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Investors in the market like to focus on the big corporate battles. Take two giants in an industry and watch them go toe-to-toe in a battle royal.

 

To the winner go the profits, but how do investors do following the leaders? From my experience investing in giants is similar to owning an index fund. The returns are simply mediocre.

 

Below the radar in any industry are interesting sub-plots and possible investment opportunities that can outperform the market.

 

Written by Douglas Estadt

We like Delcath's management team and the cutting edge life-extending technology of their PHP System. Today we sold DCTH May 15 puts at $.55 and $.60, so when the stock closes Friday, and the options expire, one of two things we view as favorable will happen:

• if it closes above 15, we’re going to pick up $550 to $600 for every 10 contracts we sold

OR

• if the stock pulls back quite a bit before then, we will get the stock "put" to us,

 

Investors raise cash for all kinds of reasons.

In anticipation of some big personal expenditure. To protect a portfolio against risk in a volatile market. To have the firepower to take advantage of a future buying opportunity.

That last reason is why I've decided to raise some cash over the next few weeks and perhaps longer.

 

Retail is heating up. A look at 11 hot retail ETFs to buy now shows that the sector is dramatically outperforming the market so far in 2010 -- up to four times over!

That means if you were holding some of the elite retail components in these funds, you would be doing even better.

• Related: Walmart WMT Might Be Thinking Small on Store Size

Take online retailer Overstock.com (OSTK), up almost 65% in the same period! Any investor who has blacklisted the entire retail sector is missing out on big moneymakers like this company.

 

Bono, once described as the worst investor in America, was vindicated after his venture group made out in the Palm(PALM) sale.

Maybe Steve Jobs should get that title instead. The Apple (AAPL) chief executive made a dumb trade years ago -- one that cost him billions, writes Brett Arends on MarketWatch.

• Need a new broker?
  

Rewind all the way back to early 2000, when Apple shares fell to about $7. OK, you can stop now and kick yourself for not having bought any then.

Back to the story:

 

The announcement that the Obama administration is winding down the U.S. space program for budgetary reasons is one of the saddest announcements that any boomer can hear.

When I was a child, my heroes were Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon, the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and of course Chuck Yeager, Alan Shepard and John Glenn. They all were so real yet unreal to me.

One of my most proudest possessions was a model of the X-15 I built with my own hands. It was a simple time when TV was not 24 hours a day and signed off every night with videos of Air Force jets flying high in the clouds and the words of High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr: 

By Jeanine Poggi, TheStreet

 

Best Buy's (BBY) launch of a video download service has dragged down stocks of video rental companies Netflix (NFLX) and Blockbuster (BBI).

 

The electronics retailer announced plans Monday to roll out its CinemaNow digital entertainment platform later this month. The service will allow customers to buy or rent newly released movies and television shows instantly.

 

No subscription will be required. The service will work on a pay-as-you-go basis,  blending aspects of Neftlix's streaming service and Apple's (AAPL) iTunes. Rentals are expected to cost about $4 each -- about the same as Blockbuster -- and about $15 to own.

 

It used to be that McDonald’s (MCD) was known for its Happy Meals, Egg McMuffins and Big Macs. But increasingly, the burger giant has been looking to brand itself as a beverage leader.

Its latest move: The addition of smoothies and iced frappes to its already impressive suite of McCafe gourmet coffees. Smoothie flavors include wild berry, strawberry banana, mango and strawberry at select locations.

• Related: Burger King offers $1 Icees

Mickey D’s has come a long way with its beverage line recently, but ever since the Shamrock Shake debuted in 1970 the company has been looking for innovative ways to drink up sales.

 

By Peter Morici, TheStreet

 

As the May 6 “flash crash” in U.S. stocks illustrated, problems in Greece can have grave consequences for not merely other Mediterranean economies and Europe, but the US and the broader global economy.

 

The selloff on May 20 and 21, in the face of strong U.S. economic data, reflected growing concerns that the eurozone bailout will not work -- Greece may be beyond saving -- and that European government finances don't work.

 

At its core, problems in Greece reflect broader problems in Europe that are spreading to the U.S. The 750 billion euro assistance fund simply doesn’t address those problems. It is perhaps a palliative effort, not a cure.

 

 

Written by Douglas Estadt

Dr. Eric Jackson, of Ironfire Capital LLC (http://www.ironfirecapital.com), sits down with us to share insights on how he selects winning stocks from China:

 

• Must do your due diligence, not invest blindly

• Focus on specific company opportunity, not broad "China growth" statements

  

For more of Dr. Jackson's insight, view the video below

 

Imagine, for a moment, what would happen if mortgage rates from Fannie Mae (FNM) dropped to 4.5%. What would happen if gasoline fell to $2.50 or even lower? What would happen if commodity prices came down hard?

 

Would you like the situation? Wouldn't you like the idea that the Federal Reserve would be on hold at these low rates? Wouldn't you like the increased purchasing power you would get, especially now that the housing tax credit is over? Wouldn't you look for consumer stocks to buy?

 

This market is giving you a resounding answer: Nope. That would be foolish.

 

 

By Alix Steel, TheStreet

 

Gold prices in New York were slipping Monday as jittery investors sold gold for cash and the euro hit a four-year low.

 

Gold for June delivery was down $2.20 to $1,225.60 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold has traded as high as $1,242.80 and as low as $1,222.50. The US dollar index was rising 0.5% to $86.55 while the euro was falling 0.3% to $1.23 against the dollar. The spot gold price was dropping by $6, according to Kitco's gold index. Gold prices hit a record $1,249 last week.

 

Investors are still concerned that the European Union’s $1 trillion financial aid package won’t be enough to stop the debt crisis in some member countries. They also fear that austerity measures in Greece, Spain and Portugal will hurt growth without closing budget deficits.

 

 

One Wall Street firm now asks applicants to play a few hands of poker during their job interviews, The Los Angeles Times reports.

If a person isn't interested in poker, that's almost a red flag, an executive at the firm told the newspaper. "It's almost the equivalent of not reading the Wall Street Journal."

Looks like the high-stakes gambling aspect of Wall Street isn't going away anytime soon. 

Investors in Blockbuster (BBI) are playing Russian roulette, and one of these days the gun is going to go off.

 

In a recent securities filing, Blockbuster stated that filing bankruptcy remained a possibility. If that happens, investors will likely lose the entirety of their current investments.

• Blockbuster and Netflix fight for Movie Gallery share

Today the company has a market capitalization of $83 million, so there's not much left to lose. But individuals are still rolling the dice on Blockbuster at 40 cents per share -- down from $4 and change three years ago -- even though a complete loss is quote possible.

 

How much rope will investors give this company?

 

People with bad credit still need to buy cars. And General Motors wants to sell to them -- if only its lender would chill out a little.

Subprime buyers received about 16% of all new vehicle loans in the fourth quarter of last year, The Associated Press reports. The auto industry depends on these people for its sales, and it needs the banks to give them loans.

GM wants to sell to more subprime buyers as it revs up for a new public stock offering. But its main lender, Ally Financial, doesn't like the risk of loaning money to people with poor credit. So GM is stuck.