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People hang on every word Steve Jobs says. So when the Apple(AAPL) chief executive writes a long letter bashing another company's product -- well, it's the talk of the tech world.

That happened Thursday, when Jobs released 1,671 words about the Flash software system from Adobe (ADBE). Adobe shares dropped a couple of percentage points in response but were recovering at midday, while Apple shares were up slightly.

The letter may have been a defensive move in part, since Apple has taken a lot of heat for banning Flash from iPhones and its new iPad tablet. Flash is so pervasive online -- it's been the go-to platform for videos, advertising and games -- that banning it was a pretty shocking step (and, in the short term at least, one that hurts the experience of Apple users). 

By Peter Morici, TheStreet

 

On Friday, the Commerce Department will report its first-quarter gross domestic product estimate. Economists are forecasting a 3.5% increase, further confirming the end of the recession and that the recovery is moderate and disappointing.

 

Unemployment will hang above 8% or 9% well into 2011, and most workers will continue to face a tough job market and declining living standards.

 

This recovery is decidedly anti-middle class. Wages won’t keep up with rising prices, health care premiums and taxes. A good deal of the gains, so far, are going to Wall Street and the medical and intellectual property industries.

 

Seattle coffee icon Starbucks (SBUX) has made a comeback in 2010 after consumers fled during the Great Recession. In order to keep the profits percolating, SBUX is looking to roll out a fresh new menu of Frappuccinos and iced coffee for the hot summer months.

Among the new options are nonfat milk and sugar-free toppings that will keep the calorie count down. Currently a grande Caramel Frappuccino (the flavor that made the cool drink such a success) has 380 calories. The light version will have 160.

But perhaps most interesting of all is Starbucks’ push to offer exotic new flavors, bottled drinks to go and even ice cream as a way to up-size its sales this summer.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

No rhyme or reason. That's my feeling about how the government decided to handle its sale of Citigroup (C).

Here's a stock of a company that just reported a good quarter. It had a lot of momentum, and it was distinguishing itself as an international company with really excellent growth and a reformed management.

Any elementary trader, however, would know that until there is clarity -- no matter what kind of clarity -- in financial regulation, banks were going to be tough to buy. Too much uncertainty. So why sell now, when things are most in limbo? Strike one.

 

Transocean (RIG) is the owner of Deepwater Horizon, the drilling rig that caught fire last week and eventually sank in the Gulf of Mexico with the loss of 11 workers. Those workers are still missing but presumed dead. Oil continues to leak from the well 4,500 feet below the surface.

The U.S. Coast Guard is setting some of the huge spill on fire as a way to reduce the danger to the Louisiana coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

I by no means want to say that this human and ecological disaster should be measured only in dollars and cents. But let's face it: The cost of this tragedy is what will drive the price of Transocean shares in the short term.

 

In last week's release of its 2009 annual report, Walmart (WMT) indicated that it might change direction and "develop new, innovative formats" to capitalize on opportunities in major metropolitan markets. Walmart has long been the go-to retailer in rural communities and the suburbs, but its sprawling Supercenter format has never really appealed to urban dwellers.

• 5 top reasons to buy Walmart WMT stock

Well rather than try to find a way to shoehorn a 36-aisle retail monstrosity into midtown Manhattan, Walmart may be taking a very un-big-box approach to its retail locations: Go smaller. And there are three logical ways how.

 

Trina Solar (TSL) has had a rough couple of years. After a $10 IPO in 2006, it flew up to peak at $35 in 2007 -- only to bottom out under $4 at the end of 2008.

It was partially the broader market that held back Trina, but also speculation over the viability of solar power as oil prices softened.

TSL nearly became a bear market statistic. But the company has fought back from less than $3 a share to its current $25 price and there are a lot of reasons to think that Trina Solar is making a comeback.

 

Beleaguered Palm (PALM) finally has a new owner, and it's one few expected. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is buying the company for $1.2 billion.

With Palm under its belt, HP plans to make a big run in the smart-phone market. That's a bit of a shock, considering the company isn't a player in the mobile-phone business. Palm shareholders will get $5.70 in cash for each share when the deal is sealed, most likely by the end of July.

The news was announced after the market closed, but in after-hours trading Palm shares were up 27% at one point to $5.86. HP shares were down slightly.

 

Tech critics had plenty to say about the iPad vs. Kindle war. Now, regular consumers are starting to get their hands on Apple's(AAPL) new device, and the mainstream is chiming in on the debate.

Eventually, we'll get enough solid sales data to see which way the money is flowing. I wouldn't count Amazon (AMZN) out yet.

James Stewart, a columnist for SmartMoney magazine, is not a tech head. He doesn't have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, and hadn't used touch-screen technology until he got his hands on an iPad two weeks ago.

But he's fallen in love.

 

In an effort to battle child obesity, the Board of Supervisors in California's Santa Clara County voted to ban promotional toys used by McDonald's (MCD) to sell its iconic Happy Meals to young children.

 

Now I can see, say, the government going after bankers who nearly wrecked the financial system and regulators who surfed porn instead of watching said bankers.

• Is Ronald McDonald facing a layoff?

But do we really need a crackdown on little plastic tchotchkes that come with burgers made by a very successful business that employs hundreds of thousands? Sure, too many Happy Meals aren't good for you. But unlike fancy financial products, what’s in them isn't a secret.

 

By Jim Woods, Investorplace.com

 

The banking industry is in the hot seat these days, with fraud allegations surrounding Goldman Sachs (GS) sparking a wave of financial stock downgrades recently.

• Check out 5 reasons to buy Goldman Sachs stock.

 But negative news isn’t always a bad thing for investors, because it creates huge buying opportunities if you know where to look. And if you’re in the mood for bargain hunting in the financial sector, you may want to consider buying Bank of America (BAC) sooner rather than later. This financial stock looks to be doing just fine – and here are the top 5 reasons why:

 

By Gregg Greenburg, TheStreet

 

Toyota (TM) will put its car-recall issues behind it and lead the auto industry as competition with Ford (F) heats up, according to Shuhei Abe, manager of the Hennessy Select SPARX Japan Fund (SPXJX).

 

Abe also said Japan's economy will accelerate and corporate earnings are getting a big boost as its politicians come under pressure to produce growth.

 

The mutual fund returned 7.1% in the first quarter, trailing the MSCI Japan Index's 8.3% gain. The Hennessy Select SPARX Japan Fund outperformed the benchmark index in four of the past six calendar years, including 2008 and 2009. Abe recently discussed his investment strategies with TheStreet.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

Portugal: Good excuse or good reason? Spain: Good excuse or good reason? Greek two-year at 19%: Good excuse or good reason? Goldman Sachs (GS) in the stocks instead of selling stocks: Good excuse, or good reason?

 

To me, Spain, Portugal and Greece are decent reasons to sell but Goldman Sachs was an EXCELLENT excuse to sell. Last night on a late panel with my old partner Larry Kudlow, we were trying to suss this issue out.

Larry's convinced that you have to be a little shaken by the 19% rates. I came back and said that watching the disembodying of the most important finance firm in the country is jarring to say the least and that it created its own level of uncertainty.

 

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), the largest chipmaker for Apple (AAPL), Intel (INTC) and other companies, reported first-quarter earnings Tuesday that were 10.1% above Wall Street's expectations. Earnings of $1.07 billion were the highest since the fourth quarter of 2007.

The company said it expects momentum to continue in the second quarter, with sales forecast to rise 8.7% to 10.9% from the level of the first quarter. That would push revenue to a company record for a quarter. Gross margin will climb to 48% to 50% in the second quarter from 47.9% in the first quarter, the company projects.

Ordinarily, that kind of upside guidance would lead me to increase my target price for a stock. But while as a company Taiwan Semiconductor may be cooking, Taiwan Semiconductor the stock (or actually ADR, American Depositary Receipt) has a problem that makes me reluctant to raise my target price above the $12.50 a share that I set on Jan. 29.

 

These are the kinds of numbers any company would drool over.

The online classifieds site Craigslist could see $122 million in sales this year -- and profits of $88 million to $99 million. That's according to a classified-ad consultancy, MediaPost reports.

• What has your broker done for you lately?

Those numbers reflect a 22% increase in sales from 2009. Not a bad jump by any measure.

So how does a free site like Craigslist pull in this kind of profit?