Jim Cramer's 6 Stocks in 60 Seconds: CBRL WLL DSW HAIN SPM AEM

Check out Jim Cramer's latest trading recommendations on "Action Alerts Plus".

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here's what Jim Cramer had to say on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Tuesday.

Cramer said Cracker Barrel Old Country Store  (CBRL) blamed the government shutdown as a reason why its earnings report was more disappointing than expected. "I don't buy it," Cramer said.

Whiting Petroleum (WLL) has been under a ton of pressure, according to Cramer. But he was optimistic, saying, the domestic oil company "can come back." 

DSW (DSW) is selling off following its earnings report and Cramer noted "gross margins were under pressure."  JPMorgan says to ignore Barron's article on Hain Celestial Group (HAIN). Cramer agreed, saying CEO Irwin Simon "is doing a great job." Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) announced a 17 million share secondary offering. Cramer said, "People don't like this group all of a sudden" because SFM is deeply oversold.  "I like Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM)" Cramer said, but added that "gold ain't going higher," which makes it difficult to own the miners.  To sign up for Jim Cramer's free Booyah! newsletter, with all of his latest articles and videos, please click here. -- Written by Bret Kenwell in Petoskey, Mich. Follow @BretKenwell

Health chief apologizes for botched website

WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius apologized to Americans Wednesday for the troubled rollout of the national health care law and its plagued website.

"You deserve better," Sebelius said as she began her testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "I apologize. I'm accountable to you for fixing these problems."

As GOP calls for her resignation grow louder, Sebelius is getting intense grilling from the panel — which is hearing from the embattled health care secretary for the first time since HealthCare.gov went live on Oct. 1.

"Hold me accountable for the debacle. I'm responsible," Sebelius said after a heated exchange with Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., about problems with the website technology.

Asked for an accounting of federal dollars, Sebelius said the government so far has spent $118 million on the website and another $56 million on "IT support" for the website."

Sebelius' testimony comes the day after Marilyn Tavenner, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Obama administration official closest to the website's management, apologized for the botched rollout.

HealthCare.gov has been shaky since its debut on Oct. 1, when open enrollment began under the Affordable Care Act. The law, which passed with no Republican support, was signed by President Obama with great fanfare in 2010 as a key to overhauling the nation's complex health care system and providing insurance to millions of people who are currently without such coverage.

Obama has stood by Sebelius, a former Kansas governor, and has embarked on his own campaign to tout the law's benefits and move away from the website debacle. The president will speak Wednesday afternoon in Boston, to illustrate the success of Massachusetts' health care law — the basis for the Affordable Care Act.

Jeffrey Zients, a former White House budget deputy, said the site will be fixed by Nov. 30. Sebelius' prepared testimony says HHS has up! dated the website's technology with new code and help from experts inside and outside of government.

Sebelius said Wednesday that she feels good about the Nov. 30 date, noting that the department's assessment is that it will take that long for HealthCare.gov to be "an optimally functional" website.

"I have confidence ... but I know it isn't fair to the American people to take my word for it," she said. "I have to fix this."

But until HealthCare.gov gets a clean bill of health, congressional Republicans are sure to keep using the website as a focal point in their arguments that the law is an unwieldy and costly example of government intrusion. The GOP-led House has tried dozens of times to repeal the law, to no avail.

While the administration says more than 700,000 people have created accounts to buy insurance on state and federal health exchanges since Oct. 1, Tavenner and other officials have not disclosed how many people have actually enrolled through the online network.

Follow @KellySKennedy and @ccamia on Twitter.

Market pullback? Yes. End of bull? Unlikely

NEW YORK -- Sure, the stock market is taking back a chunk of the big gains it showered on investors last year, but it's too early to say the nearly five-year-old bull market is dying — at least not yet, says Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ.

There's fear in the air for sure, after another drubbing Wednesday on Wall Street, which pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 index down 1%, extending its 2014 loss to nearly 4%.

WALL STREET: Grapples with Fed changeover

Stocks again headed south, this time on news of turmoil in emerging markets and the Federal Reserve's decision to continue cutting back on its market-friendly stimulus in the final meeting under Chairman Ben Bernanke before Vice Chair Janet Yellen takes the top post on Friday.

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"Transitions are increasing uncertainty," says Stovall. "From the leadership hand-off at the Fed, to the unwinding of the emerging market carry trade, to the eclipsing of the Lunar New Year from Snake to Horse." Indeed, "global investors are re-evaluating emer-ging market growth projections."

Top 5 Tech Stocks To Buy For 2015

Adding to the angst is that CEOs are bumming Wall Street out with lousy profit forecasts.

"Better-than-estimated fourth-quarter results are being offset by managements' injection of increasingly somber forward guidance," Stovall says. "While these factors add up to a more cautious investment environment, we believe a resulting pullback or correction will not derail this bull market, as we see the ongoing Fed taper pointing to improving growth."

Is Comcast Enticing After Recent News?

With shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) trading around $52, is CMCSA 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

Comcast is a provider of entertainment, information, and communications products and services. The company operates in five segments: cable communications, cable networks, broadcast television, filmed entertainment, and theme parks. Comcast offers television, video, high-speed Internet, and voice services to residential and business customers. It also operates NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks; provides filmed entertainment under the Universal Pictures, Focus Features, and Illumination names; and operates theme parks, studios, and a dining, retail, and entertainment complex.

Comcast is much more likely to work with Charter Communications Inc. on a bid for Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) than to pursue an offer on its own, said a person familiar with the situation, a major boost to Charter’s hopes of winning the takeover battle. Comcast’s current thinking reflects its unwillingness to pay Time Warner Cable’s stated asking price of $160 a share as well as Time Warner Cable’s disinterest in selling off just some of its systems piecemeal, the person said.

In contrast, Charter has signaled to Comcast in meetings that, if Charter succeeded in acquiring Time Warner Cable, it would be willing to give up TWC’s prize New York-area cable systems to Comcast in exchange for Comcast’s endorsement of its bid, said the person. Charter CEO Tom Rutledge hinted at that stance at a private investor dinner on Thursday, say other people familiar with the situation. Getting the New York systems would be a major victory for Comcast, strengthening its hold on the northeastern U.S. Comcast already dominates Philadelphia and serves part of the New York suburbs.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

Comcast stock has been trending higher over the past few quarters. The stock is currently trading sideways and may need time to stabilize before heading higher. 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, Comcast is trading above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

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

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Comcast options	25.48%	23%	20%

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

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
February Options	Flat	Average
March 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 minimal 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 Increasing 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 Comcast’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Comcast look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	-16.67%	30.00%	20.00%	20.09%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-2.38%	6.96%	2.90%	5.95%
Earnings Reaction	-1.29%	5.54%	1.35%	0.85%

Comcast has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with Comcast’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Comcast stock done relative to its peers, Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC), DirecTV (NASDAQ:DTV), Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH), and sector?

	Comcast	Time Warner Cable	DirecTV	Dish Network	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-0.09%	-3.16%	-0.22%	-6.80%	-2.15%

Comcast has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Comcast provides communications and entertainment products and services to consumers and companies. The company is much more likely to work with Charter Communications on a bid for Time Warner Cable than to pursue an offer on its own. The stock has been trending higher over the past few quarters, but is currently trading sideways. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been increasing, which has left investors pleased about recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, Comcast has been a relative year-to-date performance leader. Look for Comcast to OUTPERFORM.

Will Pandora Continue Its Surge Higher With a New CEO?

With shares of Pandora (NYSE:P) trading around $24, is P 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

Pandora is an Internet radio company that operates in the United States with over 125 million registered users. Pandora's Music Genome Project and its playlist-generating algorithms predict listener music preferences, play music content suited to the tastes of each individual listener, and introduce listeners to music they will love. The main sources of revenue for the company are advertising as well as subscriptions. As the Internet music boom continues, Pandora is well-positioned to capitalize on potential subscriptions and advertising marketing share.

Pandora has finally tapped a new CEO after announcing in March that current CEO Joe Kennedy was stepping down. Former ad executive Brian McAndrews will take Kennedy's place. McAndrews was likely attractive to Pandora because of his experience in the ad world, which could help the Internet radio provider find new ways to monetize its service. Pandora needs to step up its game in the face of high royalties and new competition from Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) rival iTunes Radio.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

Pandora stock been surging higher over the last several quarters. The stock is currently trading at highs for the year and looks poised to continue. 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, Pandora is trading above its rising key averages which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

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

	Top Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2015 Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Pandora Options	53.74%	16%	15%

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

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
October Options	Flat	Average
November 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 small 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 Mixed 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 Pandora’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Pandora look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	1200.00%	-11.11%	-69.72%	100.00%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	51.18%	59.07%	53.81%	59.99%
Earnings Reaction	-12.89%	-4.25%	17.56%	-17.46%

Pandora has seen mixed earnings and rising revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have expected more from Pandora’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Pandora stock done relative to its peers Sirius XM Radio  (NASDAQ:SIRI), CBS (NYSE:CBS), Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS), and sector?

	Pandora	Sirius XM Radio	CBS	Cumulus Media	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	164.70%	33.39%	44.73%	95.51%	39.83%

Pandora has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Pandora is an Internet radio company that attempts to match listeners with their preferences in order to discover music they love. The company has just revealed who the new CEO of the company will be. The stock has been rising higher in recent quarters and is now trading at highs for the year. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been mixed while revenues have been rising, however, investors have expected more from the company. Relative to its peers and sector, Pandora has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for Pandora to continue to OUTPERFORM.

Current Congress Unlikely to Cap Charitable Deduction

Nonprofits are breathing a little easier these days, less worried than they had been about Congress capping the charitable tax deduction.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy, citing nonprofit experts, recently reported that the deduction would likely remain intact during the current session of Congress. These observers were less certain about the prospects for other tax breaks that benefit charity, however.

The report said that a change in leadership of the Senate Finance Committee would make changes in the charitable tax deduction this year very remote, as the likely new chairman, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), is a strong supporter of the deduction.

Experts expected Wyden to move more slowly than his predecessor, Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who had pressed for a major tax overhaul before he retired from Congress in December.

Cobbling together a tax bill this year in the run-up to November midterm elections would be difficult, they said.

“There’s zero percent chance any significant tax reform will happen this year,” Foundation Source executive vice president Andrew Schulz told The Chronicle.

The reported noted, however, that the absence of a tax bill meant that other tax priorities of nonprofits are in a perilous state.

A big target is a set of some 55 temporary tax breaks — some of which benefit charities — that expired at the end of last year.

The report said Congress has regularly extended these temporary tax breaks, but has sometimes waited until late in the year and then provided the benefits retroactively.

The tax breaks include one that allows people at least 70-1/2 years old to withdraw up to $100,000 from their IRA accounts without an income tax penalty if they roll over the amount to charity.

Observers told The Chronicle that Congress would probably extend the tax breaks again, given the large number of nonprofits that would benefit. But they acknowledged that swift action would be difficult, with political tensions between Democrats and Republicans expected to heat up in coming months.

That means the tax breaks would be passed later in the year, which would dilute the effectiveness of some benefits, such as the IRA rollover.

“The donors that are incentivized to make the IRA rollover are trying to make some pretty complicated financial decisions,” Steve Taylor, a public policy executive at United Way Worldwide, told The Chronicle.

“By that time, they’ve already withdrawn the money and done something else with it.”

Nonprofit leaders said the uncertainty surrounding the IRA rollover tax break made it difficult to solicit donations from donors who might not otherwise make gifts.

---

Check out How the IRS Can Ruin Your Retirement on ThinkAdvisor.

Accuride Corp.

Our top speculative pick for 2014 is a company that produces wheels and related components for trucks and other commercial vehicles, suggests George Putnam, editor of The Turnaround Letter.

Because of a very leveraged balance sheet, the company—Accuride Corp. (ACW)—could not survive the 2008-09 recession, and it filed for bankruptcy in October 2009.

The company emerged from Chapter 11 in February 2010, with a much improved balance sheet, but then manufacturing problems surfaced at several operating units, which reduced volumes, hurt quality, and raised costs.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Invest In 2014

Just as the company began to get a handle on the production issues, orders for new trucks softened, causing results to decline further.

Accuride has been investing heavily in its operations, with the result, that it has not only fixed the earlier problems, but also become leaner and more efficient. In addition to streamlining its operations, the company is also selling non-core assets to re-focus on wheels and related components.

While industry wide sales have remained soft in recent quarters, longer term trends look favorable. The demand for trucking services is on the rise at the same time as aging truck fleets will require higher replacement levels.

Accuride is now well-positioned to profit from any upturn in demand for trucks and other commercial vehicles.

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For More 2014 Top Stock Picks

Top Penny Companies For 2014

Sometimes better-than-expected earnings per share aren�� enough to push a stock price higher. Just ask Coach (COH).

The luxury handbag-and-accessories retailer fell 7.7% in morning market action to $50 a share, despite beating earnings by a penny. That�� because Coach�fell short on revenue as its core North America markets once again delivered a poor performance.

For the period ended Sept. 28, Coach reported early Tuesday a profit of $217.9 million, or 77 cents a share, down from $221.4 million, or 77 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue decreased nearly 1% to $1.15 billion as currency exchange rates and a drop in North American sales all but erased international sales growth.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected per-share earnings of 76 cents and revenue of $1.19 billion.

It�� been a rough 2013 for the once fast-rising stock. Coach is undergoing a rash of top executive departures and faces challenges from rivals such as Michael Kors Holdings (KORS), Fifth & Pacific�� (FNP) Kate Spade and Tory Burch.

Top Penny Companies For 2014: Stein Mart Inc.(SMRT)

Stein Mart, Inc. operates retail stores that offer fashion merchandise for women and men in the United States. The company?s stores provide fashion apparel, accessories, shoes, and home fashions. As of April 19, 2011, it operated a chain of 263 retail stores. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Trainer]

  Unfortunately, FVL's holdings don't look likely to out-perform. 67% of its capital is in stocks with a Dangerous-or-worse rating. Only 12% of its assets are in Attractive-or-better rated stocks. Its holdings include recent Danger Zone picks Rite Aid (RAD), Citigroup (C), and Stein Mart (SMRT). FVL's holdings get their worst scores on valuation.

Top Penny Companies For 2014: Torch Energy Royalty Trust(TRU)

Torch Energy Royalty Trust, a grantor trust, holds net profits interests, to receive payments from the working interest owners. Its working interest owners include Torch Royalty Company, Torch E&P Company, Samson Lone Star Limited Partnership, and Constellation Energy Partners LLC. The trust is entitled to receive 95% of the net proceeds attributable to oil and natural gas produced and sold from wells on the underlying properties, including Chalkley Field in Louisiana; the Robinson?s Bend Field in the Black Warrior Basin in Alabama; Cotton Valley Fields in Texas; and Austin Chalk Fields in central Texas. Torch Energy Royalty Trust was founded in 1993 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

Top 5 Insurance Stocks To Buy For 2014: Dehaier Medical Systems Limited(DHRM)

Dehaier Medical Systems Limited, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets respiratory and oxygen homecare products, and other medical devices in the People?s Republic of China. The company also distributes products designed and manufactured by other companies. It offers various medical devices, including C-arm X-ray systems, anesthesia machines, patient monitors, and general hospital products; and respiratory and oxygen homecare products, such as oxygen concentrators, CPAP devices, portable sleep diagnostics, and Rhinitis hyperthermia devices; and air compressors and ventilator trolleys. The company sells its products primarily to distributors, as well as to hospitals, clinics, and government health bureaus directly. Dehaier Medical has a tripartite strategic cooperation agreement with Taiyo Nippon Sanso Shenwei (Shanghai) Medical Gas Co. Ltd. and Beijing Orient Medical Gas Co. Ltd. to develop and distribute oxygen therapy services for the home use market i n Beijing. The company was formerly known as De-Haier Medical Systems Limited and changed its name to Dehaier Medical Systems Limited in June 2005. Dehaier Medical Systems Limited was incorporated in 2003 and is based in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Top Penny Companies 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.

Top Penny Companies For 2014: Ellsworth Convertible Growth and Income Fund Inc.(ECF)

Ellsworth Fund Ltd. is a close ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Davis-Dinsmore Management Company. It invests in equity markets of the United States. The fund primarily in convertible securities. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Merrill Lynch All Convertibles Index, the S&P 500 Index and the Lehman Aggregate Bond Total Return Index. The was formerly known as Ellsworth Convertible Growth and Income Fund, Inc. Ellsworth Fund Ltd. was formed on April 30, 1986 and is domiciled in the United States.

Top Penny Companies For 2014: Daily Journal Corp.(S.C.)

Daily Journal Corporation publishes newspapers and Web sites in California, Arizona and Colorado. It publishes 11 newspapers that include Los Angeles Daily Journal, Daily Commerce, San Francisco Daily Journal, The Daily Recorder, The Inter-City Express, San Jose Post-Record, Sonoma County Herald-Recorder, Orange County Reporter, San Diego Commerce, Business Journal, and The Record Reporter. The company also offers California Lawyer magazine; produces various specialized information services; and serves as a newspaper representative specializing in public notice advertising. In addition, Daily Journal Corporation, through its subsidiary, Sustain Technologies, Inc., supplies case management software systems and related products to courts and other justice agencies, including administrative law organizations to help users manage electronic case files from inception to disposition, which include various aspects of calendaring and accounting, report and notice generation, the i mplementation of standards and business rules, and other corollary functions. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Los Angeles, California.

Top Penny Companies For 2014: Universal Travel Group(UTA)

Universal Travel Group, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a travel service provider offering air ticketing and hotel booking services, as well as domestic and international packaged tourism services via the Internet, customer representatives, and kiosks in the People?s Republic of China. It also provides technological solutions to travel reservations, and tour planning and tour guide services. In addition, the company operates TRIPEASY Kiosks, which are placed in hotels, office buildings, banks, shopping malls, and MTR stations for travel booking with credit cards or bank debit cards. Universal Travel Group is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People?s Republic of China.

Top Penny Companies For 2014: (COTE)

Coates International, Ltd. engages in the development of Coates spherical rotary valve (CSRV) system technology for use in piston-driven internal combustion engines. The CSRV system technology is designed to replace the intake and exhaust conventional poppet valves used in various piston-driven stationary, automotive, truck, motorcycle, marine, and electric power generator engines. The CSRV system technology is used in various applications, including engines for electric generators for home use, industrial complexes, and grid installations; and engines to power motorcycles, automobiles, light trucks, heavy trucks, machinery, railroads, marine engines, military equipment, light aircraft, helicopters, lawn mowers, snowmobiles, and jet skis. The company holds the licensing rights for the CSRV system technology in North America, Central America, and South America. Coates International, Ltd. was founded in 1988 and is based in Wall Township, New Jersey.

Dubai Shares Gain Most Since 2012 as Obama Delays Syria Strike

Dubai shares gained the most in 18 months, rebounding from the worst weekly slump since 2011, after the U.S. President put off a military strike against Syria.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) advanced 3 percent, the biggest jump since March 2012, to 2,599.35 at the close in Dubai. The measure slid 6.6 percent last week amid concern a military strike against Syria was imminent and will hurt tourism and investments in the emirate. Emaar Properties PJSC (EMAAR), the developer of the world's tallest tower in Dubai, gained the most in almost four weeks and Deyaar Development PJSC (DEYAAR), a builder of home and office towers, surged 13 percent, before announcing a joint venture for a residential tower.

U.S. President Barack Obama said yesterday he'll seek authorization from Congress before ordering the strike against Syria for using chemical weapons, delaying action to at least Sept. 9, when congressional leaders return from their recess. Thirty members of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party joined the Labor opposition on Aug. 29 to reject his request to authorize military strikes.

Last week's decline "was sharper, so in context a rebound of this magnitude is not surprising," Amer Khan, a director at Shuaa Asset Management, said in an e-mail. The political situation in Syria "has lost the urgency it had prior to the weekend, given the developments in the U.K. and the U.S."

While Obama said that he's already decided to take military action, he'll give lawmakers the opportunity to debate and vote on it. France, which had indicated it would join in taking military action, said it would wait for its parliament before taking action, according to the Associated Press.

Sharp Rebound

The "sharp rebound in the U.A.E. indices was driven once again by domestic retail investors responding to the dissipating threat of Syrian strikes," Julian Bruce, head of institutional trading at EFG-Hermes U.A.E. Ltd., said by e-mail today.

Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (DIB), the United Arab Emirates' biggest Shariah-compliant bank, climbed 3.3 percent, the most since Aug. 6, to 3.45 dirhams. Emaar rose 1.7 percent to 5.85 dirhams and Deyaar surged to 54 fils. There are 100 fils to the dirham.

Hot Value Companies To Watch For 2014

Deyaar said after the market's closed that its joint venture with Dubai Properties Group will begin sales of homes from a residential tower in the Dubai International Financial Center, home to the regional offices of Citigroup Inc. and Standard Chartered Plc, by mid-September. The tower is 80 percent complete and hand-overs will begin in the second half of 2014, it said in a statement to the Dubai bourse.

Drop 'Overdone'

Abu Dhabi's benchmark index gained 1.8 percent, Saudi Arabia's 1.5 percent, Oman's measure 0.7 percent and Qatar's 0.5 percent. Kuwait's fell 0.1 percent and Bahrain's was little changed.

Egypt's EGX 30 Index increased 0.6 percent. Israel's TA-25 Index gained 0.6 percent as government bonds advanced. The yield on the benchmark 4.25 percent notes due March 2023 declined four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 3.97 percent.

Dubai's gauge has surged 60 percent this year, the second-most, after Ghana, among more than 90 benchmarks tracked globally by Bloomberg. The gain comes as the economy recovered from the impact of a property crash that was sparked by the global credit crisis.

Last week, Dubai's index had the biggest weekly slump since March 2011, leaving the gauge at an average price-to-book ratio of 1 compared with 2 in neighboring Saudi Arabia (SASEIDX) and 1.7 in Qatar.

The drop "was overdone and the market holds stocks that are attractive like in the banking and real-estate sectors," Nabil Farhat, a partner at Al Fajer Securities, said by e-mail.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014

With the Federal Reserve standing pat this week, the S&P 500 index has reached another all-time high.

Yet this bull market is proving to be even more fertile for investors in small-cap and micro-cap stocks. Both the iShares Russell Microcap Index and the Russell 2000 Small Cap Index are outperforming the S&P 500 by a solid margin over the past two years.

With no end in sight to the bull market, there's no reason to stop focusing on these small companies at this juncture. If the economy can manage to build a head of steam in 2014 and 2015, then these small stocks should see even deeper investor interest.

Here are three stocks that all trade below $5 and sport market values below $500 million -- and are poised for solid upside if this rally continues.

1. Lionbridge Technologies (Nasdaq: LIOX) I took note of heavy insider buying at this language translation services firm back in July, and though shares are up nearly 10% since then, the company's outlook has brightened markedly. 

On the second-quarter conference call, management delivered its most upbeat discussion of business trends in several years, noting that Lionbridge is seeing an expansion in its relationship with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the return of several other large tech clients that had dropped off in the past few years, and a rising order book with manufacturing and life sciences clients. 

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: Solazyme Inc (SZYM)

Solazyme, Inc. (Solazyme), incorporated on March 31, 2003, makes oil. The Company�� technology transforms a range of plant-based sugars into oils. Its renewable products can replace or enhance oils derived from the world�� three existing sources-petroleum, plants and animal fats. The Company is focused on commercializing its products into three target markets: fuels and chemicals, nutrition, and skin and personal care. In 2010, the Company launched its products, the Golden Chlorella line of dietary supplements. In March 2011, the Company launched its Algenist brand for the luxury skin care market through marketing and distribution arrangements with Sephora S.A. (Sephora International), Sephora USA, Inc. (Sephora USA), and QVC, Inc. (QVC).

The Company is engaged in development activities with multiple partners, including Chevron U.S.A. Inc., through its division Chevron Technology Ventures (Chevron), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Ecopetrol S.A. (Ecopetrol), Qantas Airways Limited (Qantas) and Conopoco, Inc., doing business as Unilever (Unilever).

In 2010, the Company entered into a 50/50 joint venture with Roquette Freres, S.A. (Roquette). In November 2010, the Company entered into a joint venture and operating agreement for Solazyme Roquette Nutritionals with Roquette. In December 2010, the Company entered into an exclusive distribution relationship with Sephora International, and in January 2011, the Company entered into a distribution relationship with Sephora USA. Under the arrangements, each of Sephora International and Sephora USA will distribute the Algenist product line in their respective territories.

In Fuels and Chemicals market its renewable oils can be refined and sold as drop-in replacements for marine, motor vehicle and jet fuels, as well as replacements for chemicals that are traditionally derived from petroleum or other conventional oils. The Company work with its refining partner Honeywell UOP to produce Soladiesel (renewable diesel), So! ladiesel renewable diesel for United States Naval vessels, and Solajet renewable jet fuel for both military and commercial application testing. In nutrition market the Company has developed microalgae-based food ingredients, including oils and powders that enhance the nutritional profile and functionality of food products while reducing costs for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. In Skin and Personal Care market the Company hs developed a portfolio of branded microalgae-based products. Its ingredient is Alguronic Acid, which the Company has formulated into a range of skin care products with anti-aging benefits. The Company is also developing algal oils as replacements for the oils used in skin and personal care products.

The Company competes with BP p.l.c., Royal Dutch Shell plc, and Exxon Mobil Corporation, jatropha, camelina, SALOV North America Corporation, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill, Incorporated, DSM Food Specialties and Danisco A/S

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Synthetic biology and renewable oils manufacturer�Solazyme� (NASDAQ: SZYM  ) announced that it successfully conducted multiple initial fermentations in 500,000 liter fermentors in December 2012. While it was a big step forward in the right direction, I think the announcement was a bit premature. By "multiple," the company meant two and by "commercial scale production metrics," the company meant that only partial data had been collected. By reading SEC filings, investors can learn that the company has yet to prove microbial productivity at volumes greater than 128,000 liters. Not at all a nail in the coffin, but since the company believes it needs to reach 625,000 liter fermentors to be profitable, it is clear that engineers have plenty of work ahead of them.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: China Ceramics Co. Ltd.(CCCL)

China Ceramics Co., Ltd. engages in the manufacture and sale of ceramic tiles used for exterior siding, interior flooring, and design in residential and commercial buildings primarily in the People's Republic of China. It offers porcelain tiles, glazed tiles, glazed porcelain tiles, rustic tiles, and ultra-thin tiles under the Hengda, Hengdeli, TOERTO, and WULIQIAO brand names. The company primarily sells its products through a distributor network, as well as directly to property developers. China Ceramics Co., Ltd. is based in Jinjiang City, the People's Republic of China.

Top 10 Value Stocks To Own Right Now: Auburn National Bancorporation Inc.(AUBN)

Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. operates as a holding company for AuburnBank that offers various banking products and services in east Alabama. The company?s deposit products include checking, savings, and transaction deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit, NOW accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial, financial, agricultural, real estate construction, and consumer loans. In addition, the company provides automated teller services; Visa Checkcards, which are debit cards with the Visa logo that work where Visa is accepted, including automated teller machines (ATMs); online banking and bill payment services; and safe deposit boxes. As of December 31, 2009, it operated nine branches in Alabama, as well as three mortgage loan offices in Mountain Brook, Phenix City, and Valley, Alabama; and ATM machines in 13 locations. The company was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Auburn, Alabama.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: GFI Group Inc. (GFIG)

GFI Group Inc. provides wholesale brokerage, clearing, electronic execution, and trading support products for financial markets. The company offers brokerage and trade execution services, clearing services, market data and trading platform, and other software products to institutional customers. The company provides brokerage services in fixed income derivatives, bond instruments, and other related products; financial instruments, including foreign exchange options, exotic options, non-U.S. Dollar interest rate swaps and options, repurchase agreements, forward and non-deliverable forward contracts, and government and municipal bond options; cash-based and derivative equity products, such as the U.S. domestic and international equity stocks, global depositary receipts, American depositary receipts, and equity derivatives; and cash-based and derivative commodity, and energy products comprising oil, natural gas, biofuel, electricity, wet and dry freight derivatives, dry physi cal freight, precious metals, coal, property derivatives, emissions, ethanol, and soft commodities. It also offers clearing, brokerage, settlement, and back-office services to proprietary traders, brokers, market makers, and hedge funds; provides capital to start-up trading groups, small hedge funds, market-makers, and individual traders; licenses multi-asset class electronic trading and order management software to brokers, exchanges, and traders in the commodities, fixed income, currencies, and equities markets; and offers FENICS Professional, a suite of price discovery, price distribution, trading, risk management, and straight-through processing components. The company primarily serves investment and commercial banks, large corporations, asset managers, insurance companies, hedge funds, and proprietary trading firms in the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and Asia. GFI Group Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: Development Secs(DSC.L)

Development Securities PLC engages in property development, trading, and investment operations primarily in the United Kingdom. Its property portfolio includes retail, mixed-use, industrial, office, and residential properties. The company is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: Alexandria Minerals Corporation (AZX.V)

Alexandria Minerals Corporation, a development stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties in Canada. It explores for copper, gold, silver, and zinc ore properties. The company holds interests in 24 mineral properties in 3 areas in the Abitibi Belt in northern Quebec and Ontario. It primarily focuses on exploring the Cadillac Break property group consisting of 21 individual properties covering 12,526 hectares on 675 claims located in Val d�Or, Quebec. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: Brazilian Real(BK)

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, a financial services company, provides various products and services worldwide. The company offers a range of equity, fixed income, cash, and alternative/overlay products, as well as distributes investment management products. It also provides investment management, wealth and estate planning, and private banking solutions to high-net-worth individuals and families, charitable gift programs, endowments and foundations, and related entities, as well as offers mutual funds, separate accounts, and annuities. In addition, the company provides global custody and fund, securities lending, investment manager outsourcing, performance and risk analytics, alternative investment, securities clearance, collateral management, corporate trust, broker-dealer, and employee investment plan services, as well as clearing services and global payment/working capital solutions to institutional clients. Further, it offers American and global depositary re ceipt programs, cash management solutions, payment services, liquidity services, foreign exchange, global clearing and execution, managed account services, and global prime brokerage solutions to corporations, public funds, government agencies, foundations, and endowments; global financial institutions, including banks, broker-dealers, asset managers, insurance companies and central banks; and financial intermediaries, independent registered investment advisors, and hedge fund managers. Additionally, the company provides credit-related services, and global markets and institutional banking services; engages in business exits, and corporate treasury activities; and leases financing portfolios. The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation was founded in 1784 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  More testimony on the way
  The big question may be whether trustee Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK  ) knew of Laughlin's claim, if indeed it was made, particularly since it seems the likely reason the investors settled for so little recompense in the end. The issue of "reasonableness" may well extend to whether or not Laughlin actually mentioned the OCC, and if so, how much weight this issue was given as BONY worked toward a settlement amount.

• [By John Maxfield]

  Although there are still a handful of remaining cases to deal with, none is more important than the one that's currently before a judge in New York state court. At issue in the hearing is whether or not Bank of America's $8.5 billion accord with Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK  ) and 22 institutional investors, including bond giants BlackRock (NYSE: BLK  ) and PIMCO, should be judicially approved. While the deal was reached in 2011, it's been held up by other investors in the same mortgage-backed securities because they view it as a "pennies on the dollar" bargain for Bank of America.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (PTU.V)

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of properties for producing uranium in Canada. The company owns 100% interest in 10 properties covering approximately 76,657 hectares located on Red Willow, S. Newnham Lake, Turnor Lake, Umfreville Lake, William River, Fire Eye Lake, Forsythe Lake, Carson Lake, McArthur East, and Henday Lake, Athabasca Basin in Northern Saskatchewan. Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: IRIDEX Corporation(IRIX)

IRIDEX Corporation provides therapeutic based laser systems, delivery devices, and consumable instrumentation to treat eye diseases in ophthalmology, and skin conditions in dermatology in the United States and internationally. It offers various ophthalmic products, such as infrared photocoagulator consoles, visible (green) and visible (yellow) photocoagulator consoles, and multi-wavelength laser system configurations; and ophthalmic delivery devices comprising TruFocus laser indirect ophthalmoscopes, slit lamp adapters, operating microscope adapters, EndoProbes, G-Probes, and DioPexy Probes. The company offers its ophthalmic products to treat age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, retinal tears and detachments, retinopathy of prematurity, ocular tumors, and macular holes. It also offers aesthetics products, which include combination infrared/visible wavelength laser, visible (green), and infrared consoles. In addition, the company offers aestheti cs delivery devices, such as Dermastat Handpieces that are used as tracing instruments for the treatment of small cutaneous surface lesions; DioLite Handpieces, which are handheld instruments used in the treatment of vascular and pigmented skin lesions; VariLite Handpiece, a handheld instrument used in the treatment of vascular and pigmented cutaneous skin lesions, and small area hair reduction; and ScanLite scanner, a computer pattern generator for the treatment of larger-area vascular and pigmented skin lesions. IRIDEX Corporation sells its products to ophthalmologists specializing in retina, glaucoma, and pediatrics; dermatologists; plastic surgeons; research and teaching hospitals; government installations; surgical centers; and hospitals through direct sales force and distributors. The company was formerly known as IRIS Medical Instruments, Inc. and changed its name to IRIDEX Corporation in November 1995. IRIDEX Corporation was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Mo untain View, California.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Invest In 2014: Silicon Motion Technology Corporation(SIMO)

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a fabless semiconductor company, designs, develops, and supplies a portfolio of multimedia data processing, storage, and transfer solutions primarily for consumer electronics applications. The company offers a range of microcontrollers for use in NAND flash memory storage products, including flash memory cards, USB flash drives, and embedded flash and solid state drives. It also offers a range of multimedia SoCs comprising embedded graphics processors for embedded graphics applications in desktop and notebook personal computers, game consoles, work stations, and multimedia mobile phones. In addition, the company provides semiconductor solutions consisting of mobile television tuners and integrated tuner plus demodulator SoCs for mobile phones and other portable devices; and CDMA transceivers for CDMA 1x and EVDO modem solutions, as well as transceivers for LTE modem solutions. It sells its products to module makers, original equipment manufacturers, and original design manufacturers through its direct sales force and distributors in Canada, China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. The company is headquartered in Jhubei City, Taiwan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ: SIMO  ) fell as much as 14% today after the company released earnings.

  So what: Net sales fell 19% from the fourth quarter to $57.4 million, coming in just ahead of estimates. The real downside was on the bottom line, where earnings per share dropped more than 50%, to $0.17, $0.05 short of estimates.�

• [By Alex Planes]

  Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does Silicon Motion (NASDAQ: SIMO  ) fit the bill? Let's take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Silicon Motion Technology (Nasdaq: SIMO  ) is expected to report Q2 earnings on July 29. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Silicon Motion Technology's revenues will shrink -17.7% and EPS will drop -38.1%.

Investors brace for holiday-quarter earnings

Investors piling on the bull market are betting corporate profits will keep blowing the doors off. Now it's time for companies to deliver.

A flurry of corporate earnings reports will hit Wall Street next week as investors get the first tangible sign whether their bullishness is backed by reality. Giants such as eBay, Netflix, Microsoft, Starbucks and Procter & Gamble will show if earnings can keep notching new records.

So far, though, investors aren't impressed. With just 53 of the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 having reported, an unusually low percentage have beaten expectations. Just 57% of companies have topped expectations, says John Butters of FactSet, vs. 73% during the past four years.

"We're off to a slow start with earnings season," Butters says. "But it's still early; we can't draw that many conclusions." Given that stocks aren't grossly undervalued as in recent years, investors will be watching earnings with a keen eye for even a whiff of disappointment. Some key questions:

* Have analysts been negative enough? Wall Street analysts have already been slashing estimates. The question is whether they've cut them enough. Companies are expected to post 5.3% earnings growth in the fourth quarter. That's down from 17.8% at the start of 2013 and 9.6% at of the start of October. That's in line with the 5.7% growth in the third quarter and enough to set a profit record for the fourth quarter.

* Can financials maintain leadership? Financials have been the quarter's No. 1 standout, reporting 14.0% earnings growth, says S&P Capital IQ. Additionally, 11 of the 19 financial companies have reported better-than-expected results, says Howard Silverblatt of S&P Dow Jones Indices.

* Can technology pull its weight? While tech is a fixation for investors, the industry has been a laggard in the earnings parade. Analysts are calling for tech companies to report a scant 2.5% growth in the fourth quarter. It's critical that techs can at least meet if not exc! eed their low bar, though, since the sector is the source of 21.5% of earnings, Silverblatt says.

* How did retailers do? Early signs from the retail industry haven't been good, with both Best Buy and Sears disappointing. The question is whether these are outliers or a sign of broader trouble. Despite all the warnings coming from retailers, analysts still expect 7.2% earnings growth from consumer discretionary companies.

Looking for any excuse to sell now that stocks are trading for around their historical valuations, investors aren't going to be lenient with companies on the profit front. Stocks in the S&P 500 are trading for 17 times their earnings the past four quarters, which is approaching the 18.7 average since 1988. "It's going to be an amusing quarter," Silverblatt says.

Neiman Marcus: Free monitoring after credit theft

NEW YORK -- Neiman Marcus Group said that customers' Social Security numbers and birthdates to its knowledge were not stolen in a security breach that happened over the holiday season.

It also confirmed that customers who shopped online do not appear at this time to have been affected by the criminal cybersecurity intrusion, and it said personal identification numbers, or PINs, were never at risk because the retailer does not require PIN pads in its stores.

The update, posted on its website Thursday, comes nearly a week after the Dallas-based luxury retailer said that thieves stole some of its customers' payment information and made unauthorized charges. At the time, it said that was working with the Secret Service on the breach. The news follows Target's announcement of a massive security breach that could end up being the largest on record for a retailer when a final tally is known.

Neiman Marcus, which operates 40 full-scale stores and clearance locations, also said that it was offering customers free credit monitoring for an "added layer of protection." The company said shoppers should sign up for instructions to this service on its website by Jan. 24.

"We deeply regret and are very sorry that some of our customers' payment cards were used fraudulently after making purchases at our stores," said Karen Katz, Neiman Marcus's CEO, in a letter posted on the company's website.

Neiman Marcus had said last week that it was notified in mid-December by its credit card processor about potentially unauthorized payment activity and on Jan. 1, a forensics firm confirmed that it was a victim of a cybersecurity intrusion. Ginger Reeder, a spokeswoman at Neiman Marcus, on Thursday declined to say how many people could potentially be affected since the investigation is ongoing. She also wouldn't disclose what personal information was captured.

"We know what type was not captured, based on what information we capture," she wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Target dis! closed last week that its massive data theft was significantly more extensive and affected millions more shoppers than the company announced in December. The nation's second-largest discounter said hackers stole personal information — including names, phone numbers, email and mailing addresses — from as many as 70 million customers, up from a previous estimate of 40 million credit and debit card accounts. The breach happened from Nov. 27 to Dec. 15 — just as the holiday shopping season was getting into gear.

Target said that it was offering those potentially affected free credit monitoring but acknowledged Friday that news of the data theft has scared some shoppers away. It cut its earnings outlook for the quarter that covers the crucial holiday season and warned that sales would be down for the period.

Is This The Turn For Check Point?

Top Growth Stocks To Own For 2014

Waiting for the right time to jump into Check Point Software (Nasdaq:CHKP) was a trying exercise as the company's product revenue growth continued to grind lower and then turn negative. And now with the shares up almost one-quarter over the last three months, it looks like Wall Street has already moved on the recovery trade. The one solace for investors who've missed the move (myself included) is that even with exceptionally conservative assumptions, Check Point still does not look like an expensive stock and this company virtually mints money.

Results Still Weak, But Are They Turning?
At the risk of being accused of trying to spin Check Point's results in a positive light, I think this is a case where soft-looking results are actually starting to look better.

Revenue was up 4% this quarter and slightly ahead of expectations (less than 1%). More interesting to me is that the revenue was up 5% sequentially. Likewise in product revenue – year-on-year, Check Point saw another decline (-2%), but revenue grew 13% on a sequential basis.

SEE: 5 Earnings Season Investing Tips

Margin and profit performance was likewise somewhat lackluster, and without the same sequential improvements. Gross margin was basically flat on a year-on-year basis, and down slightly sequentially, while operating income rose 2% from last year and fell 3% sequentially.

Will The Trade-Down Ease Off?
One of the challenges that Check Point has been dealing with, in addition to the generally unappetizing IT spending environment, is that its systems are arguably too good for the company's own good. In many cases, customers have stuck with Check Point products, but taken advantage of the constant improvements to upgrade the performance relative to their existing system, but at a lower price (in other words, the "feature-adjusted" price is now lower).

Hopefully Check Point is largely past that cycle. At the same time, the company has introduced two new attractive appliance lines (the 600 and 1100) that should help perk up revenue later this year, the former (the 600) offering an interesting potential challenge to Fortinet (Nasdaq:FTNT) in the smaller business space. Elsewhere, the company is turning more of its attention to threat emulation (where it will challenge Palo Alto Networks (Nasdaq:PANW) and mobile information protection. Of course, Palo Alto isn't going to take this lying down, and major rivals like Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO) and smaller contenders like Fortinet and Sourcefire (Nasdaq:FIRE) aren't going to ease up either.

Will The Market Allow For Continued Success?
I do still see some threats to the Check Point story. For starters, I would expect that the weak IT environment has clients/customers increasingly pitting companies against each other in the attempt to force one to cave on price to get the deal. Longer term, I wonder if the trend towards consolidating data centers and shifting more business towards PaaS vendors like Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) is going to undermine market growth – although Check Point could actually benefit from that, as they would seem to be better-suited to meet the higher demands of a larger, consolidated data center.

SEE: A Primer On Investing In The Tech Industry

I'm also still concerned with margins and cash flow generation. You just don't see companies regularly convert 60% of revenue to cash flow, and I don't expect Check Point to be able to keep it up. Consider the 600 appliance, for instance. I just don't see how the SMB market will support 50%-plus operating margins, so Check Point is going to have to think about how much margin it is willing to trade for better growth.

The Bottom Line
For as long as I've followed Check Point (and thought the stock was undervalued), missing the roughly 25% move over the past quarter has been aggravating and frustrating. That said, I think this "meet and maintain" quarter will represent the bottom of the cycle, and I believe the company should start reporting better growth in the coming quarter. It won't be the sort of growth that has investors confusing this company with Palo Alto, but any growth will help at this point.

Even very conservative assumptions suggest these shares are still cheap. If I project 5% revenue growth and less than 2% free cash flow growth (assuming a big reduction in margins/free cash flow margin), the resulting fair value is still more than $61. Moreover, with Check Point having so much cash on hand that management could take Scrooge McDuck-style swims through it, the opportunity to add growth through acquisition or continue on with substantial buybacks should help underpin the shares.

Will the iWatch Send Apple Higher?

With shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) trading around $409, is AAPL 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

Apple designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The company's products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings. Apple also delivers digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, App Store, iBook Store, and Mac App Store.

Apple has been one of the most innovative companies of our time. Its products exist in many homes and companies around the world and continue to see significant demand domestically and internationally. With rumored Apple products, such as the iWatch and new iPhone devices, flooding the headlines as well as announced products such as iOS 7, look for Apple to continue to deliver. Check out the five products sitting in Apple's labs right now.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

Apple stock witnessed an explosive move higher within the last decade. The stock has now pulled back from all-time highs but seems to be forming a base around these prices. 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, Apple is trading below its key averages which signal neutral to bearish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

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

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Apple Options	29.77%	90%	88%

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	Steep	Average
August Options	Steep	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish 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 bearish 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 Mixed 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 Apple's stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Apple look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3	2012 Q2
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	-17.97%	-0.43%	23.03%	19.64%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	11.27%	17.65%	27.22%	22.58%
Earnings Reaction	-0.16%	-12.35%	-0.90%	-4.31%

Apple has seen mixed earnings and rising revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have expected more from Apple's recent earnings announcements.

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Apple stock done relative to its peers, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and sector?

	Apple	Google	BlackBerry	Microsoft	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-23.11%	25.99%	-13.06%	29.82%	7.24%

Apple has been a weak relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Apple provides technology products and services that continue to exceed expectations. With a number of innovative products being speculated for the company, look for these to possibly fuel a rise in the stock. The stock has been on a powerful move higher over the last several years, however, it has pulled-back and is still forming a base so it may need time before its next move. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been mixed while revenue figures have been on the rise, regardless, investors in the company have expected more. Relative to its peers and sector, Apple has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what Apple stock does this coming quarter.

European Stocks Advance as Volvo, EasyJet Shares Jump

European stocks rose to an almost eight-week high as data signaled Germany is leading a revival in euro-area manufacturing and companies posted results that exceeded estimates.

Volvo AB (VOLVB) advanced the most in 10 months after the world's second-largest truckmaker reported second-quarter earnings that beat forecasts. EasyJet climbed 3.7 percent after saying quarterly sales rose 11 percent on higher capacity utilization and revenue per seat. Syngenta (SYNN) AG fell 4 percent after posting first-half profit and revenue that trailed forecasts.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.6 percent to 301.1 in London, the highest close since May 30. The benchmark pared earlier gains of as much as 1 percent. The index has rebounded 9.2 percent from this year's low on June 24 as central banks around the world pledged to continue stimulus measures.

"I've been positively surprised by the earnings season so far," said Michael Woischneck, who helps oversee about $9.3 billion at Lampe Asset Management in Dusseldorf, Germany. "Companies are holding up quite well and guidance from CEOs seem to show they are confident with their road maps ahead. I'm not saying I expect the next big boom in Europe, but there are signs that the economy is not getting worse."

National benchmark indexes climbed in all 18 western European markets today, except Greece. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.4 percent, while Germany's DAX gained 0.8 percent and France's CAC 40 rose 1 percent.

Manufacturing Revival

Preliminary data today showed euro-area manufacturing is expanding this month for the first time since July 2011. A manufacturing index based on a survey of purchasing managers increased to 50.1 from 48.8 in June, Markit Economics said. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had predicted 49.1. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.

In Germany, manufacturing unexpectedly expanded in July and services growth accelerated.

A U.S. report showed sales of new houses in the world's largest economy rose more than forecast in June to the highest level in five years. Purchases climbed 8.3 percent to an annualized pace of 497,000 homes, the Commerce Department said in Washington. The median estimate of 77 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a gain to 484,000.

Volvo gained 5 percent to 97.90 kronor. Second-quarter earnings before interest and taxes of 3.26 billion kronor ($505 million) exceeded the 3.22 billion-kronor average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Revenue increased to 72.8 billion kronor, compared with the 71.6 billion kronor average estimate.

EasyJet Rallies

EasyJet advanced 3.7 percent to 1,385 pence. Europe's second-largest discount airline said third-quarter sales rose 11 percent and that full-year earnings should beat analyst estimates as it adds customers on routes where network carriers are withdrawing.

Ryanair Holdings Plc, which posts quarterly results next week, rose 4.8 percent to 7.37 euros in Dublin. A gauge of travel and leisure companies posted the best performance on the Stoxx 600.

Edenred rallied 7.1 percent to 24.34 euros, its biggest advance since August 2011. The provider of employee-benefit vouchers set a target of 370 million euros ($490 million) to 390 million euros for current operating profit in 2013.

Syngenta Earnings

Syngenta, the biggest maker of crop chemicals, fell 4 percent to 371 Swiss francs, its largest decline since September 2011. Adjusted earnings of $15.92 a share in the first half missed the average analyst projection for $17.15, as cold weather across Germany and the U.S. hurt demand for its fungicides.

Tod's SpA (TOD), an Italian maker of luxury shoes and handbags, dropped 3.9 percent to 119.50 euros, its biggest retreat in eight months. UBS AG cut its rating on the stock to sell from neutral, saying it expects weak sales growth in the first half of 2013 to pull down profit margins. UBS also said it doesn't expect a takeover bid for Tod's as some investors have argued. The company releases results on Aug. 7.

The number of shares changing hands in companies listed on the Stoxx 600 companies was 14 percent lower than the average of the past 30 days, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.

When You Can File Your 2013 Return

I read your column that said the IRS was delaying the start of the tax-filing season because of the government shutdown in October. I'd like to get my refund as soon as possible. When can I file my return?

SEE ALSO: The Most-Overlooked Tax Deductions

The IRS pushed back the start of the tax-filing season by ten days because many IRS workers who update and test the computer systems were furloughed during the government shutdown. The IRS will start accepting tax returns on January 31, and the fastest way to get your refund is to file electronically and have the money deposited directly into your bank account.

Depending on the day you file, you could receive your refund from seven to 14 days after filing, says Frank St. Onge, an enrolled agent and certified financial planner in Brighton, Mich. (Enrolled agents are licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS.) If you'd like a paper check instead, you'll usually get your money within about a month. The IRS says it expects to issue nine out of ten refunds in fewer than 21 days this year.

You'll get your money later if you file a paper return. Even if you mail the return earlier, it still won't be processed until January 31 or later. And it will take six to eight weeks to get a refund. St. Onge recommends filing electronically not only to get your money faster but also because you'll input the information yourself. When you file a paper return, the IRS inputs the information into its computer system, which can lead to more errors.

You may have to wait a few days after January 31 for tax documents to arrive, especially if you have taxable investments or freelance income. Employers' W-2 forms are usually available by then, but companies have until January 31 to send out 1099s reporting freelance income. Brokerage firms and mutual fund companies generally have until January 31 to send out their 1099s, too. Also look for Form 1098 from your mortgage lender reporting the mortgage interest and real estate taxes you paid in 2013, plus other paperwork with numbers you'll need to report income, deductions and credits.

Keep in mind that the shutdown didn't affect the tax-filing deadline. You still must file your return (or file for an extension) by April 15, 2014. Even if you file an extension, any money you owe is still due by April 15.

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You can check on the status of your refund starting 24 hours after you e-file your return (or four weeks after you mail a paper return) by using the IRS's Where's My Refund? tool.

And you can avoid the wait for a refund next year and get more money in each paycheck if you increase the number of withholding allowances you claim now. See our Easy-to-Use Tax Withholding Calculator to estimate how many additional allowances you can take. Then file a new W-4 form with your employer, and you'll see more money in your next paycheck. See How to Prevent a Big Tax Bill for details.

Got a question? Ask Kim at askkim@kiplinger.com.

Sears Guidance Proves That Nothing Can Work There

Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) needs to seriously decide what its future will bring. Nothing seems to work, and the guidance it issued after the close of trading on Thursday is just one more atrocious spectacle of what not to do. It really seems that if Sears were ever to become cool again that being cool would be out of style.

Total domestic comparable store sales for the quarter-to-date period were down by a sharp 7.4%. This was a drop of 5.7% at Kmart and a drop of 9.2% at Sears in domestic markets. Here are the blaming points:

Kmart: sales decline reflects declines in most categories including consumer electronics, grocery & household and toys. Sears: sales decline is attributable to decreases in most categories including consumer electronics, tools and home appliances.

Sears Canada also said that its comparable store sales for the quarter-to-date period were -4.4%. It turns out that the Canadians must dislike the Sears experience just a bit less than the Americans dislike it.

Sears claims to have continued to proactively transform its business to a member-centric integrated retailer with its Shop Your Way program and platform. Apparently “shopping your way” means shopping away from Sears.  The company said, “We believe that we are making progress in this transformation, as we are seeing continued increases in our SYW member engagement metrics with 69% of our sales in the nine-week period ended January 4, 2014 derived from members as compared to 58% last year.”

The company is telegraphing that it is intentionally transitioning business models, all of which has impacted its margin and expenses. Sears even spent $69 million more on SYW points expenses compared to the same period a year ago.

Sears now expects consolidated Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of -$65 million to $65 million. That figure was $429 million in last year’s fourth quarter. The company now expects that its reported net loss attributable to shareholders will be between $250 million and $360 million, or between -$2.35 and -$3.39 for the quarter. Sears was only supposed to have a loss of -$0.20 per share if the two analysts that make projections had anything to say.

About the only good news is that was seen was that Sears is considering strategic alternatives for its Sears Auto Center business.

Sears shares closed down over 35 at $42.57, and the stock fell by another 13% to $36.98 in the after-hours market reaction. Oh, and that is a new 52-week low if it holds as the prior 52-week range was $38.88 to $67.50.

State Street teams with MFS to Open its first active stock ETFs

State Street Corp., the second- biggest provider of exchange-traded funds, plans to introduce its first actively managed stock ETFs in partnership with MFS Investment Management.

The three funds, the SPDR MFS Systematic Core Equity ETF, Growth Equity ETF and Value Equity ETF, will open Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a statement yesterday from NYSE Euronext.

Fund companies for years have contemplated ways to combine the security selection of active mutual funds with the ease of trading and cost savings of ETFs, most of which track indexes. The transparency of ETFs, which are required to reveal all their holdings daily, has discouraged many would-be providers, especially equity investors.

Actively managed funds account for about $14.7 billion, or 0.9% of U.S. ETF assets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

State Street, based in Boston, offers 197 ETFs holding $413 billion in assets, second only to New York-based BlackRock Inc.'s $898 billion, according to the data. Boston-based MFS, manager of the first open-end mutual fund in the U.S., oversaw $413 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, according to Daniel Flaherty,

Pawning Goes Posh -- Got a Ferrari for Collateral?

When Mike Walsh needs cash for his homebuilding business, he borrows it from his Rolex watch.

"My bank cut my line of credit, but I still needed to float my business expenses," Walsh says. "I have a lot of valuable items, but can't get a loan against them."

In order to get the operating cash he needs, Walsh has turned to pawning -- and he doesn't even have to head to the seedy side of town to do it.

These days even well-off people are turning to pawnshops for short-term loans. And now a new breed of pawnshop is catering to this new client's needs.

Pawning for the well-heeled
Pawnshops have long had a reputation for being dingy and dismal; a place you'd rather not take your mother or even admit to having visited.

But now no one need be the wiser: Pawnshops have entered the modern age, with sites like Pawngo.com and UltraPawn.com offering a private, completely online short-term financing option for those who want to avoid traditional borrowing avenues such as payday loans and credit card advances. (Other high-end pawnbrokers -- aka "upscale collateral lenders" or "personal asset lenders" -- like Borro, The Provident Loan Society of New York and Beverly Loan Company (as in 90210), have online presences but conduct business primarily via their physical locations.)

The typical pawnshop customer has changed along with the times, too. "A lot of the people we work with have good credit," says George Souri, a former private equity finance expert and CEO of UltraPawn.com. "Our model is to give savvy consumers of financial services a viable alternative to other loans. Wealthy people have cash needs, too."

Indeed they do. For example, one customer borrowed $50,000 against a painting so he could take an expensive luxury cruise with his wife. He didn't want to sell any investments or take out a long-term loan, so he pawned the painting and repaid the loan once his bonus was paid. Another customer pawned a Ferrari.

Just like traditional pawnshops, online pawn sites evaluate your item and give you an offer, and, if accepted, quickly get the loan amount to you. They typically hold an item for 30 to 90 days. You pay a monthly finance charge and, at the end of the loan period, repay the principal balance of the loan and any remaining interest due. If you can't repay the loan, the pawnbroker renegotiates the loan or sells your item.

But unlike pawnshops that accept everything from gaming systems to televisions to household appliances, this new breed focuses on higher-end items, like Cartier jewelry, fine art, rare wine, antique maps, motorcycles, and loose diamonds. Correspondingly, the loan amounts are higher, too, and the loan terms can be longer.

Pawngo and UltraPawn will make loans ranging from $500 to $1 million with loan terms for up to six months. (UltraPawn's loans average $5,000 to $20,000.) A typical brick-and-mortar pawnshop offers 30-day loan terms on much lower amounts (mostly in the hundreds of dollars). Because they're catering to a higher-end clientele, services like storage, insurance, and shipping are free.

There's also a difference in interest rates: "Traditionally pawnshops charge interest rates of 18 to 22 percent, but the online model for pawning offers tremendous operational efficiency compared to traditional brick-and-mortar stores that require a building, a staff, and utility payments," says Souri. "We charge as little as 2 percent."

Getting credit off the grid
One of the "advantages" of pawning -- whether at a traditional shop or online -- is that your bad borrowing behavior won't haunt you for long.

Customers who can't repay their loans will not get calls from collection companies or discover negative notations on their credit reports. The only negative impact of defaulting on the loan is losing your possession.

On the flip side, a customer who builds a good payment record with a firm can be rewarded with lower interest rates on future loans. "So maybe we charge them 5 percent in interest on the first loan, but if they have a positive history with us we'll charge them 3 percent next time," Souri says.

While being a responsible borrower at a pawnshop has its rewards, your "credit history" doesn't translate to the real world of banking and borrowing. Still, pawning is one way to ease your cash flow, but remember that it won't help your long-term credit outlook.

Why Titan International's Shares Dropped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of giant tire manufacturer Titan International (NYSE: TWI  ) fell 13% today after being downgraded by analysts.

So what: Jefferies downgraded the stock from buy to hold, citing the probability of profit and sales pressure. William Blair also downgraded the stock to market perform and lowered its price target to $21.  

Now what: At The Motley Fool, we don't take analyst upgrades or downgrades very seriously because they just don't have much incentive to get ratings right. What we do know is that shares currently trade at 12 times trailing earnings, which isn't a bad value if revenue is at least flat. But the price of raw materials miners around the world are producing have been down and it wouldn't be surprising to see a decline in revenue. The spending spree in mining may be over and that would be a good reason to sell the stock today, not just the downgrade of two analysts.

Interested in more info on Titan International? Add it to your Watchlist by clicking here.

Is Yahoo! Stock a Buy With Tumblr?

What do you do when you get a huge $4.3 billion windfall? Splurge. Yahoo!  (NASDAQ: YHOO  ) did just that. With a few billion toward share repurchases, Yahoo! couldn't keep its eye off of a shiny new potential acquisition, and will spend $1.1 billion to buy Tumblr, a microblogging platform.

This makes Tumblr's acquisition a bit more than Facebook's purchase of Instagram. And makes it big enough to be a cornerstone of relatively new CEO Marissa Mayer's future reign. Where does such an acquisition fit in the companies' plans?

Tumblr overview
For the unfamiliar, Tumblr allows users to easily create short-form blogs with a focus on images. It was started in 2006, and has yet to be profitable as it only recently started to focus on monetization. However, with the introduction of more forms of advertising on the site, it expects to be profitable for the first time this year. Last year, the company brought in $13 million in revenue, with its sights set on $100 million by the end of this year.

Tumblr has 55 million bloggers, and 300 million visitors per month. For comparison, Yahoo! has more than 700 million visitors.

Tumblr under Yahoo!
In its press release, with a nod to poorly performing past acquisitions, Yahoo! "promises not to screw it up." Tumblr will be operated separately as an independent business. As Tumblr CEO David Carp says: "Our team isn't changing. Our roadmap isn't changing." In that sense, Tumblr will join Alibaba, of which Yahoo! owns 24%, and Yahoo! Japan, of which Yahoo! owns 35%. Alibaba will likely be one of the largest IPOs in history later this year, with a median valuation at $62 billion. Yahoo! Japan brought in nearly $1 billion in profit last year, and is valued around $30 billion.

Like Facebook's takeover of Instagram, it appears Yahoo! wants to let the service keep its own brand. Where do Yahoo!'s interests overlap with Tumblr's? As Mayer describes it:

Yahoo! is the Internet's original media network. Tumblr is the Internet's fastest-growing media frenzy. Both companies are homes for brands -- established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amid the everyday.

As Tumblr seeks to monetize its content through advertising, Yahoo! can assist it. And as Yahoo! seeks to maintain relevance, a trendy blogging service can keep users growing.

When Mayer first took over, she outlined that Yahoo!'s competency of personalization should be used to grow users as the company becomes an everyday part of a user's routine. She also stressed a focus on mobile, and a push for products that only have a chance of having 100 million users or $100 million in revenue within six months. Tumblr, with 50 million users and growing, and a goal of $100 million in revenue, fits right in. It also fits Mayer's mobile focus, and fosters the routine interaction Mayer desires.

Tumblr's future
Whether Tumblr is worth more than $1 billion will be decided later this year, as it ramps up efforts to attract advertisers. The heat will be on Tumblr employees to meet its goal of profitability. If they don't succeed, I'd expect Yahoo! to break its promise and exert more control to squeeze value out of its new toy. Because while pressure from users to not "screw things up" carries weight, investors' ultimately hold more sway.

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Additionally, as an older brand, Yahoo! may not be given the patience that investors have given Facebook. Instagram has yet to generate any profit for Facebook a year following its acquisition. While it has doubled its users to 100 million, and gives Facebook another path to find mobile revenues, any actual payoffs are in the future. 

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These 5 Companies Spend the Most on Advertising

Unless your name is Coca-Cola, which sells its products in all but two countries around the globe, or you are the sprout from which nearly all technological innovation over the past decade has sprung (i.e., Apple), then chances are advertising is a key component to success.

The interesting tidbit that goes along with advertising is that more dollars spent does not necessarily translate into more dollars brought in. Also, it depends on what type of advertising a business is targeting as to whether or not the ad campaign is ultimately successful.

Luckily for us, research firm Advertising Age did all the hard work and compiled its annual list last year of the companies in 2011 that spent the most on advertising. Not surprisingly, 36 companies, even including the aforementioned Apple, spent in excess of $1 billion in 2011 on ads.

What I intend to do today is have a look at the top five spenders in terms of dollar volume, figure out what these companies are doing right or wrong, and determine if there are any investing lessons to be learned from the type of media or audience that these businesses are targeting.

No. 5: AT&T (NYSE: T  ) , $2.36 billion
Whereas most businesses increased their ad budgets in 2011, AT&T's actually shrunk from roughly $3 billion down to $2.36 billion. AT&T is in the highly competitive telecom service provider business and it frankly has to spend to (1) try and keep up with Verizon, which has a considerably more extensive 4G LTE network than AT&T, and (2) differentiate itself from many of its other peers, which, frankly, have found themselves on America's most hated companies list. I personally feel the company does a good job branding itself as the old staple in U.S. telecommunications, and it tends to see smaller turnover than many of its peers.

No. 4: Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA  ) , $2.47 billion
Speaking of the most hated company in America -- at least in previous years – Comcast takes fourth with nearly two-and-a-half billion in ad spending. Comcast is really pushing simplicity under one bill with its Xfinity offering, which combines phone, Internet, and cable under one plan. What this plan really appears to be is a disguised attempt to detract consumers from a growing trend of cutting ties with their landline phone. Although landlines aren't big growth drivers for Comcast anymore, their low maintenance costs result in big margins. Comcast is certainly doing what it can to improve its image, but it still has a long way to go with consumers.

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No. 3: Verizon (NYSE: VZ  ) , $2.52 billion
Are we noticing a pattern here in the first three companies? Telecom and Internet service providers are widely disliked and competition is incredibly fierce, meaning these companies have to literally browbeat consumers with their strengths over and over in order to drive home their point. As I stated previously, Verizon's turnover rate tends to be higher than AT&T's, but it also has a considerably more advanced LTE network that could give it the upper hand in the coming years. Targeting the younger generation will definitely help move the needle in Verizon's favor.

No. 2: General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) , $3.10 billion
I actually found it very interesting that GM spent nearly $1 billion more in 2011 than rival Ford (NYSE: F  ) , yet the latter has seen considerably better domestic results since then. General Motors has had to spend heavily to rebrand itself after emerging from bankruptcy in 2010. With Ford having an edge among younger buyers with its more fuel-efficient EcoBoost engines and GM growing at a slower pace in emerging markets like China relative to Ford, it needs to do something -- and blending innovative new designs with beefy ad budgets is a big part of that plan.

No. 1: Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) , $4.90 billion
Procter & Gamble, the company behind Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste, and dozens of other consumer products, easily took the top spot in 2011 as the U.S.'s largest advertiser at $4.9 billion. With increasing competition and brand-name household products that often command a pricing premium to store brand, P&G has needed to step up its advertising campaign to reinforce the quality of its products and encourage consumers to step up to its higher-quality products.

What's the takeaway?
If anything, we've been shown that top-dollar spending doesn't always translate into big revenue increases. P&G has struggled in recent years with a big marketing budget that hasn't delivered the expected bottom-line results. This doesn't mean P&G ads are failing so much as they're trying to target consumers' buying habits at a time when spending is naturally going to be down because of higher payroll taxes and delayed tax refunds.

This brings me to my second point: Timing is everything. P&G's timing to spend nearly $5 billion in ads certainly wasn't perfect, but plenty of banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, have been taking advantage of low lending rates to encourage mortgage and refinancing activity and increase the quality of their loan portfolios. With banks usually among America's most hated companies, the opportunity for them to offer consumers the ability to save money could help restore their very fragile brand image.

Finally, advertising that's geared toward online audiences and younger generations appears to be giving businesses the best bang for the buck. This is the reason Ford has been running circles around GM lately with its fuel-efficient cars and also why Google increased its ad spending by 60% to just a hair more than $1 billion in 2011. Social media is giving brand-name companies a new mode of communicating and personalizing with the public, and many of these companies are taking advantage of it.

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