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Gamestop (GME) is Wall Street’s favorite dog to kick around. Shares are down 20% from the lows of 2009 despite a red-hot rally of about 70% in the broader market. That makes it one of the 10 worst performers in the last year.

 

The reasons are crystal clear: As consumer spending dried up, all but the hard-core gamers cut back on spending. And despite a bit of strength around the holiday season, video game sales have done nothing but drop. The details from February’s video game sales report a few weeks back showed more of the same, and GME continues to pay the price.

• Two other stocks that could buy Gamestop

But is the brutal fall of GME entirely fair? Some companies say the answer is no, and they are looking to game Gamestop’s decline as a shot for a bargain basement acquisition. And if execs at Blockbuster (BBI) can work some accounting magic, could be a potential buyer of GME.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

Nothing was more important than health care in Monday's session. Can't take away from it. But the eye-opening, I should say eye-popping, Williams-Sonoma (WSM) call may have been more of a catalyst than anyone who wasn't on it might have realized.

 

WSM basically said the public is spending again for everything from high-end bedding and nice cookware to expensive furniture and glassware. It was like something you would have heard not only before the Great Recession but maybe in the midst of the housing boom.

 

You could learn so much from it. First, you recognized that, like Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), when Linens 'n Things went under, WSM picked up great share when Smith & Hawken -- a unit of Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) -- closed its retail arm. (That was a two-birds-with-one-stone call because SMG moved up huge, too, on it).

 

 

You've been warned about the next bubble. (Don't panic yet. It looks like it's a way off.)

A recent survey of 109 institutional investors based in Asia and Europe, commissioned by Fidelity from the Economist Intelligence Unit, shows that 63% of respondents plan to increase their allocation to stocks in Asia, excluding Australia and Japan, in 2010, even though they think Asian assets are riskier than their counterparts in developed markets, and they admit that they lack knowledge and expertise in these markets.

In other words, they're jumping on the bandwagon. (I doubt that the survey would find very different results for U.S. institutional investors. Fidelity itself, for example, is moving one of its stars, Anthony Bolton, to Hong Kong this month to set up a $971 million China investment trust that will be listed in London.)

 

By Lauren Tara LaCapra, TheStreet

 

Bank of America (BAC) is on a better track with its reinvigorated business strategy, but mistakes from the past will keep the bank's profit on shaky ground for some time.

 

Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan has outlined his broad plan to pursue new business in high-growth emerging markets, and develop better relationships with wealthy clients in mature markets. He left this week for a trip to China, according to The Wall Street Journal, in an effort to build ties with leaders and business partners there.

 

But Bank of America is a laggard in respect to its newfound priorities abroad, and it will take time and effort to catch up. Major competitors are already established in China or building a presence there.

 

James Surowiecki at The New Yorker sets off on a well-traveled path, writing about how Apple (AAPL) succeeds because it ignores the middle of the market.

But the idea is worth revisiting as the company gears up to sell its iPad tablet next week. There are other worthy competitors out there, and their products are cheaper.

"Apple’s assumption is that, if the iPad is also significantly better, people will happily shell out for it," Surowiecki writes. It's an assumption that has paid off handsomely for the company, as people flocked to the iPod and iPhone, gladly paying a premium when they could have bought a sufficient competitor for less money. 

By Ted Reed, TheStreet

 

March is shaping up to be an unusually strong month for car sales, with catalysts including Toyota (TM) incentives and nice weather following a stormy February.

 

According to Edmonds.com, March sales are on pace to produce seasonally an adjusted annual sales rate for the industry of 13.2 million, the highest since the 13.7 million cars sold in August, reflecting buying inspired by the cash for clunkers program.

 

As of March 10, Ford (F) had a 19.2% share of the market, while General Motors had 17.8% of the market and Toyota had 15.5%, according to Truecar.com. Ford had a 17.6% share in February and a 14.6% share in March 2009.

 

The Commodore computer, one of the most beloved brands in technology history, is coming back. What's next, a remake of "Dynasty" and a return to leg warmers?

A new company, Commodore USA, has licensed the Commodore name and plans to start selling the made-over computer in June, according to PCWorld. But you don't have to dig very far before this starts sounding a little odd.

The new model, called Phoenix by Commodore USA, is an all-in-one system that can support up to 4 gigabytes of memory and 2 terabytes of storage, according to ZDNet.  

The BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (BPT) is a favorite among income-oriented dividend stock investors. The stock offers a hefty yield, and since it’s a “depletion trust” based on the life of its reserves, it’s not as tied to oil prices as other stocks in the energy sector.

• 10 Unsung Dividend Heroes with +10% Yields

But after dropping 13% in two days last week, some are wondering if it is time to cut this stock loose -- or time to buy more now that the dividend yield is now about 17%.

 

Let’s take a look:

 

The grocery business has not been the same since giant discount retailers Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT) entered the fray in a major way earlier this decade.

Shares of traditional grocer Safeway (SWY), for example, trade at a mere fraction of prices reached in 2001. Unfortunately for the sector, things are not going to get any easier.

 

• Five reasons to buy the next Wal-Mart

 

Last week, Wal-Mart confirmed a report that it would slash prices on grocery items in hopes of boosting traffic at its stores.

 

The king of price rollbacks is set to discount up to 10,000 items beginning April 1.

 

Though Peppy Paneer may not be a popular pizza  topping in the U.S., Indians are eating up the tofu-esque offering from Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) that caters to regional tastes on the subcontinent. And increasingly at DPZ, it’s what the international pizza  crowd wants that matters.

It’s international expansion like this that is fueling Domino’s growth. About 55% of Domino's $5.6 billion in sales last year were in the United States, and that international same-store sales have increased for 64 consecutive quarters (that’s 16 years). 

• 10 Little-Known Dividend Stocks with +10% Yeilds

The trend is a little hard to wrap your head around -- an American version of an Italian food selling well in India. But this much is clear: If this keeps up, Domino’s will see the bulk of its revenue come in from outside the U.S. very soon, and it will provide a springboard for growth in the months and years to come.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

Why isn't it down more? You will hear that all day. The answer is simple: The pain is in the back years. You will not see the real crimp in purchasing power and job formation until 2011, and then maybe we will be in better shape for it.

 

In fact, the real balance is between next quarter's earnings and what President Barack Obama has in store for us next. Will it be amnesty, so those who are illegal get a card that entitles them to universal health care? Will it be an energy bill that tacks on costs to companies that pollute and adds a new layer of bureaucracy? Will it be a push to restore the historic power of unions to their "rightful" place in history? Will it be financial legislation that punishes all large banks and Goldman Sachs (GS) in particular because Goldman makes too much money? Will it be rules about how the combinations that the government begged for, JPMorgan (JPM) / WaMu, JPMorgan / Bear Stearns, Wells Fargo (WFC) / Wachovia and Bank of America (BAC) / Merrill Lynch must be broken up and the institutions punished for helping the government?

 

 

Shares of Palm (PALM) plunged 26% on Friday after the company warned that current quarter revenue would be dramatically below current estimates.

 

The talk now is of a possible bankruptcy and the picture looks bleak. One indicator: Palm shipped some 960,000 units at the end of the third quarter, but only 408,000 ended up in the hands of customers. That leaves significant inventory out there that no one's in a rush to buy.

 

• 5 stocks on the chopping block

 

You can't help but wonder if Palm can survive the phenomenon that is Apple's iPhone, and my view on this dog is unchanged. Sell. Short. Run away. Here's the story.

 

Finally, companies are starting to return money to investors in the form of share buybacks, according to the Economist.

Case in point: Pepsi (PEP), which said this week it will buy back up to $15 billion in shares in the next three years, including $4.4 billion in 2010. That's the biggest repurchase since the financial crisis hit, the Economist reports. (Pepsi also increased its dividend by 7%).

So far this year, buybacks are in the range of $65 billion, compared to $137 billion for all of last year.

So are these buybacks a good thing? 

As Warren Buffett said when Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) bought Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI), this buy is a bet on the strength of the U.S. economy.

Union Pacific (UNP) historically hasn't been an especially well-run railroad, but it is run well enough so that the transcontinental road will get a big boost from the recovering U.S. economy in the first half of 2010 -- and expectations for further improvement in the second half.

I'm not convinced that expectations for second-half growth will prove out, which is why I'm keeping this buy on a very short-term leash.