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Playboy Enterprises (PLA) is still in the red, but the company is making huge strides in its restructuring and has cut its quarterly loss to just 83 cents per share from $4.40 a year ago. Segment income also nearly doubled, from $1.1 million to $2.1 million.

 

This is a dramatic leap ahead for the bunny brand at a time when consumer confidence appears to be on the mend. But is Playboy gaining momentum at the perfect time to make a dramatic comeback, or does Hugh Hefner's media empire still have serious troubles ahead as it struggles to rebrand itself in the digital age?

 

With three major entertainment properties openly on the block, and another independent studio quietly made available for sale, Hollywood -- once the sexiest of high-priced baubles -- faces a glut of supply and a dearth of demand.

• MGM needs to be sold or faces bankruptcy sooner rather than later; the studio’s production has been virtually halted as financiers seek to sort out its debt-laden balance sheet.

• Disney has put Miramax up for sale, seeking $700 million -- with buyers so far balking at that price tag.

• Liberty Media’s John Malone has hired an investment bank to sell or dismantle Starz Media and its main division, Overture Films. 

 

By Lauren Tara LaCapra, TheStreet

 

Some high-profile financiers got more bullish on Wells Fargo (WFC) last quarter, tempting retail investors to mimic their moves.

 

It's not surprising that Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) has long held stock in Wells Fargo, one of the country's largest banks. It's a quintessential American stock that has held up well through the crisis, and a company whose earnings had increased at a steady clip for many years. Buffett likes those types of investments.

 

Last quarter, Berkshire bought another 6.7 million of Wells Fargo's common shares. The firm now holds 320 million shares, or roughly 6.7% of the total. Buffett may have acquired more stock to maintain Berkshire's position as Wells' largest individual holder, while the company issued 426 million new shares to repay TARP.

 

Cleveland has just been named the most miserable city in America -- quite a distinction in a year in which the entire country learned a little more about misery.

Forbes gave Cleveland this dubious honor because of its high unemployment and taxes, bad weather, political corruption and lousy sports teams (the Cavs were not included, apparently).

The U.S. in general grew more miserable last year as unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcy rose, according to Forbes. In fact, the Misery Index, which tracks these things, hit its highest level since 1983. 

By Jake Lynch, TheStreet

 

Stocks have struggled this year in the wake of the 2009 rally, prompting many investors to turn to defensive names.

 

Cautious investors seeking steady dividends should consider these 10 stocks. They're rated "buy" and rank in the top 1% of our 5,000-stock coverage universe for financial strength.

 

10. Raytheon (RTN) is an aerospace and defense contractor, specializing in high-tech systems. Fourth-quarter net income rose 20% to $504 million and earnings per share climbed 27% to $1.30, boosted by a lower share count. Revenue rose 9.5% to $6.7 billion. Raytheon's operating margin widened from 10% to 11%. The stock advanced 19% over the past year.

 

Of all the crazy ideas executives foist upon their companies, selling sushi at the drug store has to be among the craziest.

 

Apparently somebody at Duane Reade, the heavily-in-debt and struggling drug store, thought this was a good idea because shoppers at its Midtown Manhattan location can now buy the prepackaged Japanese delicacy for under $10.

 

Coffee at McDonald's (MCD) was one thing, but sushi at the drug store is another. What will Duane Reade offer next, Ruth's Chris (RUTH) steaks?

 

Back when I was a student I used to spend hours in the library reading Trendlines and Value Line. I learned two important lessons: always know what industries are presently enjoying the best price momentum and then find the best companies in those industries. According to Barchart the strongest industry in the last 30 days has been the broadcasting industry. I begin my search by sorting the industry for the stocks having the best current relative strength and limit my research to the top 10.

To help me whittle down the list I use Barchart's 13 technical indicators and eliminate those that rank below 100% on all 13 indicators. Last, I want to make sure that the stock had a price appreciation in the last 5 days. I'm left with just 4 stocks. Let's research them one at a time.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

  

Is Wal-Mart (WMT) the flip side of Coach (COH) and Whole Foods (WFMI)? Is it the place people aren't shopping because they feel better? Or are all the new execution gains now behind them, and it no longer has the momentum?

 

Or maybe it's just a total irrelevance because of the oil/gold/dollar conundrum afflicting us once again, this time with an added advantage that 100 million shoppers must feel weak, confirming gold and oil weakness.

 

Either way, I am suspicious of the downside because of the terrific numbers we got from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Applied Materials (AMAT) and my conviction that we are still early in the semiconductor golden age.

 

 

By Douglas Estadt

When done right, the premium denim business can be very lucrative.  Joe's Jeans is an example of a standout denim company, and that is why I bought their stock. Here are the main reasons I bought JOEZ:

 

• Well-managed company.

• Growing sales, up 42% in their most recent quarter.

• Recently signed leases to open new stores.

• Focusing on and adding new top-of-the-line designs while outsourcing their manufacturing.

• Low p/e ratio.

• Cash reserves.

 

To learn more about these Joe’s Jeans, view the video below.

 

So, that's all ya got?

If the much-feared correction is over, then investors are still waiting for the kind of 10% correction that normally punctuates a rally.

From the Jan. 19 peak close at 1150.23 to what is so far the bottom at 1056.74 at the close on Feb. 8, the Standard & Poor's 500 index was down just 8.13%.

And as of 1 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, the index is up 4% from that February bottom.

 

A year after its brush with extinction, Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) busted through the critical $1 per share mark this afternoon.

 

Trading above $1 is critical to the future of the company and its listing on the Nasdaq exchange. More importantly, crossing the dollar mark now opens the door to institutional buying from funds reluctant to own companies that trade for less than one dollar.

 

The sky is the limit with Sirius XM Radio (SIRI).

 

As I recently wrote, the company is awakening from a long slumber. Investors are re-examining the future of satellite radio, which was once left for dead.

 

With auto sales on the rise and with it now operating as a monopoly, there are strong headwinds behind Sirius XM Radio (SIRI). (10 more stocks with strong headwinds) 

 

Burger King (BKC) has been sleepwalking through breakfast sales for a long time, and a new partnership with Starbucks (SBUX) announced on Tuesday isn't likely to be the wake-up call the company needs to catch archrival McDonald's (MCD).

 

By September, Burger King said it will replace its current BK Joe coffee line at some 7,250 locations with Seattle's Best Coffee, the former hometown rival that Starbucks acquired in 2003. Prices for the 100% Arabica-bean coffee will range from $1 to $2.79, with the option to add some of Starbucks' bells and whistles like flavored syrup and whipped cream.

• Video: 'Fast' casual dining

Burger King has been a perennial and distant No. 2 to McDonald's in the fast-food industry, and it will take more than a sexy deal with Starbucks to start eating away at McDonald's lead.

 

HBO has taken a page right out of Netflix's (NFLX) business model with the introduction of HBO Go, its new video-streaming service.

Here's how it works: HBO subscribers can go online and watch the same movies HBO offers on its cable networks. And -- at least for now -- the service will be free.

• Video: Nintendo adds Netflix streaming videos

But HBO Go is only for the 38 million subscribers to HBO or Cinemax, according to CNET. If you don't pay for the cable channels, you won't get online access.

 

By Joe Mont, TheStreet

 

President Barack Obama's proposed budget would shift $112 billion away from the nation's top earners in 2012, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit organization that monitors federal and state fiscal policies.

 

The group analyzed the impact of the 10-year budget proposal on various income groups. The study, released last week, said higher-income families would lose the most because of the expiration of Bush administration tax cuts and the proposed 28% cap on certain deductions. Low-income and middle-class families stand to benefit from the redistribution.

 

"We asked two simple questions," says Tax Foundation Senior Economist Gerald Prante, co-author of the report. "'How much in federal taxes does a given income group pay under a given set of tax policies?' and 'How much in federal taxes would that income group pay under a benefit principle system of taxation, in which a family's tax share is equal to its share of government spending benefits?'''

 

By Eric Rosenbaum, TheStreet

 

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), the investment company of billionaire Warren Buffett, doubled its holdings in Iron Mountain (IRM) and Republic Services (RSG) in the fourth quarter, according to a regulatory filing.

 

Buffett dumped shares of CarMax (KMX), Gannett (GCI), Ingersoll-Rand (IR), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Procter & Gamble (PG).

 

Berkshire expanded its position in the data storage company Iron Mountain to 7 million shares from 3.3 million in September as the stock lost 15%. Buffett took his stake in waste management firm Republic Services to 8.3 million shares from 3.6 million. Republic Services stock gained 6.6% during the quarter.