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Kohl's (KSS) is competing against Wal-Mart (WMT) for the cost-conscious consumer, and it appears to be besting its much larger rival.

 

Although both companies were hurt by unusually cool spring weather, Wal-Mart's latest quarterly earnings report disappointed Wall Street while Kohl's beat analysts' expectations, despite having what CEO Kevin Mansell described as a "slow start."

 

By Jeff Reeves

We all know about the current dividend investing trend. With CDs and Treasuries yielding less than 2%, your best shot at income is to seek out stable dividend payers.

The best income stocks offer big dividends, decent share appreciation and rock-solid stability. And one of the best places to look for that triple-treat of a dividend stock is in the master limited partnership arena.

Master limited partnerships, or MLPs, are quirky investments. They have special tax rules, offering "distributions" instead of dividends to its "partners" or "unitholders." But don't let the jargon fool you. MLPs essentially are the same as dividend stocks, only their special corporate structure ensures that the vast majority of any profits are delivered right back to shareholders. Er, I mean "unitholders." You get the idea.

 

Hard-to-value stocks are such bummers. How do you value a car company that makes only 21,000 cars, even as it makes money on them? How do you value an online company that dominates Internet commerce?

 

The answer is simple: You don't. You can't. You can't, because there's a confluence, an actual formula, for what's going on here. You take a service or product that is much loved, you verify constantly that it is loved, whether it be because of the rapid adoption of the online service or a terrific rating in Consumer Reports, and you add in sudden profitability and a chance for long-term dominance and then sprinkle on nonbelievers who short the stock because the usual valuation works are defied, and they can't be defied forever. The result? You get Tesla Motors (TSLA) at $10 billion, and you get Amazon (AMZN) at 220 times earnings.

 

By Matthew Kanterman

U.S. equity futures rose slightly in early premarket trade heading into the weekend after a week marked by small moves in equities in both directions. Stocks look set to test all-time highs again in Friday's session if futures can hold gains into the open.

In other news, the European Union reported EU auto sales rose 1.8% in April, the first monthly gain in over 18 months.

Japanese Machine Orders rose a whopping 14.2% in March, much better than the 3.2% expected gain. However, the data is extremely volatile and may not be a clear sign that stimulus policies are working just yet.

 

The stock market pulled back on Thursday. Jobless claims bumped up a little, as a weaker-than-expected​ report on housing starts suggested worries about the health of the economy.

What few people talked about was if there were any great worries about inflation -- or if interest-rate cuts by central banks around the world, and moves to flood their banking system with cash to promote growth, were causing enormous inflationary pressures.

This was a change from the near-constant television chatter about how those big, bad central banks were going to destroy the economy as we know it. But the big fears are just fears so far. There isn't much inflation in the developed countries, certainly not the United States. Not yet, anyway.  

By Zacks Equity Research

 

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) recently presented encouraging data on its pipeline candidate, the leukemia drug idelalisib (formerly GS-1101), from a phase II study. That study is evaluating idelalisib, combined with Roche Holding AG’s (RHHBY) Rituxan/MabThera (rituximab), in treatment-naïve patients (ages 65 and older) suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The second most common leukemia form in the US, CCL refers to a slow-growing cancer. It stimulates the production of multiple mature white blood cells.

The results stated the regimen achieved an overall response rate of 97%, with estimated progression-free survival of 93% at 24 months. Encouraged by the results of the phase II study, Gilead intends to evaluate idelalisib for the indication in phase III studies.

 

By Todd Woody

 

Elon Musk's electric car and rocket ship ventures may score the headlines, but SolarCity (SCTY), his rooftop photovoltaic company, is proving the market leader of a booming business.

On Thursday, the Silicon Valley firm further consolidated its position as the nation's largest residential solar installer -- with the announcement that Goldman Sachs (GS) will finance $500 million in leases for SolarCity's customers.

 

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) and the S&P 500 Index ($INX) regularly setting new highs, it's enough to make anyone want to jump into the market. But it can be hard to get a foothold in stocks when single shares of popular companies like Google (GOOG) -- which just topped $900 a share -- cost as much as a new refrigerator.

However, as Michael Brush notes, "If you look beyond the household names, you'll find a lot of stocks from solid companies that go for much more modest prices -- say, less than $5 a share. Given that so many of these small companies get overlooked by the experts, here's where you can find bargains ready to jump higher."

Brush reviewed his own holdings and picks from his Brush up on Stocks portfolio to find seven budget-priced stocks with solid potential, like Sirius XM (SIRI) -- with one crucial caveat: "Do not overpay!"  

By Alex Daley, Casey Daily Dispatch

Compared to most other fledgling automakers, which rely on shared assembly plants or rented space from the big players, Tesla (TSLA) is much better off.

In 2008, founder Elon Musk took advantage of the financial crisis to purchase and retool a state of the art GM/Toyota manufacturing facility called "NUMMI." In theory, NUMMI is capable of producing 500,000 cars per year.

But if Tesla is going to grow into a sales behemoth, it's going to have to prove it can shatter the ceiling imposed on most other electric cars: They have failed to consistently break above 5,000 units per quarter.

 

 

Information provided by Theflyonthewall.com 

The MoneyShow.com's Nancy Zambell sat down with Eric Metz, portfolio manager of the RiverNorth Dynamic Buy-Write R Fund (RNBWX); Metz is also derivatives strategist at RiverNorth Capital Management. 

Thank you, Eric for joining me. I appreciate your time.

Thanks for having me.

Let's talk a little about the obsolescence of the 60/40 model, the old model that recommended investors put 60% of their portfolio in equities and 40% into fixed income, adjusting it along the way as you retire, maybe getting a little more conservative, a little more in fixed income. That worked for a number of years, but it's no longer working, is it?

 

By Marc Courtenay

 

Animated ads don't often catch my eye and my imagination but this one (see MultiVu.com) did, and it brought back sweet childhood memories.

 

Now, before you watch the video of the ad and enjoy the catchy song, remember you're reading this because you want to know if PepsiCo (PEP) and some activist investors may have dollar signs in their eyes when they also see the video.

 

First, I'd like to send out congratulations to the folks who manage the company. On Wednesday shares of PEP hit a new 52-week high of $84.45, lifting PEP's market cap to well above $130 billion. Coincidentally its bigger rival, Coca-Cola (KO) also hit a 52-week high ($43.10), giving it a market cap of $191 billion. 

 

By Antoine Gara

Warren Buffett-run Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) boosted some of its biggest investments in the first quarter of 2013 while taking new positions in Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI) and Liberty Media (LMCA).

Berkshire's biggest trades in 2013 appear to reflect an increasing diversity in the investment conglomerate's portfolio as Buffett adds to his 'big four' stock holdings and lieutenants Todd Combs and Ted Weschler take on larger discretionary investments.

In the first quarter, Berkshire increased its stake in Wells Fargo (WFC) by 4.2% to a total holding of over 458 million shares worth about $18 billion as of the close of Wednesday trading.

 

By Mike Schuster

In recent years, reports of stolen smartphones have surged. As of last November, it's estimated that as many as 113 smartphones are lost or stolen just in the United States every minute. The problem has gotten so bad that New York City actually saw its first uptick in crime in the last two decades due to the numerous theft reports -- and Gotham is all the way down at number nine in the top-10 worst U.S. cities for smartphone thievery. (Way to go, Philly!)

In light of all the snatched Droids (GOOG) and iPhones (AAPL), New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has called upon Apple, Google, Microsoft (MSFT), and Samsung (SSNLF) to increase preventative tactics to reduce crime on the streets.