Ask an Expert: Top trends in small business

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, Happy New Year, and all other appropriate greetings and huzzahs! It is that time of year when no one is working except your intrepid small business columnist. And it is a good thing I am because it is also the time of year when I compile my annual Top 10 Trends in Small Business list.

As usual, let me note that this is not a predictions column; I leave that to people smarter than me. No, what I want to share today (and next week) are the emerging trends, issues, and changes that can affect your business next year, or of which you should otherwise be aware.

2013 was an interesting year for sure – whether we are talking about the economy picking up steam or Obamacare losing it. 2014 is looking to be equally important.

And so, without further ado, awaaaay we go:

10. Green is the new green: Pop quiz! What organic product is poised to overtake smartphones as the fastest growing market in the country? Kale? No, I'm afraid not.

The answer is . . . pot.

2013 was a banner year for pot: 31 states had legislation introduced seeking to decriminalize it, tax it, or allow medical marijuana. Two states made it legal altogether, and the feds turned the other cheek. All of this means that, according to The Huffington Post,

Legal marijuana is among the fastest-growing markets in the United States, and it's growing at a rate poised to outpace the expansion of the global smartphone market, according to a new report obtained exclusively by The Huffington Post.

Researchers (estimated) that more than $1.43 billion worth of legal marijuana will be sold in 2013. The report also predicts that figure to grow by 64 percent, to $2.34 billion next year(emphasis added.)

If 2013 is the year that pot went mainstream, then 2014 is the year when entrepreneurs are poised to reap the rewards, if you will.

9. Say goodbye to paper. Pull up a chair kids, I want to tell you about an amazing substance that once revolutionized the world. It was called "! paper." Paper is a material upon which people would apply ink and color to make pictures and words. Its forerunner, papyrus, was used in ancient Egypt, and modern paper was invented before the time of Christ in China during the Han Dynasty.

Paper really came into its own in 1454 with the advent of the printing press and the Gutenberg Bible. Thereafter, it took over the world. Piles of it became the scourge of offices, and people even used to read newspapers on paper!

But today? Welcome to the paperless workspace. Witness the future, according to a blog by Cindy Bates, VP of SMB at Microsoft:

Have you ever noticed an airline pilot lugging a black briefcase on their way to the next flight? Those briefcases aren't filled with personal effects, but are 40-pound flight kits containing charts, maps, manuals and guides. Delta Airlines recently made a move to replace those bulky flight kits for its 11,000 pilots by giving them each an electronic flight bag in the form of a Microsoft Surface 2 tablet. The cockpit will now be a paperless workspace for Delta.

8. Say goodbye to privacy, too: Edward Snowden has become a point of contention in the Strauss house. To my youngest daughter and I, he struck a blow for individual freedom and support of the 4th Amendment (no unreasonable searches and seizures!). To my wife and other daughter, he is a rogue lawbreaker who threatens collective security.

The point is, privacy is very much on people's mind right now, and this will continue to be the case in 2014 as Congress debates what to do about the NSA. (Will they do anything? Good one! Of course not.)

But for you, heightened consumer concerns about privacy and security means that you must make all of your business' online transactions as secure and transparent as possible, and you need to communicate that.

7. Be afraid, be very afraid: Have you been hacked? Been a victim of identity theft? Has your social media account ever been compromised? If not, count yourself lucky, because y! ou probab! ly won't be for long. Cyber criminals are increasing targeting small and medium business (SMBs), because they usually lack strong security solutions due to a lack of resources and a sense of false security.

According to a recent report by the Internet security leader McAfee (a company I do some work with), most small businesses do not have any sort of security system, and nearly 60% of small businesses are never able to recover once they become a victim of a cyber attack and have to close their doors within six months.

According to Bill Rielly, senior vice president of Small & Medium Business at McAfee,

We anticipate seeing a continual increase in threats for business owners in the coming year, including threats involving the cloud, mobile devices and social platforms. We found that 88% of SMB's don't use data protection, putting both company and customer data at risk. The need for stronger security is therefore an essential component to a company's longevity and success.

6. Show me the money! Between continued low interest rates, increased economic activity, more angel investing, implementation of the JOBS Act, and crowdfunding going mainstream, there is more money flowing into small business than there has been in some time.

Next week – the Top 5!

Steve Strauss is a lawyer specializing in small business and entrepreneurship. His column appears Mondays. E-mail Steve at: sstrauss@mrallbiz.com. An archive of his columns is here. His website is TheSelfEmployed.

Jim Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Major Moves on Lesser News

Search Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" trading recommendations using our exclusive "Mad Money" Stock Screener.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The markets are seeing a lot of major moves on very little news, Jim Cramer said on "Mad Money" Tuesday.

Cramer said there's a revaluation of stocks underway, the likes of which we haven't seen in a very long time. He said that certain old-line names are seeing new life and new highs.

Among the big movers: Best Buy (BBY), Boeing (BA) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY). Cramer said Best Buy's comeback from $26 a share to now $42 has been remarkable while Boeing is up 71% for the year, even in the face of early problems with its Dreamliners. Bristol-Myers has popped from $48 to $53 a share in just a few days. Others on Cramer's list include Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Core Labs (CLB) and FedEx (FDX), along with GameStop (GME) and Kimberly-Clark (KMB). Cramer said Chipotle's momentum has returned, while Core Labs has also sprung back to life, as has FedEx, a big beneficiary of the global economy. Meanwhile, GameStop is benefiting from the next generation of console gaming and Kimberly-Clark is seeing lower input costs. Last on Cramer's list of standouts is Schlumberger (SLB), whose shares are up from $71 to $94 a share, and Whirlpool (WHR), which has seen a move from $112 to $148 even with a slowdown in housing. Cramer said all of these are good companies that have gotten even better in recent months. The market is clearly listening. Back From the Dead What ever happened to Cramer's "F.A.D.S. C.A.N." list of growth stocks from 2010? Cramer said the list -- which included F5 Networks (FFIV), Apple (AAPL), Deckers Outdoor (DECK), Salesforce.com (CRM), along with Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX) -- is back from the dead, just in time for Halloween. Chipotle was an unstoppable momentum name until it faltered during the summer of 2012. Since then the momentum is back and this stock has a lot more runway ahead of it, Cramer said. Apple, a holding in Cramer's charitable portfolio, Action Alerts PLUS, also has been working its way back from when shares fell to below $400. With the company delivering a strong line of updated products, Cramer said it's a steal at 8.5 times earnings.

Netflix is up 225% since Cramer recommended it back in 2010, but not before sinking to $54 a share on a series of bad management mistakes. Since then, the mistakes have been rectified; with a host of new exclusive content, subscriber growth is on a tear.

Then there's Deckers, makers of Uggs footwear. Cramer said after losing the eye of investors for several quarters, Deckers shot the lights out this quarter and is seeing its shares steadily rising.

Cramer saved his commentary on the rest of the F.A.D.S. C.A.N. names for after the break. F.A.D.S. C.A.N., Part 2

Continuing his followup on his F.A.D.S. C.A.N. growth stocks from 2010, Cramer offered up his analysis on F5 Networks, Amazon.com and Salesforce.com. Cramer said Salesforce.com, a stock that's up 155% since 2010, continues to power higher on every pull back. He said the company is stronger than ever with $3 billion in sales. Amazon.com is the only name in the list that's not back from the dead, as this stock never died in the first place. Cramer said Amazon just keeps coming at you like a zombie, crushing competitors while growing its sales and expanding its gross margins in the face of continuing pessimism. Finally, there's F5, the network equipment maker that also keeps making comebacks from anything that's thrown at it. Cramer noted this stock fell from $138 to just $67 a share, but has already crawled back to $84 on the back of a new product cycle. Lightning Round In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR) and Southern Company (SO). Cramer was bearish on Federal-Mogul (FDML), Applied Materials (AMAT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO). Off the Charts In the "Off The Charts" segment, Cramer went head to head with colleague Carolyn Boroden over the direction of the markets. Boroden's most recent analysis suggested that its time to get cautious, as the S&P 500 is approaching two ceilings of resistance where the markets could pause or even reverse course. She identified levels between 1,760 and 1,768 and also between 1,776 and 1781 as the trouble spots to watch for.

Boroden also applies her Fibonacci theory to the timing of the market, looking at the number of days between market moves. Here, her analysis flagged from Oct 28 through Nov 5th as the days when the market is most likely to take its pause.

Boroden and Cramer both agreed that now is an excellent time to take profits, as the market has had a big rally and it's never a mistake to lock in a gain after a big market move. No Huddle Offense

In his "No Huddle Offense" segment, Cramer sounded off on the moronic trading in Apple.

Cramer said the press is always in a race to get the story told, even if they don't yet know what the story is. That's how Apple's stock was able to get hit for $15 a share after the "headlines" reported stalled gross margins. But as soon as investors learned that an accounting change at Apple deferred nearly $1 billion in revenues, the stock immediately took a $21 a share bounce off the bottom. Similar events occurred on another Action Alerts PLUS holding, Eaton (ETN), during its earnings call; investors learned, after the headlines, that orders were on the rise towards the end of the quarter. Cramer said sometimes it makes sense to beat the other guy to the market, but for the most part, jumping in after a company reports, is never a smart move. To watch replays of Cramer's video segments, visit the Mad Money page on CNBC. To sign up for Jim Cramer's free Booyah! newsletter with all of his latest articles and videos please click here. -- Written by Scott Rutt in Washington, D.C. To email Scott about this article, click here: Scott Rutt Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottRutt or get updates on Facebook, ScottRuttDC

At the time of publication, Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS had a position in AAPL, CSCO and ETN. Jim Cramer, host of the CNBC television program "Mad Money," is a Markets Commentator for TheStreet.com, Inc., and CNBC, and a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. All opinions expressed by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are his own and do not reflect the opinions of TheStreet.com or its affiliates, or CNBC, NBC Universal or their parent company or affiliates. Mr. Cramer's opinions are based upon information he considers to be reliable, but neither TheStreet.com, nor CNBC, nor either of their affiliates and/or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. Mr. Cramer's statements are based on his opinions at the time statements are made, and are subject to change without notice. No part of Mr. Cramer's compensation from CNBC or TheStreet.com is related to the specific opinions expressed by him on "Mad Money." None of the information contained in "Mad Money" constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Cramer, TheStreet.com or CNBC that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. You must make your own independent decisions regarding any security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy mentioned on the program. Mr. Cramer's past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. Neither Mr. Cramer, nor TheStreet.com, nor CNBC guarantees any specific outcome or profit, and you should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investments discussed on the program. The strategy or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value and you may get back less than you invested. Before acting on any information contained in the program, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Some of the stocks mentioned by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are held in Mr. Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio. When that is the case, appropriate disclosure is made on the program and in the "Mad Money" recap available on TheStreet.com. The Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio contains all of Mr. Cramer's personal investments in publicly-traded equity securities only, and does not include any mutual fund holdings or other institutionally managed assets, private equity investments, or his holdings in TheStreet.com, Inc. Since March 2005, the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio has been held by a Trust, the realized profits from which have been pledged to charity. Mr. Cramer retains full investment discretion with respect to all securities contained in the Trust. Mr. Cramer is subject to certain trading restrictions, and must hold all securities in the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio for at least one month, and is not permitted to buy or sell any security he has spoken about on television or on his radio program for five days following the broadcast.

Oakmark finding value in unlikely places

Portfolios at deep-value equity shop Harris Associates, manager of the Oakmark Funds, are full of stocks that would have a typical value investor scratching his or her head.

As investors have plowed into classic value stocks such as consumer staples and health care in search of yield, Oakmark's funds have shifted toward, gulp, your grandfather's growth stocks, e.g., companies with high retained earnings.

"Our portfolios are full of the names we spent our careers rooting against," said Win Murray, director of U.S. equity research and co-manager of the $4.2 billion Oakmark Select Fund (OAKLX).

It isn't Oakmark that has changed, though. It is the market.

"We've always valued growth, just not as much as the market has," Mr. Murray said.

"It's not that we've started valuing it more. It's just that the market has started valuing it less," Mr. Murray said.

Equity income mutual funds, for example, had net inflows of $8.2 billion year-to-date through Sept. 30, the most of any U.S. mutual fund category, according to Lipper Inc.

It is certainly not a new phenomenon.

Equity income mutual funds have led inflow statistics in the domestic-equity-fund category every year since 2009. All that money coming into the old-school value pool has pushed up valuations to the point where Oakmark had to look elsewhere.

"The opportunity's not there," Mr. Murray said.

So technology has become a particular area of interest for the firm. The Oakmark Select Fund has a 24% weighting to technology, and the flagship $11 billion Oakmark Fund (OAKMX) has a 19% weighting.

"We have more tech in our portfolios now than we have had in our entire careers," Mr. Murray said.

When selecting companies, he said that he doesn't get too caught up in value or growth labels.

"It's a fake distinction," Mr. Murray said. "The real opposite of value is momentum."

Invesco offers a new twist on risk parity

Invesco Ltd. has opened up a new fund to financial advisers that takes its balanced-risk strategy and adds a tactical flair.

The Invesco Global Markets Strategy Fund (GMSDX) launched last September but was only made available to non-accredited investors this month. The fund is managed by the same portfolio management team as the $12.7 billion Invesco Balanced-Risk Allocation Fund (ABRZX).

The Balanced-Risk Allocation Fund is a flavor of risk parity, an increasingly popular alternative to the classic 60/40 portfolio of stocks and bonds.

Risk parity operates under the notion that in a classic portfolio stocks take up way more of the risk than their allocation, so the allocation to stocks is lowered and less risky assets such as bonds and commodities get a higher weighting. The historically less risky asset classes are then boosted by leverage to try and match the same returns as a 60/40 portfolio, with less overall risk.

The Global Markets Strategy Fund starts with the same basic notion but has more freedom to maneuver between asset classes.

Its goal is to derive about 80% of returns from tactical bets and 20% from asset allocation, which is the reverse of the balanced-risk allocation fund, portfolio manager Scott Wolle said.

It can even go short if the outlook for a particular asset class, such as bonds, is grim.

“It can be better positioned within global markets if we have a large number of assets falling,” Mr. Wolle said.

The increased flexibility has paid off this year for the Global Markets Strategy Fund.

In the second quarter, when interest rates skyrocketed from 1.6% to about 2.5%, the balanced-risk allocation fund, which is long-only and has at least 16% of risk coming from bonds, lost more than 5%,

Will Twitter Sell Its Soul Like Facebook Did? (Update 1)

Updated from 7:44 p.m. 9/12/2013 with an embedded video of the author's Friday morning appearance on CNBC.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Three things I have to say on news that Twitter will go public.

First, I am on record as the first person known to man to suggest "TWIT" as the ticker symbol for Twitter as a publicly-traded entity. It's timestamped in a November 7, 2012 article where I suggested Facebook (FB) and Twitter should consider a merger or, at the very least, an advertising partnership.

Just remember where you heard that bit of sheer brilliance first. Second, while I love Twitter, I'm concerned. There's no question the company's investors and employees should be able to cash in on an IPO. It has become the American way, at least in certain parts of the world, particularly Silicon Valley. It's the new American dream. And it's most likely here to stay. It's not a runaway American dream. That said, I want to see Twitter become whatever Twitter can become unabated by the pesky requirements of Wall Street investors. Because, there's no question -- Twitter, simply by making the choice to go public, will wind up something other than it would have been had it stayed private. From a product and user experience standpoint, that might not be a good thing. To a certain extent, companies such as Facebook and Pandora (P) sold their souls to Wall Street shortly after going public. As I explain in the above-linked article, both companies, for better or worse, abandoned their social missions for the sake of revenue and the quest for profit. It depends on who you talk to, but more than a few people -- as they continue to use Facebook and Pandora obsessively -- will tell you that increased advertising and such has hurt the user experience. And I would argue it has taken away from Facebook's mission to connect the world and Pandora's pledge to be a champion for indie artists. Priorities get out of whack. That's just how it goes. There's really no avoiding it. Third, keep an eye on the mobile advertising space. Right now the major players are Google (GOOG), Facebook, Twitter and Pandora. These four collect a vast majority of these fast-growing dollars. And they'll all likely continue to be in the top ten, if not top five. However, others will come to play. As Apple (AAPL) debuts iTunes Radio, it will ramp up its iAd Network, making it more of a mobile advertising force. And don't count out big media. Names such as CNN and CNBC -- two that I follow closely -- are doing incredible things digitally. Their parent companies (Time Warner (TWX) and Comcast (CMCSA) respectively) have deep pockets. And they're not sitting on their hands. Time Warner and Comcast will make the digital/mobile push beyond obvious choices such as CNN and CNBC. They'll do it across their entities. And other big media will follow. These conglomerates can sell attractive packages that combine mobile, digital and traditional television advertising. Without a partnership or new and dynamic platform, Facebook, Twitter, Apple and Google (though don't forget YouTube) cannot do this. Here's my appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box from Friday morning talking Twitter IPO with the Squawk crew and Mike Isaac of All Things D: Follow @rocco_thestreet --Written by Rocco Pendola in Santa Monica, Calif.

AOL Posts Earnings, Announces Big Acquisition

AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) reported second-quarter 2013 results before markets opened this morning. The online media and brand company posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.35 on revenues of $541.3 million. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $10.17 on revenues of $531.1 million. Second-quarter also results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for an EPS of $0.32 and $539.66 million in revenues.

Second-quarter EPS last year included the sale of patents to Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) for a total of $1.04 billion.

AOL also announced this morning that it has agreed to acquire ad platform vendor Adap.TV for $405 million. It is AOL's largest-ever acquisition and included $322 million in stock and $83 million in stock.

We will have to wait for the conference call for any guidance, but the consensus estimate for the third quarter calls for EPS of $0.36 on revenues of $539.72 million. For the full year, the estimate for EPS is $1.46 on revenues of $2.24 billion. The full-year EPS estimate has dropped by $0.15 a share since the end of the first quarter. The revenue estimate is unchanged.

The company's CEO said:

AOL continued to get leaner during Q2 while growing consumer traffic, growing all advertising revenue lines, and improving our subscription trends.

Revenue in AOL's membership group — the company's largest revenue generator — fell 6% year-over-year, while the brand group (with properties like AOL.com and Huffington Post) saw a 10% jump in revenues. The brand group's adjusted operating income rose 91%, but still posted a loss of $1.4 million. The membership group's adjusted operating income fell 4%, but provided $151.6 million in income, the only one of the company's divisions to post a profit.

AOL's domestic subscriber base fell by 15% year-over-year in the quarter, and the company's subscription revenue fell 5%.

AOL's shares are trading up about 6% in the premarket this morning, at $38.40. The stock's 52-week range is $29.16 to $43.93. The consensus target price for the shares was around $42.30 before today's report.

Plastec Technologies Reports Unaudited 2013 Q1 Financial Results (OTCMKTS:PLTWF,PLTYF,PLTEF, OTCMKTS:CRWE)

Plastec Technologies, Ltd. (PLTWF,PLTYF,PLTEF)

Today, PLTWF remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $.0500 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:37AM EDT August 9, 2013).

Plastec Technologies, Ltd. previously reported unaudited financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2013.

Financial and Operating Highlights for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2013

(all comparisons to same period of prior year)

Sales of $37.8 million, up 13.3% due to new customers and new product launches from existing clients
Gross margin of 20.7%, compared to 9.4%, resulting primarily from lower costs of revenue during the period
EBITDA of $7.1 million, compared to $5.6 million
Net income of $1.6 million, or $0.12 per diluted share based on 13.8 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $0.4 million, or $0.03 per diluted share based on 15.0 million diluted shares outstanding

Plastec Technologies, Ltd. (PLTWF ) 5 day chart:

Crown Equity Holdings Inc. (CRWE)

Together with their digital network of Websites, Crown Equity Holdings Inc. (OTCMKTS:CRWE) (www.crownequityholdings.com ) offers advertising branding and marketing services as a worldwide online multi-media publisher. The company focuses on the distribution of information for the purpose of bringing together a targeted audience and the advertisers that want to reach them.

Today, CRWE has shed (-0.71%) down -0.0001 at $.0139 with 110,000 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 10:05AM EDT August 9, 2013.

CRWE's daily range thus far is at ($.0139 – $.012) currently at $.0139 would be considered a (+826.66%) gain above the 52 wk low of $.0015. The stock is up +0.01 ( +826.66%) since the concerning dates of February 14, 2013 – August 9, 2013. +826.66% is the 6 month high and rightly so.

June 26, the Company filed 10-Q http://www.otcmarkets.com/edgar/GetFilingHtml?FilingID=9371051, and 10-K http://www.otcmarkets.com/edgar/GetFilingHtml?FilingID=9371048

Crown Equity Holdings Inc. (CRWE ) 5 day chart:

Apple Is Hurting Your Broker

With Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) underperformance over the past year, many tech-heavy investors have partially sat on the sidelines as the broader market continues to march to all-time highs. Investors aren't the only ones getting hurt by Apple lagging; brokers are getting hurt, too.

AAPL data by YCharts

Last week, TD AMERITRADE (NYSE: AMTD  ) reported earnings for its fiscal third quarter. CEO Fred Tomczyk said nearly all metrics performed well, and the rising yield curve bodes well for its net interest income. Net revenues hit a new record at $725 million, and the company added net new client assets of approximately $11 billion. However, there was one thing holding it back: Apple.

Put it on my tab
Margin trading is an extremely profitable business for all discount brokers, yet AMERITRADE's total outstanding client margin balances have remained roughly flat for the past year. A year ago, clients were borrowing an aggregate total of $8.7 billion. That figure is now $8.6 billion.

On the conference call, Tomczyk acknowledged that this is very much related to Apple, as the Mac maker is one of the most popular investments among margin investors:

So we've done some more research on this, and what we found out was basically that if you take our margin accounts, the buying power has not gone up as the market, in general. And the reason for that is our most widely held stock, our most actively traded stock, and our most margined stock is Apple, which has not participated in the rally, which has drawn in the buying power. So I don't think there's anything, as I call it, secular going on other than -- a very large company that makes a big part of our margin book has not participated in this rally over the last year.

Since a client's margin buying power is directly tied to the level of equity in the account, Apple's downturn has limited clients' ability to borrow even more. If Apple had participated in the broader rally, margin investors would see buying power rise accordingly, and many of these traders would inevitably use that allowance. The same storyline is inevitably playing out at other discount brokers as well, since this situation isn't unique to AMERITRADE.

Your broker is looking forward to Apple's recovery, especially if you're a margin investor.

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The War That Changed the West

On this day in economic and business history...

World War I began and ended on June 28. It was on June 28, 1914 that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand fell to an assassin's bullet. Exactly five years later, on June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles recorded Germany's final and humiliating capitulation, setting in motion the events that would shape the remainder of the 20th century. Between these two bookends of history, nearly 10 million men died in Europe's trenches, six million civilians lost their lives, and the world woke up to the realities of brutal machine-driven warfare.

It would be a month before World War I officially began following Ferdinand's assassination. During this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ferdinand's birthright, pressured Serbia to the point of oppression over the role of its nationalists in Ferdinand's death. A web of complex alliances quickly formed around old imperialist interests during this month, which led to a cascading chain of war declarations once Serbia refused to give in to Austria-Hungary's unreasonable demands.

Two days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Germany mobilized for an assault on France, and American stock markets were shut down by government order. The four-month closure -- during which time the belligerent Europeans realized that new battlefield technologies (barbed wire, poison gas, and machine guns among them) made large-scale infantry charges little more than failed bloodbaths -- also marks the "modernization" of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) . The index now retroactively updates its values based on component changes only as far back as the market's reopening at the end of 1914. During this four-month shutdown, many leading American industrial enterprises became "war brides" married to European armed forces and, as a result ,the Dow doubled in the two years following the resumption of trading.

Thousands of miles of trenches were dug into the bloody Western Front across Belgium and France, where millions would die on the war's major theater. However, it was indeed a "world" war -- fighting raged across much of Europe, but also extended into Africa, Asia, and the oceans, where Germany deployed submarines in battle for the first time. Germany's aggressive use of submarines, or U-boats, forced the United States into the war in 1917. American troops did not contribute greatly to the end of the war, but did participate in some key battles that led to Germany's capitulation on "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" -- 11 in the morning on November 11, 1918.

The Treaty of Versailles, signed exactly five years after World War I was set in motion, was the result of six months of contentious negotiation. It was denounced by famed economist John Maynard Keynes as a crushing "Carthaginian peace" that would devastate Germany's economy and create widespread unrest in the defeated nation. Its steep requirements -- which forced Germany to cede territory, accept military occupation, nearly demilitarize, and pay billions of dollars in reparations (initially set at a level equivalent to $440 billion in modern terms) -- did indeed stir up widespread anger in Germany, which would nurse a grudge against its conquerors for years.

However, historical views of the treaty have softened considerably in recent years as the totality of its consequences became apparent. Germany's restricted army saved it a tremendous amount of money before Hitler's rearmament in the '30s, and the shakeup of European powers -- Austria-Hungary was ruined, and Russia sank into revolution -- left Germany with no significant challengers to the east or south when it sought to reassert its continental hegemony two decades later. It might even be argued that the treaty was not harsh enough -- rather than crippling Germany and ending its threat, it only made the country's extreme nationalists more determined to rise again.

Billiton's beginnings
Tin was first discovered on the Sumatran island of Billiton (Belitung ) on June 28, 1851. Nine years later, a company of the same name was formed in the Netherlands to exploit the resource-rich island. For over a century, Billiton dominated the mining industry of the Indonesian archipelago, and eventually would expand its reach and business range throughout the world. Billiton merged with Australian metals leader BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary) in 2001 to form BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP  ) (NYSE: BBL  ) , which is now the largest mining company in the world.

Won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz?
One of the world's most iconic luxury vehicle nameplates was formed on June 28, 1926, when Benz & Cie and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft finally merged after a two-year corporate partnership to create Daimler-Benz AG (NASDAQOTH: DDAIF  ) . The Benz name, despite a stronger automotive pedigree (Karl Benz did invent the modern automobile, after all), wound up secondary to Daimler's Mercedes brand. Daimler's three-pointed star logo also wound up on the new company's cars, further cementing its primacy in the ostensible merger of equals.

Daimler, despite its luxury appeal, has since become a widely diversified automaker, with a product lineup ranging from tiny Smart compact cars to lumbering Freightliner 18-wheelers. This diversity has helped the company become the world's third-largest automaker, with over $150 billion in annual sales.

With the American markets reaching new highs, investors and pundits alike are skeptical about future growth. They shouldn't be. Many global regions are still stuck in neutral, and their resurgence could result in windfall profits for select companies. A recent Motley Fool report, "3 Strong Buys for a Global Economic Recovery," outlines three companies that could take off when the global economy gains steam. Click here to read the full report!

Why the Social Security Trustees Report Is Meaningless

Every year, the trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund give their report assessing the health of Social Security. Every year, the report draws a line in the sand beyond which retirees and other Social Security recipients will no longer receive full benefits, raising a big debate about what steps the government should take in order to shore up the program on which millions of retirees rely for the bulk of their income in their old age.

Yet behind all the assumptions and actuarial projections contained within the report, one glaring omission makes its conclusions essentially meaningless: the failure to consider political reality. Given the inability of decision-makers in the government to reach compromise until the last possible minute, the only thing the Social Security Trustees report really tells us is that 2033 will be the year in which Congress and whoever the president happens to be will have to begin negotiations to avoid what might eventually be dubbed the "Social Security cliff."

Social Security Administration Building, Washington, D.C. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

What the report says
This year's report makes its usual set of ominous projections. According to its analysis, the deficit between Social Security payroll tax revenue and benefits paid will keep rising, and by 2020, the interest on the Treasury bonds held in the Trust Fund will no longer be sufficient to cover that deficit. That in turn will force the Trust Fund to start redeeming bonds, and by 2033, the Trustees project that the Social Security Trust Fund will be empty.

At that point, the program would have tough choices. With no increase in taxes, the program's revenue would be enough to pay about 75% of benefits. Alternatively, to sustain benefit levels, withholding taxes would have to rise from their current level of 12.4% -- split equally between employer and employee -- to about 16.5%. The other option would be for the government to agree to changes in benefits that would reduce the program's overall cost, such as increasing the retirement age, making changes to inflation adjustments on benefits, or adding restrictions like means-testing to the benefit calculation.

A dose of reality
When you consider the track record of dealing with major changes in the laws that have the most financial impact on Americans, the government doesn't fare all that well. Back in 2010, when tax cuts enacted in the early 2000s were set to expire, Congress and the president agreed to extend the provisions for another two years without really addressing the substantive issues of keeping the cuts versus letting them expire.

Then, the debt-ceiling debate arose in 2011. Lawmakers took the nation to the brink of default before finally coming to a compromise, and that inspired ratings agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade the former AAA credit rating of U.S. Treasury obligations. S&P specifically referred to the government's inability to put together enough of a deficit-reduction package to satisfy the ratings agency.

Worst of all, at the end of last year, the fiscal-cliff debate lingered until the end of December and beyond, leaving taxpayers completely unable to plan properly for their 2012 tax returns in light of the government's failure to clarify the provisions of the alternative minimum tax. With AMT patches having been enacted every year, it was reasonable for taxpayers to assume new measures would be put in place, but Congress ended up providing AMT relief retroactively going back more than a year in its New Year's compromise.

Letting automatic cuts happen
Until sequestration hit, though, the government usually managed to get things handled in the long run without major incident. But the government's allowing automatic spending cuts to occur raises the possibility that political gridlock could indeed lead to retirees going over the Social Security cliff in 2033.

Moreover, when it comes to retirement issues, the government has given private employers huge latitude in maintaining pension-plan deficits. Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) , General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) , and Ford (NYSE: F  ) have had some of the worst pension shortfalls among U.S. companies, but the extent of the problem is as broad as it is deep, with a huge number of employers dealing with pension liability issues. Yet rules governing pension plans have allowed companies plenty of time to address any problems.

With that track record, lawmakers are likely to give themselves the same latitude in 2033 or whenever the Social Security cliff hits. All the government would have to do is to approve deficit spending to cover the benefits shortfall.

Don't panic
As an intellectual exercise, the Social Security Trustees Report serves the valuable purpose of focusing public attention on the financial challenges that government programs face. But without realizing the reality of Social Security's status as a third-rail political issue, you shouldn't plan on its conclusions reflecting the reality of the situation when it finally comes decades down the road.

Learn more about how Ford is handling issues like its pension liabilities by reading our premium research report on the automaker. Inside, we show why there's good reason to think that the Blue Oval still has big growth opportunities ahead. If you're looking for some freshly updated guidance to Ford's prospects in coming years, you've come to the right place -- click here to get started now.

Verizon Communications Inc. Posts Higher Profits, but Misses EPS Estimates (VZ)

Before Tuesday’s opening bell, Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) reported increased third quarter results, which was primarily due to an increase in subscribers in its wireless business. Despite the upside in earnings, the company was unable to meet analysts’ expectations for EPS.

VZ’s Earnings in Brief

Verizon reported third quarter earnings of $3.70 billion, or 89 cents per share, up from $2.23 billion, or 78 cents per share a year ago. Revenue rose 4.3% to $31.59 billion, from $30.28 billion last year. On average, analysts expected to see earnings of 90 cents per share and $31.58 billion in revenue. During the quarter, the company added 1.5 million new subscribers to its wireless service, beating analysts’ estimate of 1 million new subscribers.

CEO Commentary

Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam commented: “We have great confidence heading into the fourth quarter, as Verizon continues to deliver consistently strong operating and financial results. We see continued, healthy customer demand for wireless and broadband services, and we are encouraged by the growth we are starting to see in the areas of video delivery and machine-to-machine. Our cash generation remains strong.”

VZ’s Dividend

Verizon will pay its next 55 cent dividend on November 3. The stock went ex-dividend on October 8.

VZ Dividend Snapshot

As of market close on October 20, 2014

Click here to see the complete history of VZ dividends.

Verizon shares were down 48 cents, or 0.99% during premarket trading Tuesday. The stock is down 1.38% YTD.

Keurig Green Mountain's Strong Financial Position Is a Long-Term Catalyst

Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR) has done very well in 2014. The company's important partnerships and new products are its growth drivers. Another striking fact about Keurig is its strong free cash flow, which is strong enough to attract shareholders and investors who are looking for a dividend-paying stock in the industry. Keurig has paid approximately $800 million in the form of dividend and share repurchase programs while maintaining a burly $1.1 billion of cash. This will certainly provide financial flexibility to the company and help her to invest in many new growth opportunities that lie ahead. In addition, Keurig Green Mountain has decided to pay cash dividend of $0.25 per share on August 1, 2014.

Making good progress

Keurig Green Mountain continues to make progress as it focuses on key transition, executed on its Keurig brewers system in portion pack segment. The company will be introducing new Keurig 2.0 hot brewers in the ongoing quarter as a part of its consistent efforts towards adding new brands to its brewers system to enhance its profitability. It expects significant growth opportunity for new Keurig 2.0 hot brewer pack in North America and on the global front as well. The new Keurig 2.0 hot brewers will have more than 250 varieties that are available with Keurig system at present, thus creating enough market opportunity for the company to expand further in the market.

Besides Keurig Green Mountain has brought in new beverage optimization technology in its Keurig 2.0 brewers as it also introduced interactive capabilities that will allow the customers to brew a carafe with the same quality and one-touch simplicity as a single cup, just what consumers have been asking for. This single-cup brewing will create a winning combination for the company as it enhances its capability, and customers now will be able to perfectly brew the beverages regardless of the size or type.

In addition, the company will also be launching its Keurig Cold System new products in the beginning of 2015. This continued investment in its innovation across all the division of its business ranging from product development to merchandising will construct strong pipeline for its new products and definitely put up strong financial and operating background for the company in the coming quarters. The Keurig 2.0 Cold Brewers will be produced in its new Keurig production center in Vermont, where the company plans to start its cold production lines.

Research and development in focus

Apart from this, the company is also getting a lot of benefits as it continuously invests in R&D that will enable multiple platforms for the company and result in incremental growth. This consistent investment has also helped the company get connected with many new partners due to its ACV advantage and leadership in the industry.

Also, the company plans to broaden its relationship with J.M. Smucker's (SJM) and extends hands with Starbucks (SBUX). It also added Peet's, as a new partner in its healthy system that is fed with strong brands. Further, the company also added Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD) to its system and has welcomed long-term partner Lavazza to the Keurig K-Cup system, one of the Italy's favorite coffee br

This is Samsung's new Note

  See Samsung's new phones in 60 seconds NEW YORK (CNNMoney) A week before Apple is expected to unveil a giant iPhone, Samsung announced its own new "phablet."

The Galaxy Note 4 brings welcome updates to Samsung's Note line, but nothing radically new. A higher resolution screen, a fingerprint scanner, and an upgrade to the latest version of Android are among the new features.

Curiously, Samsung also announced a second version of the Note on Wednesday, called the Galaxy Note Edge. Identical to the Galaxy Note 4 in almost every way, the Note Edge has a curved display that wraps around the right hand side of the device.

Samsung, known for its quirky features, hasn't given a specific use for the curved display. The company suggested the extra space could be used as a ticker, a quick-launch bar, or even an alarm clock. Both devices will compete with Apple's (AAPL, Tech30) rumored 5.5 inch iPhone, expected to be announced on September 9.

Samsung also announced the Gear VR, a virtual reality headset that it created in a partnership with Oculus -- the virtual reality company Facebook (FB, Tech30) bought for $2 billion. Used in conjunction with the Galaxy Note 4, the device is more portable than Oculus' Rift.

Morningstar to Advisors: It’s All About You

If there were any doubts as to whom the Morningstar Investment Conference is aimed at, Kunal Kapoor dispelled them in his opening remarks Wednesday in Chicago: it’s for advisors.

Kapoor, head of information products and client solutions at Morningstar (MORN), welcomed the 1,900 attendees (more than 1,000 of whom are advisors) at the 26th annual show at the McCormick Place by recounting how the now 30-year-old company is changing to meet its advisor clients’ needs.

“Advisors want more research,” he said, so Morningstar is providing more strategic research on mutual fund managers for advisors as part of a new initiative called  Morningstar Manager Research Services. The service will provide access to Morningstar’s 110 manager research analysts in addition to research reports and its Analyst Rating services.

 “There are two other areas we can help you,” Kapoor said: improving advisors’ operational efficiencies in their workflows and in “how you interact” with clients, especially younger ones. So Kapoor said to give advisors a better picture of their clients’ overall financial state, Morningstar has acquired two companies this year: ByAllAccounts, the data aggregation company, and HelloWallet, which provides financial guidance tools and information to employers to help their employees.

Kapoor also said that Morningstar has an iPad version of Advisor Workstation in beta testing, and is working on helping customers of the sunsetting desktop version of its Principia research tool to migrate toward Advisor Workstation.

Housing Gets a Boost as Construction, Permits Rise Sharply

Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesResidential housing under construction in Louisville, Ky. WASHINGTON -- U.S. housing starts jumped in April and building permits hit their highest level in nearly six years, offering hope that the troubled housing market could be stabilizing. The Commerce Department said Friday groundbreaking increased 13.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.07 million units, the highest level since November 2013. All four regions of the country reported increases. Starts rose by a revised 2 percent in March, compared to a previously reported 2.8 percent gain for that month. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast starts rising to a 980,000-unit rate last month. Compared to April last year, groundbreaking was up 26.4 percent. The dollar pared losses against the yen, while U.S. Treasury debt yields rose after the data. The housing market recovery stalled as a combination of higher mortgage rates and rising property prices, against the backdrop of stagnant wage growth, made housing less affordable for many Americans. A cold winter also weighed on activity. The residential sector contracted in the first three months of 2014, declining for a second consecutive quarter. With the multifamily sector segment continuing to drive residential construction, housing is unlikely to contribute to economic growth this year for the first time since 2010. The weak housing market recently has caught the attention of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who early this month told lawmakers that it could undermine the economy. Last month, groundbreaking for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, rose 0.8 percent to a 649,000-unit pace. Starts for the volatile multifamily homes segment surged 39.6 percent to a 423,000-unit rate. Groundbreaking for buildings with five or more units hit the highest level since January 2006. Permits to build homes jumped 8 percent to a 1.08-million unit pace in April, the highest since June 2008. Economists had expected permits to rise to a 1.01-million unit pace. Compared to April last year, permits were up 3.8 percent. Permits for single-family homes rose 0.3 percent to a 602,000-unit pace. Single-family homes permits continue to lag groundbreaking, suggesting that single-family starts could decline in the months ahead to bring them in line with permits. A survey released Thursday showed confidence among single-family homebuilders slipped to a one-year low in May. Permits for multifamily homes soared 19.5 percent to a 478,000-unit rate in April. Multifamily permits are running well ahead of starts, which could indicate delays in getting projects started. Permits for buildings with five or more units jumped 21.8 percent to their highest level since June 2008. The multifamily segment is being driven by demand for rental units. Builders, however, have complained about rising material costs as well as shortages of lots and skilled labor.

2 Years Later, Congress Poised to Undo Flood Law

Wayne Parry/AP WASHINGTON -- Less than two years after Congress approved a landmark bill to overhaul the federal flood insurance program, lawmakers are poised to undo many of the changes after homeowners in flood-prone areas complained about sharp increases in premiums. The House overwhelmingly passed a bill Tuesday night that would allow sellers to give their subsidized, below-market insurance rates to new buyers and lower the cap on how much flood insurance premiums can rise each year. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who co-sponsored the bill, said it would ensure that families across the country, including those still struggling to recover from Superstorm Sandy, can avoid "a wave of devastating premium hikes and foreclosures." The Senate could soon follow. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., says he supports the House measure, which mirrors a bill he sponsored and the Senate approved in January. The House bill "will end the most egregious problems with the flood insurance program and bring some real relief to thousands of homeowners who desperately need our help," Menendez said in a statement Tuesday night. "I'm encouraged by this progress and hope we can bring the bill over the finish line very, very soon." A White House spokesman declined to comment on the House bill, but the White House said during debate on the Senate measure that it strongly supports a phased transition to risk-based flood insurance rates to help ensure that the federal flood insurance program has adequate resources to pay future claims. "The administration recognizes that many policyholders may be challenged financially by the new rates and remains committed to working with the Congress to develop approaches that ensure economically distressed policyholders are not unduly burdened while maintaining the financial stability" of the flood insurance program, the White House said in a Jan. 27 statement. Both the House and Senate measures are aimed at weakening a 2012 law designed to wean hundreds of thousands of homeowners off subsidized flood insurance rates. The federal flood insurance program is now some $24 billion in the red, mostly because of huge losses from Sandy and Hurricane Katrina. The 2012 law required extensive updating of the flood maps used to set premiums. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., co-sponsored the 2012 law as well as the latest fix to what she called the original law's "unintended effects" of dramatic rate increases for homeowners. "Relief is on the way," Waters said Tuesday night, adding that the new bill would make insurance premiums more affordable while making the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the flood program, more accountable. Some GOP lawmakers complained that the Republican-controlled House was going along with a measure widely supported by Democrats. A total of 180 Democrats joined 126 Republicans in supporting the bill. The measure was approved 306-91. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, called the flood insurance program poorly run and doomed to failure, noting that it charges just 70 percent of what officials say is needed to break even. The program uses a faulty model that understates flood risks, with the result that a single mother in Dallas who works at a grocery store subsidizes a millionaire's beachfront home, Hensarling said. "That is the definition of unfair," he said. Implementation of the 2012 law has stirred anxiety among homeowners along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and in other flood plains. Many homeowners have complained they face unaffordable rate increases. Anger over the higher rates has fueled a bipartisan drive to delay or derail many of the 2012 changes. The Senate bill approved in January delays implementation of the insurance overhaul for four years. The House bill would permanently repeal a provision that imposes sharp rate increases on people who buy homes in flood-prone areas. The bill also preserves below-market rates for people whose homes meet federal flood map standards. Rates imposed by the 2012 law are particularly high in older coastal communities in states such as Florida, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey and have put a damper on home sales as prospective buyers recoil at the higher premium rates. The House bill was brought to the floor under special rules that limited debate and required two-thirds support from those voting. That standard proved little challenge for bill supporters, despite opposition from tea party groups and other conservatives who said the measure would continue unfair federal subsidies for people who choose to live in flood-prone areas. Some environmental groups also opposed the bill, saying that climate change has increased the risk of flooding in coastal areas, making it illogical to continue to rebuild in flood zones. The House measure would also give relief to people who have bought homes after the 2012 overhaul and therefore face sharp, immediate jumps in their premiums. Those homeowners would see rate increases capped at an average of 15 percent, with a maximum of 18 percent per year. People whose second home is in a flood zone and those whose properties have repeatedly flooded would continue to see their premiums go up by 25 percent a year until reaching a level consistent with their real risk of flooding. FEMA would retain the ability to increase premiums each year, but the increases wouldn't be as steep as mandated under the 2012 law. A surcharge on each of 5.6 million policyholders would offset the cost of continued subsidies for about 1.1 million homeowners. The changes proposed by the House dismayed supporters of the 2012 law, who said it began to remove incentives for people to live in costly, flood-prone areas. "Nobody wants to see their rates go up. But taxpayers across the country don't want to support a program that is $24 billion in debt and climbing," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington-based watchdog group, of the federal flood insurance program. A far better solution than either the House or Senate bill would be to slow down the rate increase, even dramatically, "but still allow rates to continue to move toward their risk-based" level, Ellis said.

Journalism: Alive and kicking, Rieder says

Slowly but surely, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar's ambitious foray into newsgathering is starting to crystallize.

Omidyar's is one of a number of intriguing nascent journalism ventures featuring star performers. But his strikes me as the most exciting, not only because of its scope and funding but also because it seems focused more on actual reporting as well as analysis and interpretation.

Last year, tech billionaire Omidyar passed on buying The Washington Post, deciding instead to invest heavily — as in $250 million heavily — in launching his own digital news outlet. His marquee get was Glenn Greenwald, the crusading journalist/ lawyer who has led the way in coverage of the Edward Snowden saga. And he hired former Rolling Stone executive editor Eric Bates to help figure out precisely what to do and how to do it.

This week Omidyar posted a video that offered a number of tantalizing hints about what he has in mind.

His baby, First Look Media, will include multiple digital publications. The flagship website, to debut later this year, will run the gamut, covering politics, business, sports and entertainment. In addition, First Look will include a "family" of digital magazines, each covering a specific topic.

REM RIEDER; Gearing up for a journalism juggernaut

While the overall goal is a strong diet of public service journalism — the impetus for Omidyar's plunge — it's his view that you need to offer a wide array of material to broaden the audience for your most important work.

Rem Rieder is a media columnist for USA TODAY.(Photo: USA TODAY)

"For me, journalism is about more than just telling stories," he says in the video. "Journalism is about telling stories that make a difference."

While the digital era has brought with it ! enormous pluses — instant access to an extraordinary amount of valuable information and journalism for starters — the collateral damage for traditional journalism has been formidable. Sharply declining ad revenue has forced newspapers to cut back deeply.

One of the cool things about what Omidyar is saying is that he sounds prepared to play big, to do things the right way.

"We'll bring back to journalism what's been lost — the critical but expensive support that's often neglected in the digital age," he says. "In our model, teams of data analysts, fact checkers, visual designers, editors and technologists will work together with writers, reporters and producers to create powerful stories presented in compelling packages."

As for how to make the thing self-sustaining — the overarching challenge for journalism today — Omidyar says he hasn't nailed that one down, but he'll get back to us.

"We don't have all of the answers," he says. "But we're really good at asking questions, and learning from our mistakes."

There was also some news this week about another promising initiative. Stats expert Nate Silver, who achieved rock star status during the 2012 presidential campaign with his dead-on analysis of polls and brought tons of traffic to nytimes.com, created a stir in July when he left the Times for a much-expanded mission at ESPN and ABC News, both owned by the Walt Disney Co.

Silver posted this week that his much-broadened FiveThirtyEight blog will focus on politics, economics, sports, science and lifestyle. He says he's hired 15 "amazing" journalists and is hiring more. Presumably they'll be amazing as well.

Silver says his site will specialize in "data journalism," which he describes as "the application of statistics and other quantitative methods toward issues in the news." But he and his amazing allies also will challenge what they consider the "irresponsible" use of data in statistics in journalism or anywhere else, for that matter.

While all th! at sounds! pretty heavy, Silver, who started out as a baseball stats guy, warns that he and his colleagues will have plenty of fun exploring everything from "baseball to burritos."

This week also marked the beginning of another journalism adventure as Ezra Klein, the brainy Wonkblog policy blogger, announced that he will be leaving The Washington Post to set up his own operation under the aegis of Vox Media.

Klein, who will be joined at his new outfit by two Post colleagues and Slate's Matt Yglesias, says the goal will be to provide critically important context for news developments. "Our mission is to create a site that's as good at explaining the world as it is at reporting on it," Klein wrote at The Verge, a tech website owned by Vox.

Klein had hoped to do something similar at the Post, with a reported eight-figure budget, but was rebuffed by the paper's leadership.

But while Klein's gambit may have been too rich for the Post's blood, the paper, now owned by another tech billionaire, Jeff Bezos, showed that the new media aren't having all the fun.

Post Executive Editor Martin Baron sent a memo to his staff Wednesday proclaiming that 2014 "will be a year of impressive investment in The Washington Post."

Baron says the paper is launching new blogs, expanding its magazine, redesigning its website and creating a new breaking news desk.

There's been no shortage of discouraging news about journalism in recent years. It's great to see exciting signs of life.

S&P 500 Books Record High as Beige Book Sees U.S. Growing at Moderate Pace

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- A spate of encouraging economic reports and an upbeat earnings announcement from financial heavyweight Bank of America (BAC) helped push the S&P 500 to a record closing high Wednesday. The S&P 500 added 0.52% to close at 1,848.38 after charging to a record intraday high of 1,850.84, pushing the index into positive territory for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 0.66% to 16,481.94, and the Nasdaq finished up 0.76% to 4,214.88. The Beige Book report for late November through the end of the year said that for the most part, the economy expanded at a moderate pace; there was an increase in retail activity and real estate markets continued to improve. Wage and price pressures were contained. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that central banks around the globe should remain supportive to avoid deflation. "Deflation is a psychological thing that is very hard to break," Lance Roberts, CEO of STA Wealth Management, said in a phone interview. "We have a very stable recovery here and we need to do everything to foster that." Bank of America (BAC) gained 2.3% to $17.16 after demonstrating progress on expenses and improvement in several key businesses in its fourth-quarter earnings report. The World Bank said faster economic growth would be driven by high-income economies this year. It forecast global growth to rise to 3.2% in 2014 from 2.4% last year and 3.4% in 2015. The Empire State Manufacturing Index for January jumped to a better-than-expected 12.5. The Producer Price Index for December rose by an as-expected 0.4%. The core PPI was up a more-than-expected 0.3%. Overall, there was nothing alarming in the inflation report. Chicago Fed Bank President Charles Evans said Wednesday that the job market has strengthened enough to warrant tapering, but that the economy still requires the support of accommodative monetary policy. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart will speak on the economy and monetary policy in Atlanta at 5:20 p.m. The Hang Seng finished 0.49% higher. Japan's Nikkei jumped 2.5%. Germany's DAX gained 2.03% and the FTSE rose 0.78%. Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) gained 2.1% to $56.38 after being upgraded to "outperform" from "neutral" at Credit Suisse. Intel (INTC) increased 0.6% to $26.67 after being hiked to "outperform" from "market perform" at BMO. Raymond James (RJF) popped 2.1% to $54.38 after being initiated at Credit Suisse with an "outperform" rating.

-- Written by Andrea Tse and Joe Deaux in New York.

Follow @atwtse

>Contact by Email.

Stock quotes in this article: DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC, RJF, INTC, DKS 

Advisers plan to focus on efficiency, but can I suggest another goal?

Financial advisers are looking toward 2014 as the year to make their businesses run like well-oiled machines.

At industry events and cocktail parties, they sound determined to find ways of making their firms more efficient.

They're talking about plans to examine workflows and create systematic processes that offer a repeatable client experience. Many also are looking at whether being part of an advisory team would be more cost-effective, and are considering mergers.

“Advisers are saying they want to make sure that they're more efficient instead of just pursuing growth for growth's sake,” said John Anderson, head of practice management for SEI Advisor Network, which recently polled 800 financial advisers.

Having benefited the past few years from stock market growth — the S&P 500 is up 30% so far in 2013 — advisers are skeptical about it's continuing and are looking at other ways to shore up their practices. Most already face shrinking profit margins due to increases in the cost of personnel, compliance and technology, Mr. Anderson said.

The Financial Planning Association recognizes advisers' keen interest in cost savings and making the best use of their time. Next year, it will issue a series of practice management reports, and the first will focus on time management, according to Valerie Porter, the FPA's director of practitioner services.

I agree advisers should be focusing on these core business practices … however, there's more to the story.

Advisers should also be looking to do more in 2014 to bring on younger clients — and that's not something that ever seems to land high on advisers' list of resolutions.

About two-thirds of advisers' clients are 50 and up, and 30% are 65 and older, according to the FPA's inaugural practice management adviser survey out last week. Surprisingly, only 45% of advisers are actively targeting new clients.

Since older clients are more likely to be drawing down on their assets instead of accumulating them, it seems to be in an adviser's best interests — I dare say it should be a business priority — to round up some clients who will be adding to the pot for another 20 years.

Some firms have been successful in recent years at hiring younger advisers to concentrate on forming a relationship with their clients' children and reaching out to younger clients. Mr. Anderson points out that a 60-year-old adviser talking with a 30-year-old prospect just won't have that simil! arity of experience that a 30- to 40-year-old adviser can establish with a younger individual.

In 2014, I will be looking for new ways advisers are reaching out to younger clients and how they are using technology and new business models to provide them services in a cost-effective way. Please send me any new ideas on this that you come across or put into action next year.

Meanwhile, another business issue lurks that advisers don't appear interested in addressing — succession planning.

The FPA survey found that only about a quarter of advisers have a succession plan, even though 40% of advisers plan to retire in the next 14 years.

Most advisers I spoke with are content to put off thinking about that difficult issue until 2015.

Should I Buy STX? 3 Pros, 3 Cons

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For the fiscal first quarter, Seagate Technology (STX) could not keep up with analysts’ expecations. Seagate earnings came to $1.29 per share and revenues were $3.49 billion while the Street was looking for EPS of $1.31 and revenues of $3.56 billion. Seagate stock fell by about 5% after hours.

It looks like the weakness was mostly due to a soft global economy. But again, Seagate stock has already had a big run, up about 64% for the year, so it’s not surprising that the stock is pulling back now.

Is this a buying opportunity, or could the stumble be a sign of things to come? To see, here's a look at the pros and cons:

STX Pros

Massive Operator: STX has a diverse set of storage products, including hard drives, solid state hybrid and solid state drives. STX also has a thriving service business that provides online backup, data protection and recovery. A key advantage for the company is actually its vertical integration — STX controls the design, assembly and manufacturing of its storage products. Because of this, the company has better control over quality and can also be quicker in getting to market. But that comes at heavy R&D costs, amounting to roughly 8% or $1.1 billion per year. Still, the company has 5,570 U.S. patents and 1,965 patents issued in various foreign jurisdictions.

Secular Trends: The amount of existing data continues to grow at an incredible pace, driven by the proliferation of mobile devices, cloud computing, social networking and Big Data. These things all require high-performance storage solutions like the ones STX offers. And going forward, there are likely to be even more megatrends that will boost growth. Wearable technology — like watches or Google (GOOG) glasses — and driverless cars will both be heavy users of data.

Shareholder Friendly: STX has a policy of returning 70% of operating cash flow and 90% of free cash flow in the form of dividends and stock buybacks. The current yield is an attractive 3.1%. And the company should have no problems keeping up the payments — after all, STX remains a cash machine. In the latest quarter, operating cash flows came to $682 million.

STX Cons

Cyclical: The performance of STX is highly sensitive to the global economy. Even a small deceleration of growth can turn into a material impact. Unfortunately, there are already signs of some headwinds. Consumer confidence in the U.S. dropped to the lowest levels in about a year, with the culprit likely being the 16-day shutdown of the federal government. This is even more troubling as companies gear up for the Christmas season.

PC Industry: The prospects do not look good for PCs. According to Gartner, shipments are forecasted to plunge by 11.2% in 2013 as growth in tablets is soars by an expected 53.4%. That’s bad news for STX. After all, the company gets about 13% of its revenues from Dell alone, and another 10% from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). And tablets rely more and more on cloud-based memory, which hurts STX even more.

Competition: STX must compete against larger operators like Western Digital (WDC), Hitachi Global and Toshiba. They all have tremendous scale and top-notch products. As a result, the competition is often based on prices, which can pressure margins. But the storage industry also includes a spate of well-funded startups using next-generation technologies like Flash memory. Those startups could ultimately be key players for markets like tablets and smartphones.

Verdict

For the long haul, the prospects for STX look promising. The company has the scale and technology to benefit from megatrends like mobile, Big Data and cloud computing. What's more, it has the resources to pull off acquisitions of emerging startups that offer cutting-edge technologies.

In the meantime, STX continues to generate substantial operating cash flows. Of course, this means the company can pay strong dividends, which should help alleviate downside pressure on the stock. In fact, the valuation remains attractive, with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of a mere 8X.

So should you buy STX? Yes, in light of the factors above, the pros outweigh the cons on the stock for now.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook. He is also the author of High-Profit IPO Strategies, All About Commodities and All About Short Selling. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Analysts Take Sizzle Out of FireEye and Rocket Fuel Hot IPOs

FireEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) and Rocket Fuel Inc. (NASDAQ: FUEL) have now passed their analyst and underwriter IPO quiet periods. Both were smoking hot initial public offerings, and in fact were so hot that they made our “14 Hottest First Day IPOs of 2013″ in a recent report. And now we have the brokerage firm research reports coming out from the underwriters who have initiated coverage on them.

It is our take after reviewing the price targets and research notes that new investors looking for an extra bump are probably going to be a bit disappointed. In fact, the underwriters may have just capped the potential for these hot IPOs over the near term.

24/7 Wall St. has taken the IPO price, the current post-IPO trading range, and the analyst summary of each call (with price targets if found) to show which is the more well respected of the two companies by analysts. We have also shown the Bookrunners for each offering as they are likely to still have more shares parked with institutional clients.

FireEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) sold 15.175 million shares at $20.00, for more shares than the 14 million originally proposed and above the last price range of $15.00 and $17.00 per share. The data security provider, a virtual machine-based security platform, was the seventh hottest IPO of 2013 based upon first day trading. Shares were down 1.5% at $40.90 after the analysts covered the stock, with a post-IPO trading range of $35.25 to $44.89. Also note that Cowen & Co. issued a “Outperform” rating back on October 10 ahead of this date.

Here are FireEye’s ratings and target prices:

BofA Merrill Lynch – Buy and $50 target Barclays (Bookrunner) – Equal Weight and $45 target Goldman Sachs (Bookrunner) – Neutral and $35 target J.P. Morgan (Bookrunner) – Overweight and $50 target Macquarie – Buy, but target price not seen Morgan Stanley (Bookrunner) – Equal Weight Nomura – Buy and $51 target UBS – Neutral and $45 target

Rocket Fuel Inc. (NASDAQ: FUEL) sold 4 million shares priced at $29.00, at the top of the $27.00 to $29.00 price range. This hot advertising technology company was the sixth hottest IPO of 2013 based upon first day trading. Rocket Fuel was down 1.1% at $60.72 after the analyst calls were seen and the post-IPO range is $50.90 to $68.56.

Here are Rocket Fuel’s analyst ratings and price targets:

BMO Capital Markets – Market Perform and $65 target Citi (Bookrunner) – Buy and $70 target Credit Suisse (Bookrunner) – Neutral and $60 price target Oppenheimer – Perform and $66 target Piper Jaffray – Overweight and $70 target

We had two very hot IPOs here with FireEye and Rocket Fuel. Unfortunately, the upside price targets by analysts who work for the underwriting firms for both stocks do not exactly have stellar upside price targets. We would expect that this will cap the implied gains and demand in these shares from the investing public over the coming days.

Analysts are supposed to have opinions entirely outside and independent of underwriting departments. They are supposed to.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Phase 1 Data is Worth $550 Million!?

Arena Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ: ARNA  )  stock jumped 76% Wednesday after the company released clinical trial data on its autoimmune drug APD334. And it's up a little more today.

On one hand, the jump is a reflection of how little confidence investors have in the biotech's obesity drug, Belviq. Before Wednesday's spike, shares were down 66% since Belviq was approved in 2012.

While good news certainly deserves some kind of boost to the stock price, that 76% gain is equal to a $550 million increase in Area's market cap. That would be fine if this was phase 3 data, giving investors confidence the Food and Drug Administration would approve the drug. You could maybe even justify that kind of increase in value from phase 2 proof-of-concept data.

But this was data from a phase 1b trial. Sure, there was some efficacy data -- thus the "b" added to the phase 1 nomenclature -- but this trial still only involved 50 healthy volunteers who received APD334.

APD334 is designed to treat patients with multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and other autoimmune diseases, but we don't have any direct information on how well the drug might help them. All we can say is that APD334 decreased the lymphocyte (white blood cells) count by up to 69% in the healthy volunteers.

APD334 is a modulator of sphingosine 1-phosphate subtype 1, or S1P1. Drugs such as Novartis' (NYSE: NVS  ) Gilenya, which is in this class, are thought to work by retaining lymphocytes in the lymph nodes so they don't attack other tissue. Lowering patients' lymphocyte counts in the blood is clearly a sign APD334 is doing what it's supposed to.

In fact, the company thinks the data in healthy volunteers are a solid proof of concept.

"Lymphocyte lowering at the level demonstrated in this trial has been shown to correlate with clinical efficacy in phase 2 and phase 3 trials of other S1P1 modulators in multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and ulcerative colitis," said William R. Shanahan, Arena's senior vice president and chief medical officer, in a press release announcing the trial results.

While the phase 1b trial data lower the risk of the drug failing later in the clinic, investors should keep in mind that safety issues can still crop up in later, larger trials. Arena did not see any serious adverse events in the 50 healthy volunteers, but Gilenya has warnings on its label about the potential for heart problems, infections, and liver damage.

Valuing a pipeline
While I'm not convinced the phase 1b data were worthy of a $550-million increase in Arena's value, the biotech doesn't look all that overvalued at about $1.3 billion, either. Call Wednesday's increase more of a return to the ballpark of proper value than an outlandish increase.

Unlike the other two obesity drug makers -- VIVUS and Orexigen -- Arena has a decent pipeline of drugs in development. In addition to APD334, Arena Pharmaceuticals has three other drug candidates, including ralinepag for pulmonary arterial hypertension, which is also ready to go into phase 2 trials.

There's also the potential to increase sales of Belviq by either having it approved for use with a generic obesity medication called phentermine or as a drug to help people stop smoking. It has shown promise in both indications, although more trials will need to be completed before it can be approved for either.

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1 Critical Detail in Constellation's Earnings Release

Wine maker Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ  ) released earnings on Wednesday. The stock initially dropped on the announcement, but there's one detail from the earnings call that shouldn't be overlooked. Let's quickly recap the results. Then we'll dive into the must-know nugget of information.

Results recap
Constellation Brands delivered full-year 2012 revenues and profits that beat Wall Street expectations. Carving out acquisitions, net sales increased 3%, powered by double-digit growth for its popular Robert Mondavi and Black Box brands. The crown jewels of the company's Crown Imports joint venture -- Modelo Especial, Corona Light, Negra Modelo, and Pacifico brands -- enjoyed record sales for the year. 

Beer war beneficiary
In mid-2012, Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD  ) agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Crown Imports joint venture to Constellation, giving Constellation complete control of Crown and rights for Grupo Modelo  (NASDAQOTH: GPMCY  ) brands in the U.S.

Key brands in the deal include Corona, the U.S.' leading import beer, and Modelo Especial, Mexico's premium beer brand, which has enjoyed double-digit growth annually for nearly the past two decades. With the goal of growing the Grupo Modelo brand to 100 million cases from the 35 million sold in 2011, Constellation's management projects the "transformational" deal will double its annual revenues. 

However, in February, the Department of Justice blocked the deal, debating that AB InBev would have too much pricing control if the deal passed. But just a couple of weeks later, Constellation's nearly $3 billion purchase of Grupo Modelo's Piedras Negras brewery in Mexico seemed to satisfy the DOJ. As a result, Constellation shares jumped on the news.

Now that the deal is back on, investors are looking for any clues as to what might happen next, making one nugget of information from the earnings release so critical. Constellation CEO Rob Sands stated in Wednesday's call, "We've reached two key milestones for regulatory approvals for the transaction including an agreement in principle with the U.S. Department of Justice and unanimous approval by the Mexican Antitrust Commission." This update is exactly what Constellation investors had been hoping for. 

Foolish bottom line
This Grupo Modelo deal comes at an important time for Constellation. Constellation is mostly a wine company with a smaller spirits and beer portfolio, so the company stands to benefit handsomely from diversification of its revenue streams. Constellation's stock price increased a meteoric 70% in 2012, but investors are wondering if that type of growth can continue. However, this recent nugget of information has Constellation investors hopeful that its star will continue to burn brightly.

The global beer industry has undergone massive consolidation during the past few years.  Boston Beer's Samuel Adams brand helped to redefine beer and kick off the U.S.' craft beer revolution. Success breeds competition, though, and while just a few years ago Boston Beer had claim over most of the craft beer shelf, today the field is crowded. Can Boston Beer rise above the rest, or will it be squeezed between small local breweries on one side and global beer giants on the other? To help you decide, we've compiled a premium research report filled with everything you need to know about Boston Beer's risks and opportunities. Just click here now to find out whether Boston Beer is a buy today.

NY Soft Commodities Close Lower

NY Soft Commodities ended the session lower. March Cocoa ended the day lower at $2948, down 16.

March Coffee was lower at the close after setting new recent lows. March Coffee was down 1.15 at $169.00.

March Cotton traded in a tight range and closed the trading session at $61.72, down 0.06.

March Sugar Futures ended the lightly-traded post-holiday session at $14.72, down 0,04.

March Orange Juice closed down 0.90 at $141.85.

Posted-In: Commodities Markets

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Chevron: Risks Rise as Oil Prices Fall

Citigroup’s commodity strategists cut their oil price forecast today–and its oil analysts followed suit with energy stocks. Among those taking a hit: Chevron (CVX), which was downgraded to Neutral from Buy.

Reuters

Citigroup analyst Alastair Syme and team explain why they cut Chevron:

In a relative sense Chevron has outperformed the Big Oil peer group in the last three months, a reflection we believe of the resilience of the balance sheet. But as we revise earnings forecasts to reflect lower oil prices, the valuation, both absolute and relative, in our view, now looks to offer little upside, and certainly when balanced against a portfolio that still carries uncertainties around both execution and reinvestment. On the latter we expect Chevron to be a new acquirer of assets in this cycle, looking to diversify the heavy exposure to high-cost LNG in the reinvestment portfolio.

Syme thinks BG (BRGYY), Total (TOT), ConocoPhillips (COP) and BP (BP) make better bets. He explains why:

What works in this environment? We see the best opportunities around companies with strong growth credentials (BG, Total, ConocoPhillips) and those that are quick to align with the needs of shareholders at this point in the cycle (BG, BP, Total and ConocoPhillips) – all Buys.

Shares of Chevron have tumbled 3.8% to $108.34 at 1:50 p.m. today, while BG has fallen 2.6% to $12.91, BP has plunged 5% to $36.22, Total gas plummeted 6.5% to $47.85 and ConocoPhillips is off 4.6% at $65.79.

How to Lead by Example

We've heard it since kindergarten: the best way to lead is to lead by example. 

Whether it has to do with honesty, work ethic, or customer service, social norms are hugely influential in how we behave and treat others. And, of course, the best way to establish a social norm as a leader is to embody those traits that you want to see in others.

It sounds simple, but how do you actually implement it? 

Start with one thing at a time 
Building a culture of excellence, communication, and respect isn't going to happen overnight -- especially if you're just starting out on this whole leading by example thing. 

Instead of trying to fit in everything but the kitchen sink, sit down and think about the specific norms and traits you most want to see established. Better yet, make a list. It might have three items on it or fifteen, but writing it down will keep it fresh in your mind as you go through the process, and will help you stay focused on these big-ticket, big-picture goals. 

From there, choose one thing. Maybe your trait is "Listen to other people's opinions." Put it on Post-it notes, set a reminder on your phone -- whatever it takes, make it a priority to establish this habit over time. Every day, remind yourself to seek out and listen to the opinions of others.

Once it becomes second nature, say after two weeks, you can go to the next item on the list. It sounds slow perhaps, but do this every day over the course of a year and you've suddenly established 17 killer new habits that you can be proud of. 

Don't ask of others that which you won't do yourself 
If you want your team or your colleagues to deliver on time, be sure you deliver on time. If you want to see great customer service from others, be sure to give it yourself. 

When people see that you are willing and able to do what you say needs to be done, they'll be more likely to do it themselves. This is partially due to social norms (for better or for worse, we tend to mimic others' behaviors), but it's also partly because setting an example demonstrates that the behavior is possible. 

That is to say, sometimes it can be hard to believe that you can maintain patience and an upbeat attitude when a customer is being rude. But if you see someone else demonstrating how to do it, suddenly it's no longer an unattainable ideal. 

On that note, help others reach their potential 
Setting an example is a powerful way of teaching: you show how something gets done by doing it, and people learn by watching. 

And just like your kids, your colleagues see pretty much everything. What they might not see is all the intellectual work that goes into your new great habit; for example, maintaining your cool with that abusive customer. Everyone can see that you've done it, but maybe someone needs a bit more help in learning how to do it. 

If you suspect that might be the case (someone asking you, "Wow, how did you do that!?" is a great hint that it is), be very free with sharing your techniques. Maybe you counted to ten, or pretended the customer was in their underwear, or channeled the example of a really patient person you know.

Whatever it is, share your techniques with others so that they can also learn how to live up to your example. 

Take responsibility 
If you want other people to behave in a moral, professional, or innovative manner, they need to be empowered to take responsibility for their actions -- so of course it's imperative that you as well take responsibility for your actions.

That means that when you fail, own up to it. When you get it wrong, admit it. 

We all lose our cool at the wrong time or slip into a bad habit that we've been trying to break. These shortcomings don't make us losers, they make us human. 

But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be acknowledged and overcome. Taking responsibility for where you've gone wrong will not only humanize you with your colleagues, it will help give them the courage to try to follow your lead and learn from your mistakes. That's because you're showing that mistakes are OK and that they can be overcome. 

By showing up every day and taking responsibility for overcoming those mistakes, you're setting the most important example of all: that self-improvement and excellence are valid, important, and achievable goals. 

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