value proposition, and long term we think Microsoft and its partners would be better served by focusing their attention on improving Windows 8. Such a focus could drive better share growth in the tablet category down the road.

IDC is pegging Windows RT growth at less than 3% through 2017, while the overall tablet market is expected to double between 2013 and 2017. At the very least, Microsoft should axe Windows RT. It should probably drop Windows 8, too.

It's been a frustrating path for Microsoft investors, who've watched the company fail to capitalize on the incredible growth in mobile over the past decade. However, with the release of its own tablet, along with the widely anticipated Windows 8 operating system, the company is looking to make a splash in this booming market. In this brand-new premium report on Microsoft, our analyst explains that while the opportunity is huge, the challenges are many. He's also providing regular updates as key events occur, so make sure to claim a copy of this report now by clicking here.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014

Small cap stocks Rewards Nexus Inc (OTCMKTS: ERNI), MyEcheck Inc (OTCMKTS: MYEC) and ITonis Inc (OTCMKTS: ITNS) fell 29.6%, 18.92% and 9.09%, respectively, last Friday. Moreover, some of these small cap stocks are already making big moves again this morning - perhaps in part because they have all been the subject of recent paid promotions. So where are these small cap heading this week and for the long term? Here is a quick reality check:

Rewards Nexus Inc (OTCMKTS: ERNI) Plans to Get Its Financials Up to Date

Small cap Rewards Nexus Inc provides professional support for its consolidated subsidiaries through operational business management, financing and controlling activities. Rewards Nexus Inc targets the following business sectors: the customer loyalty management market, the gift card industry, the online food ordering industry and the marketing consulting industry. On Friday, Rewards Nexus Inc sank 29.6% to $0.095 for a market cap of $9.96 million plus ERNI is down 64.8% over the past year and up 1,087.5% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the development and operation of agricultural logistics and trade centers in northeast China. It also involves in purchasing, processing, assembling, merchandising, and distributing pearls and jewelry products. The company markets its pearls and jewelry products to wholesale distributors and mass merchandisers in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia. In addition, it develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial properties in Hong Kong and the People?s Republic of China. The company is based in Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katie Brennan]

  Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) added 0.9 percent to C$104.93 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 1.7 percent to C$131.73.

  Niko Resources surged 3.4 percent to $8.64 after the company entered an agreement for a $60 million loan that will be funded by a group of institutional investors. Net proceeds from the loan will be used to fund working capital requirements.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Voyager Oil & Gas Inc.(VOG)

Voyager Oil & Gas, Inc. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the United States. It primarily focuses on oil shale resource prospects in Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming. As of May 17, 2011, the company controlled approximately 141,500 net acres in the five primary prospect areas comprising 28,000 net acres targeting the Bakken/Three Forks in North Dakota and Montana; 14,200 net acres targeting the Niobrara formation in Colorado and Wyoming; 800 net acres targeting a Red River prospect in Montana; 33,500 net acres in a joint venture targeting the Heath Shale formation in Musselshell, Petroleum, Garfield, and Fergus counties of Montana; and 65,000 net acres in a joint venture in the Tiger Ridge gas field in Blaine, Hill, and Chouteau counties of Montana. It supplies energy and fuel for industrial, commercial, and individual consumers. The company is based in Billings, Montana.

Top Tech Companies To Buy For 2014: Hot Topic Inc.(HOTT)

Hot Topic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mall- and Web-based specialty retailer in the United States. The company operates Hot Topic and Torrid store concepts, as well as an e-space music discovery concept, ShockHound. Its Hot Topic stores sell music/pop culture-licensed merchandise, including tee shirts, hats, posters, stickers, patches, postcards, books, novelty accessories, CDs, and DVDs; and music/pop culture-influenced merchandise comprising women?s and men?s apparel and accessories, such as woven and knit tops, skirts, pants, shorts, jackets, shoes, costume jewelry, body jewelry, sunglasses, cosmetics, leather accessories, and gift items for young men and women primarily between the ages of 12 and 22. The company?s Torrid stores sells casual and dressy jeans and pants, fashion and novelty tops, sweaters, skirts, jackets, dresses, hosiery, shoes, intimate apparel, and fashion accessories for various lifestyles for plus-size females primarily betw een the ages of 15 and 29. As of July 30, 2011, it operated 636 Hot Topic stores in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada; 145 Torrid stores; and Internet stores, hottopic.com and torrid.com. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in City of Industry, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marshall Hargrave]

  In May True Religion (TRGL) announced a buyout offer from TowerBrook Capital for $826 million. Also in May, Rue21 decided to sell itself to Apax Partners for $2.2 billion. Before that, in March, Hot Topic (HOTT) announced that Sycamore Partners was buying out it out for $600 million.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: KongZhong Corporation(KONG)

KongZhong Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides wireless interactive entertainment, media, and community services to mobile phone users in the People's Republic of China. It also involves in the development, distribution, and marketing of consumer wireless value-added services, including wireless application protocol, multimedia messaging services, short messaging services, interactive voice response services, and color ring back tones. In addition, it offers interactive entertainment services, such as mobile games, pictures, karaoke, electronic books, mobile phone personalization features, entertainment news, chat, and message boards; and through Kong.net offer news, community services, games, and other interactive media and entertainment services; and sells advertising space in the form of text-link, banner, and button advertisements. Further, the company develops and publishes mobile games, including downloadable mobile games and online mobile games cons isting of action, role-playing, and leisure games. As of December 31, 2009, it had a library of approximately 300 internally developed mobile games. Additionally, it develops online games; and provides consulting and technology services, as well as media and net book services. The company was formerly known as Communication Over The Air Inc. and changed its name to KongZhong Corporation in March 2004. KongZhong Corporation was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One under-$10 wireless services player that looks poised for a big spike higher is KongZhong (KONG), which is a provider of WVAS and mobile games to mobile phone users and a wireless media company providing news, content, community and mobile advertising services through its wireless Internet sites in the PRC. This stock is off to a hot start in 2013, with shares up sharply by 53%.

  If you take a look at the chart for KongZhong, you'll notice that this stock has been downtrending badly for the last two months, with shares plunging lower from its high of $14.92 to its recent low of $7.78 a share. During that downtrend, shares of KONG have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of KONG into oversold territory, since its current relative strength index reading is 30.21. Shares of KONG are now starting to spike higher off its recent low of $7.78 a share and off its 200-day moving average of $7.95 a share. This spike could be signaling that the downside volatility for KONG is over in the short-term and the stock is ready to trend higher.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in KONG if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $8.50 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 519,857 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then KONG will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $10 to its 50-day moving average at $11.33 a share.

  Traders can look to buy KONG off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $7.78 a share. One can also buy KONG off strength once it takes out $8.50 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Kongzhong (Nasdaq: KONG  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: bebe stores inc.(BEBE)

bebe stores, inc. engages in the design, development, and production of women?s apparel and accessories. Its products include a range of separates, tops, dresses, active wear, and accessories in career, evening, casual, and active lifestyle categories. The company markets its products under the bebe, BEBE SPORT, bbsp, and 2b bebe brand names targeting 21 to 34-year-old woman. As of July 2, 2011, it operated 252 retail stores, and an online store at bebe.com in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Japan, and Canada, as well as 60 international licensee operated stores in south east Asia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Russia, Mexico, and Turkey. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Brisbane, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  bebe stores (NASDAQ: BEBE  ) continues to outfit its shareholders in cash by maintaining its dividend policy. The company has declared a fresh quarterly distribution of $0.025 per share of its stock, payable on June 20 to shareholders of record as of June 6.��That amount matches the company's preceding disbursement, which was handed out in mid-March.

Retailers With Generous Return Policies

This Christmas -- as with any Christmas -- there's a good chance you will give or receive a gift that will end up being returned to the store where it was purchased. A recent survey by deal and coupon code site RetailMeNot.com found that 35% of respondents said they have returned a holiday gift they received. And about the same percentage said they have exchanged a gift.

SEE ALSO: 15 Gifts That Keep on Giving

With that in mind, it's worth considering which retailers make it easy to return unwanted gifts when deciding where to shop this holiday season. Of course, price should be a top concern when making a purchase. But you don't want to buy from a store that will make it hard for recipients of your gifts to exchange them for something they really want.

A 30-day limit on returns or exchanges is common among retailers, says Matthew Ong, a retail analyst for money-saving site NerdWallet.com. Some retailers -- such as Cabella's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Home Depot, Kmart, Lowe's, Sears, Target, Toys "R" Us and Walmart -- allow customers up to 90 days to return or exchange most items (electronics tend to be the exception and typically have 15- or 30-day limits). There's a handful, though, that give consumers a year or more to return purchases.

These 11 retailers stand out for their generous return policies, based on our research and a comparison of retailers' policies by Cheapism.com. The descriptions below highlight the key points of retailers' policies. For more detailed information, visit their Web sites.

No time limit

Anthropologie unconditionally guarantees its merchandise and allows customers to return or exchange items if they're not satisfied for any reason. Customers who don't have a receipt -- or packing list for online purchases -- for merchandise bought more than a year ago will be refunded at the items' current selling price. Furniture, however, must be returned within 30 days for a full refund. Furniture with a defect can be replaced for up to one year.

Bath & Body Works has no time limit on returns and will issue a full refund to customers with a receipt. Customers with a gift receipt can exchange items or receive store credit for the purchase price on the gift receipt. Customers without a receipt can receive store credit based on the current price of an item.

Bloomingdale's allows customers to return or exchange most items any time after purchase. It does tag some dresses, which cannot be returned if the tags are removed. Customers who don't have a receipt can get a refund if they purchased merchandise with a Bloomingdale's card within the past 12 months or the items still have their price tags attached -- otherwise, a gift card will be issued.

Costco does not have a time limit on returns or exchanges of items other than some electronics and tech gadgets. Televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, tablets, MP3 players and cell phones must be returned within 90 days of purchase for a full refund. Receipts aren't necessary for returns or exchanges because this members-only warehouse club can track purchases through customers' accounts.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014

JC Penney lets customers with a receipt exchange most items at any time or receive a refund of the purchase price on the original method of payment. Exceptions include furniture, jewelery and electronics, which must be returned within 60 days. And special occasion dresses must be returned in their original condition with the green return tag in place. Customers with a gift receipt can exchange items or receive a gift card for the amount listed on the receipt. Customers without a receipt must show a photo ID to exchange items or get a refund in the form or a gift card for the item's lowest selling price within the last 45 days.

Kohl's has a "No Questions Asked - Hassle Free" return policy for all purchases. The retailer's sales associates can locate Kohl's charge card purchases up to 12 months after the purchase date and apply a credit to a customer's account. Non-Kohl's charge card purchases and purchases made outside the 12-month time frame qualify for a store credit or a corporate-issued refund check. Customers with a gift receipt can exchange items or receive store credit or a corporate-issued refund check. And customers without a receipt can exchange items or receive a corporate-issued refund or a store credit based on the lowest 13-week sale price if they didn't pay with a Kohl's charge or other major credit card.

L.L. Bean lets customers exchange or return purchases for a refund at any time. Items received as a gift can be exchanged or returned for a gift card.

Macy's does not have a time limit on returns and exchanges and can track down the price customers paid for items within the last two years if they charged purchases to a Macy's card. Customers with a gift receipt can receive a gift card for the full purchase price of an item. Customers without a gift receipt will get a gift card for the item's lowest price within the last 180 days.

Nordstrom does not have a return policy. So there are no time limits for returns or exchanges. Sales associates evaluate return and exchange requests on a case by case basis, says company spokesman John Bailey. Receipts are helpful but not necessary for returns or exchanges, he says. However, Nordstrom Rack merchandise must be returned unaltered and unworn within 30 days of purchase with its original price tag and receipt or packing slip -- and a photo ID is required for all in-store cash refunds.

One-year limit

REI, an outdoor gear and sporting goods retailer, recently tightened its no-time-limit return policy to one year, which still is quite generous in the world of retail. (The retailer does limit returns from REI Outlet stores to 30 days.) Items can be returned for a refund or replacement with proof of purchase. Used items must be cleaned before they are returned. Normal wear and tear or damage caused by improper use is not covered by REI's "100% Satisfaction Guaranteed" policy.

Zappos, an online shoe and apparel retailer, will give customers a full refund if they send items back in their original condition and packaging within a year. Just as all purchases ship for free, all returns can be sent for free with a prepaid shipping label that can be printed from Zappos.com.

Ensure easy returns

You might have noticed that several of the retailers listed above will give store credit for an item at its lowest selling price to consumers without a gift receipt. So do your friends and family a favor by including a gift receipt with the items you give them this holiday season to help them avoid having to shell out their own money to exchange an item that might have dropped in price since you purchased it.

If you receive an unwanted gift without a receipt, make sure you act quickly to return it if it didn't come from one of the retailers listed above. Also make sure you don't open the manufacturer's or retailer's packaging on unwanted gifts. Otherwise you might only be able to exchange it for an identical item. Or you might have to pay a restocking fee (generally 15% of the purchase price) if you return items -- especially electronics -- that aren't in their original package. This is meant to discourage the one-time use of items.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Second Week of December

 Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, many with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, and the yield.

BankFinancial	BFIN	12/9/2013	3.5%
Laclede Group	LG	12/9/2013	3.7%
Telus Corp	TU	12/9/2013	4.0%
Ameren Corp	AEE	12/9/2013	4.4%

Parkway Properties	PKY	12/10/2013	4.2%
Mercury General	MCY	12/10/2013	5.1%
El Paso Electric Co.	EE	12/11/2013	3.0%
Sotherly Hotels Inc	SOHO	12/11/2013	3.0%
Validus Holdings Ltd.	VR	12/11/2013	3.0%
BRE Properties	BRE	12/11/2013	3.1%
Quality Systems	QSII	12/11/2013	3.1%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com. Most of the lists are free.
Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Book now available: Buying Dividends Revised and Expanded

Book now available: Stock Market Trivia
A Great Stocking Stuffer!

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

The following article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.

Posted-In: Dividends Markets Trading Ideas

Originally posted here...

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U.S. Index Futures Advance Before Shortened Trading Day

U.S. stock-index futures increased, indicating the Standard & Poor's 500 Index may extend a record in today's shortened trading session, before economic reports next week.

Apple Inc. climbed 0.8 percent in early New York trading after a report showed the company sold three of every four smartphones in Japan last month. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. rose 0.5 percent in European trading after Australia blocked a A$2.2 billion ($2 billion) takeover of GrainCorp Ltd.

S&P 500 futures expiring in December advanced 0.3 percent to 1,809.10 at 7:20 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts added 51 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,125. The S&P 500 climbed 27 percent this year, and the Dow gained 23 percent, after the Federal Reserve refrained from tapering its third round of economic stimulus.

"Investors are waiting for indications on when tapering may come," said Ioan Smith, strategist at KCG Europe Ltd. "The minutes revealed a wide-ranging discussion of various policy scenarios and contingencies. It is still the case that there's not enough sustained evidence to meet the taper criteria as soon as next month."

The S&P 500 and the Dow closed at records on Nov. 27, as jobless claims unexpectedly declined and a measure of consumer confidence beat estimates. U.S. markets were closed yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday and trading in the New York Stock Exchange will end at 1 p.m. local time today.

Fed Minutes

Minutes of the last Fed meeting released on Nov. 20 showed that officials are considering scaling back their $85 billion in monthly bond purchases "in coming months" if the economy improves as anticipated.

Investors will await reports on manufacturing and home sales next week, and the November release of non-farm payrolls on Dec. 6. Janet Yellen, who will replace Ben S. Bernanke as chairman of the Fed, has said she will ensure monetary stimulus isn't removed too soon to support economic recovery in the U.S. There are no economic reports scheduled for today.

Apple rose 0.8 percent to $550.30 in early New York trading. The company accounted for 76 percent of smartphone sales in Japan last month after the country's largest carrier, NTT Docomo Inc., began offering the iPhone, market researcher Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said yesterday.

ADM (ADM) rose 0.5 percent to $41.69 in European composite trading. Australia's rejection of the agricultural commodities producer's takeover prompted a record 22 percent drop in GrainCorp, the biggest crop handler on Australia's east coast, and a slide in the local currency.

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014

"This proposal has attracted a high level of concern from stakeholders and the broader community," Treasurer Joe Hockey said today, ruling U.S.-based ADM's bid of A$12.20 a share isn't in the national interest. "Now is not the right time for a 100 percent foreign acquisition of this key Australian business."