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In last week's release of its 2009 annual report, Walmart (WMT) indicated that it might change direction and "develop new, innovative formats" to capitalize on opportunities in major metropolitan markets. Walmart has long been the go-to retailer in rural communities and the suburbs, but its sprawling Supercenter format has never really appealed to urban dwellers.

• 5 top reasons to buy Walmart WMT stock

Well rather than try to find a way to shoehorn a 36-aisle retail monstrosity into midtown Manhattan, Walmart may be taking a very un-big-box approach to its retail locations: Go smaller. And there are three logical ways how.

 

Trina Solar (TSL) has had a rough couple of years. After a $10 IPO in 2006, it flew up to peak at $35 in 2007 -- only to bottom out under $4 at the end of 2008.

It was partially the broader market that held back Trina, but also speculation over the viability of solar power as oil prices softened.

TSL nearly became a bear market statistic. But the company has fought back from less than $3 a share to its current $25 price and there are a lot of reasons to think that Trina Solar is making a comeback.

 

Beleaguered Palm (PALM) finally has a new owner, and it's one few expected. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is buying the company for $1.2 billion.

With Palm under its belt, HP plans to make a big run in the smart-phone market. That's a bit of a shock, considering the company isn't a player in the mobile-phone business. Palm shareholders will get $5.70 in cash for each share when the deal is sealed, most likely by the end of July.

The news was announced after the market closed, but in after-hours trading Palm shares were up 27% at one point to $5.86. HP shares were down slightly.

 

Tech critics had plenty to say about the iPad vs. Kindle war. Now, regular consumers are starting to get their hands on Apple's(AAPL) new device, and the mainstream is chiming in on the debate.

Eventually, we'll get enough solid sales data to see which way the money is flowing. I wouldn't count Amazon (AMZN) out yet.

James Stewart, a columnist for SmartMoney magazine, is not a tech head. He doesn't have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, and hadn't used touch-screen technology until he got his hands on an iPad two weeks ago.

But he's fallen in love.

 

In an effort to battle child obesity, the Board of Supervisors in California's Santa Clara County voted to ban promotional toys used by McDonald's (MCD) to sell its iconic Happy Meals to young children.

 

Now I can see, say, the government going after bankers who nearly wrecked the financial system and regulators who surfed porn instead of watching said bankers.

• Is Ronald McDonald facing a layoff?

But do we really need a crackdown on little plastic tchotchkes that come with burgers made by a very successful business that employs hundreds of thousands? Sure, too many Happy Meals aren't good for you. But unlike fancy financial products, what’s in them isn't a secret.

 

By Jim Woods, Investorplace.com

 

The banking industry is in the hot seat these days, with fraud allegations surrounding Goldman Sachs (GS) sparking a wave of financial stock downgrades recently.

• Check out 5 reasons to buy Goldman Sachs stock.

 But negative news isn’t always a bad thing for investors, because it creates huge buying opportunities if you know where to look. And if you’re in the mood for bargain hunting in the financial sector, you may want to consider buying Bank of America (BAC) sooner rather than later. This financial stock looks to be doing just fine – and here are the top 5 reasons why:

 

By Gregg Greenburg, TheStreet

 

Toyota (TM) will put its car-recall issues behind it and lead the auto industry as competition with Ford (F) heats up, according to Shuhei Abe, manager of the Hennessy Select SPARX Japan Fund (SPXJX).

 

Abe also said Japan's economy will accelerate and corporate earnings are getting a big boost as its politicians come under pressure to produce growth.

 

The mutual fund returned 7.1% in the first quarter, trailing the MSCI Japan Index's 8.3% gain. The Hennessy Select SPARX Japan Fund outperformed the benchmark index in four of the past six calendar years, including 2008 and 2009. Abe recently discussed his investment strategies with TheStreet.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

Portugal: Good excuse or good reason? Spain: Good excuse or good reason? Greek two-year at 19%: Good excuse or good reason? Goldman Sachs (GS) in the stocks instead of selling stocks: Good excuse, or good reason?

 

To me, Spain, Portugal and Greece are decent reasons to sell but Goldman Sachs was an EXCELLENT excuse to sell. Last night on a late panel with my old partner Larry Kudlow, we were trying to suss this issue out.

Larry's convinced that you have to be a little shaken by the 19% rates. I came back and said that watching the disembodying of the most important finance firm in the country is jarring to say the least and that it created its own level of uncertainty.

 

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), the largest chipmaker for Apple (AAPL), Intel (INTC) and other companies, reported first-quarter earnings Tuesday that were 10.1% above Wall Street's expectations. Earnings of $1.07 billion were the highest since the fourth quarter of 2007.

The company said it expects momentum to continue in the second quarter, with sales forecast to rise 8.7% to 10.9% from the level of the first quarter. That would push revenue to a company record for a quarter. Gross margin will climb to 48% to 50% in the second quarter from 47.9% in the first quarter, the company projects.

Ordinarily, that kind of upside guidance would lead me to increase my target price for a stock. But while as a company Taiwan Semiconductor may be cooking, Taiwan Semiconductor the stock (or actually ADR, American Depositary Receipt) has a problem that makes me reluctant to raise my target price above the $12.50 a share that I set on Jan. 29.

 

These are the kinds of numbers any company would drool over.

The online classifieds site Craigslist could see $122 million in sales this year -- and profits of $88 million to $99 million. That's according to a classified-ad consultancy, MediaPost reports.

• What has your broker done for you lately?

Those numbers reflect a 22% increase in sales from 2009. Not a bad jump by any measure.

So how does a free site like Craigslist pull in this kind of profit?

 

Got a big freezer? Might be time to stock up on meat.

Bloomberg reports that U.S. meat prices may hit record highs this summer, now that farmers have cut their herd sizes to the smallest in decades.

Already, prices are climbing. Wholesale pork saw a 25% increase last week to nearly 91 cents a pound. Beef is up to $1.69 a pound -- the highest price in nearly two years. In March, chicken had the biggest gain in 20 months.

 

By Jeanine Poggi, TheStreet

 

Speculation about Wal-Mart (WMT) opening stores in New York City has been floating around for years -- and now it might finally happen.

 

The discount giant has been scouting locations, which include a shopping center in Jamaica Bay, Brooklyn, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

 

Wal-Mart has already tried to nab locations in Queens and Staten Island, but failed. The world’s largest retailer has faced opposition in New York from labor unions and small businesses.

 

 

By Alix Steel, TheStreet

 

Gold prices are rallying as investors seek safety in the precious metal after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece and Portugal’s debt.

 

Gold for June delivery was surging $6.80 to $1,160.80 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold rose as high as $1,165.30 and fell as low as $1,146.60. The US dollar index was adding 0.61% to $81.71, while the euro was sinking 0.55% against the dollar. The spot gold price today was topping $8, according to Kitco's gold index.

 

Standard & Poor's slashed Greece's sovereign credit rating to junk and lowered Portugal's long-term credit rating from A+ to A-.

 

When a stock price hits a new high, investors take notice. When the market sees 634 new highs in one day? Well, that's breathtaking.

Friday was a new-high bonanza, according to stock market blogger Chris Perruna. The 634 new highs on the NYSE that day were more than any seen in years.

There has only been one day with more new highs, Perruna writes. That would be Oct. 11, 1982, when 653 new highs materialized.

What to take away from this? 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

Throughout last week we learned repeatedly about the holes in the government's case against Goldman Sachs (GS), holes that would make you think the government shouldn't have sued the company to begin with.

 

We know that emails were taken out of context; that Goldman lost a lot of money in mortgages, including $90 million on the synthetic CDO that's the focus of the government's case; that ACA Capital played a much bigger role in the selection of mortgages than hedge fund Paulson & Co.; and that Goldman didn't create anything it expected to fail because internally the firm was split on the health of the market.

 

But we are interested in stocks, not law. By the end of last week, Goldman's stock had finished below where it was when the news broke. If any of those points mattered to the company or its fortunes in the case, the stock would have regained some ground, especially after Goldman reported a shoot-the-lights-out quarter and received kind words from shareholder Warren Buffett.

 

So, if the case is so bad, why isn't the stock gaining?