Top Stocks

By Jeff Reeves, InvestorPlace.com

Almost everyone feels a bit overwhelmed when experiencing a Costco (COST) store for the first time. The size, the crush of people, the bizarre variety of items.

And that's just the view from the parking lot.

Well, if Costco has its way, the mob scene taking place at its cavernous stores will soon be on the move -- to the oversized mall spaces known as "anchor" positions, which have long been the turf of big-box retailers and department stores.

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

Thank you, Bob Toll, for once again telling the truth.

The executive chairman of homebuilder Toll Brothers (TOL) has been spot on during this housing crisis, being the first to tell you the good and the bad. He basically told you to sell housing stocks a couple of months ago when he didn't like the trends he saw. He is a straight shooter, and sometimes it can be painful.

His comments this morning really say it all for the part of the market that wasn't dominated by the tax credit, which basically gave buyers a free year of interest payments (the average price of a home's mortgage interest in year one is what buyers got with the credit).

Apple (AAPL) is finally getting a toehold in the corporate world, thanks to the iPad.

Companies that have historically resisted Apple products are snapping up iPads, The Wall Street Journal reports. Half of the companies in the Fortune 100 are buying or testing them, and at least 500 iPad applications are specifically for use by businesses.

• Find a better broker and trade online

"Everyone in IT is jumping on this one," an analyst told the Journal. "Rather than wait for people to start complaining, they're saying, 'Why don't we get a few of them in and see what they are good for?'"

By Andrea Tse, TheStreet

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) received a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for allegedly violating FDA rules by marketing two orthopedic products without approval, the agency said.

The products in question are the TruMatch Personalized Solutions System, a knee replacement device, and the Corail Hip System.

"A review of our records reveals that you have not obtained marketing approval or clearance before you began offering the TruMatch Personalized Solutions System for sale," the FDA said in the letter to J&J. The agency said the Corail Hip System was also being marketed for "unapproved uses."

By Ted Reed, TheStreet

Worried that the General Motors IPO will diminish the value of Ford (F) shares?

Don't be, UBS (UBS) analyst Colin Langan said in a report that looks at the impact on the stock price of a company's No. 1 competitor in the months after an IPO. Historically, competing stocks are not hurt by large IPOs in the sector, Langan wrote.

"We found that on average, during the three and one months preceding an IPO, the main competitor experienced above-market returns," he said. "Our findings are in contrast to investor concerns and highlight that markets are more efficient than some investors anticipate."

Pepsi may not be the first company that comes to mind when you think of a healthful breakfast, but the soft drink giant hopes to change that with a makeover of its Quaker division.

Parent company PepsiCo (PEP) will revamp the morning meal offerings from Quaker with revised breakfast options. Reformulated instant oatmeal and two new types of cereal will be at the center of Quaker's new product push and a marketing campaign to capture an evolving consumer market increasingly concerned with eating well.

But this isn’t your mother’s oatmeal. The new instant oatmeal will address what Quaker President Jaya Kumar said is a concern: People report not wanting oatmeal to be "mushy."

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

Since when did we become the United States of Housing? Housing has become pretty much the be all and end all of the market outside of employment claims. We literally dread these numbers because the estimates are way too high -- based on what? -- and when the figures come in, they are either horrible or really horrible.

Housing used to be supremely important in this country for Black & Decker (SWK) and Masco (MAS) and for Louisiana-Pacific (LPX), Georgia Pacific, Morgan Products, US Gypsum, U.S. Home and Republic Gypsum. We used to fret about what it would mean to Phelps Dodge and to some of the independent glass companies.

Most of those companies are now gone or have merged. We had some regional homebuilders, and they would have periodic cycles of good and bad. But they were regional, for heaven's sake, and often their regions would be strong when others would be weak.

Long story short -- we think oil is too cheap. 

Recent misguided market fear is overshadowing the current opportunity to profit by making strategic oil plays.  While reading "Of Permanent Value" on Warren Buffett, I noted the section in which he explains  how many of his best investments were made during the down days of the 1970s when people were behaving as if the world was going to end. 

This mindset to seek opportunity in times of fear resonates with us.  Oil is only ever going to be more in demand while supply shrinks and investors may wish to consider these facts:

A new reality is setting in for homeowners: A house will not make you money.

We're in a vastly different world from what we saw over the last three decades, when real home prices increased every year -- sometimes by as much as 4%, The New York Times reports.

That kind of appreciation made housing seem like a smart investment. A nest egg that would make money. Now, and for the foreseeable future, you'll be lucky just to get back the money you put into your house.

• Find the best mortgage rates

"People shouldn’t look at a home as a way to make money because it won’t,"

That comes on the heels of other Bewkes initiatives, from installing former NBC star Conan O’Brien in late night at TNT to a new “Marketing Initiative,” a cross-company task force charged with maximizing content, products and talent across Time Warner’s vast breadth.