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The beer industry is in full debate over the future of craft beers. Heck, even the definition of craft beer is being questioned at this point.

For example, is the maker of Sam Adams a craft brewery? The industry says a craft brewer makes fewer than 2 billion barrels of beer annually, and is not more than 25% controlled by a non-craft brewer, according to The Atlantic.

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But the Boston Beer Company (SAM), which makes Sam Adams, is about ready to surpass 2 million barrels, writes Clay Risen. Does that make it a corporate brewer?

 

The Walt Disney Co.’s (DIS) sale of Miramax to Harvey and Bob Weinstein and their group of financial backers appears to have failed.

An individual close to the talks said on Tuesday that talks had broken down a week ago. But Harvey Weinstein and his financial backer, billionaire Ron Burkle, has issued a statement last Friday saying talks were ongoing.

But on Tuesday, there was no such denial forthcoming. Neither side would comment for the record about the state of the talks.

 

Wal-Mart (WMT) is offering a screaming deal: A brand new 16GB iPhone for $97. So what's the catch?

Actually, it looks like more of an attempt to unload inventory before the phone becomes obsolete. Apple (AAPL) is likely to unveil its newest iPhone at a developers conference next month.

Wal-Mart says the sale is part of "ongoing aggressive savings announcements," but people think the retailer is trying to clear some room before the new iPhone hits the market, Digital Daily reports. 

It has been a brutal May for most investors. The Dow was down about 10% so far as of the opening bell today, the S&P 500 was down 11%, and the Nasdaq off 12%. Those figures have only gotten worse as the day has dragged on.

So where do we go now? The recent sell-off has touched all corners of the market, with even the "safe haven" of gold taking a tumble. My recommendation to you: Hide out in great blue-chip stocks with upside potential for shares and a healthy dividend to help you ride things out when the market gets rocky.

My top stock along these lines for June is Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS).

 

By Philip van Doorn, TheStreet

 

While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported improved earnings at more than half of U.S. banks and savings and loan associations last week, the ranks of troubled community banks continued to swell.

 

Based on a full set of first-quarter regulator data provided by SNL Financial for the nation's 7,900 banks and savings and loan associations, 161 were undercapitalized, according to the guidelines that apply to most institutions.

 

SNL's list is sorted by state, city and name of the undercapitalized bank or thrift. The Watch List of 161 institutions is down from 163 in February, although 49 of the institutions on the previous list have already failed.

 

Is everything terrible? Is everything going bad? Or are there some self-adjustments that will make the US better down the road, despite the worries from Europe.

 

To the last, I say, dramatically, yes. Let's go back to what caused all of our downturn to begin with: a sapped consumer, declining values in housing, a rise in unemployment and a sense that our banks were not safe. We pulled in our horns, and the banks -- worried themselves -- stopped lending.

 

Now let's look at where we are.

 

The best you can say about Transocean (RIG) is that it has a tin ear for public opinion.

The company's public response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in April has been to say it wasn't our fault, and we're not on the hook for very much money.

Even if true -- and there's a good chance both statements are true -- this isn't exactly how a company that gives a damn responds to what is becoming the biggest oil-related environmental disaster in U.S. history.

 

 

One upgrade getting a lot of buzz Monday: Goldman Sachs analysts have moved Citigroup (C) to a buy from neutral. They also set a $4.50 price target for the stock, which is up to about $3.90 in afternoon trading.

The analysts said Citigroup looks good as capital markets and consumer credit start to improve, DealBook writes. The analysts didn't look as favorably on Wells Fargo (WFC), which was downgraded to neutral on the suspicion that it faces more near-term risks than other banks.

New numbers for April show big improvements in consumer delinquencies and charge-offs, the analysts said. That's helped along by a better jobs market. 

Say what you will about hedge funds, but when they all come together to buy certain stocks, it's worth a look.

And for some reason, hedge funds have developed a new admiration for Xerox (XRX), reports Market Folly. That stock is now appearing on Goldman Sachs' (GS) VIP list, which shows the favorites among hedge funds using fundamental strategies each quarter.

Other new stocks on the list include Kraft Foods (KFT), Baidu (BIDU), Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) and Equinix (EQIX). 

Updated at 2:35 p.m. ET

 

In a move to try to emulate McDonald’s (MCD) success with its Dollar Menu, Burger King (BKC) rolled out a $1 double cheeseburger to go head-to-head with the Golden Arches over cheap eats.

Except there was one problem -- franchisees who owned BK stores bristled at the deal, saying it squeezed margins way too thin and hurt their bottom line. The disagreement over the BK double cheeseburger resulted in a lawsuit late last year that went all the way to a federal court in Miami.

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But at last, this food fight is nearly finished after a judge ruled recently that Burger King management has the right to dictate value-meal pricing to franchisees. That means the $1 BK menu item should stick around.

 

By Alix Steel, TheStreet

 

Gold prices Monday were rising as investors opted for the safety of the precious metal and sold out of stocks to buy gold.

 

Gold for June delivery was adding $11.60 to $1,187.30 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold has traded as high as $1,119.10 and as low as $1,176.80. The U.S. dollar index was rising 1.16% to $86.36 while the euro was slumping 1.80% to $1.23 against the dollar. The gold spot price Monday was adding over $6, according to Kitco's gold index.

 

Gold prices were rallying as European debt fears flared and the euro headed toward its four-year low. Over the weekend, Spain's central bank bailed out the regional savings bank CajaSur, the second bank Spain has bailed out since March 2009.

 

The Financial Times is featuring an abstract of John Authers' new book, "The Fearful Rise of Markets," on its site.

The abstract is pure genius; I can't wait to read the book. To me, a genius is anyone who can take complex subjects, boil them down and explain them in such simple language that even I can understand them.

He outlines the problems with the markets as: 

Sen. Blanche Lincoln is going to lose in her bid to hobble our banks to the benefit of Credit Suisse (CS), Deutsche Bank (DB) and UBS (UBS). Even President Obama favors pulling the amendment.

 

The amendment would force banks to spin off their derivatives trading operations.

 

As hated as our banks are in this country, as hated as they are by the politicians, even they seem to realize that if you can't offer corporate clients a slate of swaps and derivatives, they will go elsewhere. Every major client needs that flexibility.

 

I’m not a real believer in true “penny stocks,” since unknown companies with unknown fundamentals don’t jive with my growth investment strategy.

But I will say that there are a number of cheap stocks out there -- less than $2 or $3 a share -- that have enough Wall Street coverage to be legit, and have shown me enough punch that they would be worth any investor’s cash.

 

While most of these stock picks tend to be tiny, with a market cap of only a few hundred million dollars, one big penny stock stands out to me right now as a great opportunity: Sirius XM Radio (SIRI). Shares are less than $2 as of this morning’s open and are a great buy at this valuation. Here’s why: