International Business Times recently listed the 10 greatest trades of all time. Whether they were lucky or brilliant – or a combination of both – these folks made a bundle of money from their best trades.  Here they are:

1.   John Paulson’s bet against sub prime mortgages (this trade made him $15 billion in 2007).

2.   Jesse Livermore’s call on the Crash of 1929 (a legendary trader featured in the popular book, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator).

3.   John Templeton’s foray into Japan in the 1960s (a true investment pioneer, Templeton foresaw the rise of Japan after World War II and profited hugely from it).

4.   George Soros’ breaking of the Bank of England in 1992 (Soros made $1 billion).

5.   Paul Tudor Jones’ shorting of Black Monday in October 1987 (he predicted the crash, bet a bundle & tripled his money as the market crashed 22% in one day).

6.   Andrew Hall’s $100 oil prediction (with oil trading at $30 per barrel in 2003, Hall bet prices would rise to $100 in 5 years; they did and he took home a personal paycheck of $100 million in 2008).

7.   David Tepper’s 2009 bet on financials (as the market hit its low in early 2009, Tepper bought financial services stocks & his fund earned $7 billion that year – $4 billion of that went to Tepper).

8.   Jim Chanos’ prescient shorts (his sharp analysis led him to predict the demise of Enron, WorldCom, and other firms, and he is known as the best short-seller in the world).

9.   Jim Rogers’ early call on commodities (he was bullish on commodities back in the 1990s & has been riding them to great profits ever since).

10.  Louis Bacon’s geopolitical play (he correctly predicted that Saddam Hussein would invade Kuwait in 1990 & profited handsomely by going long on oil & shorting stocks, which helped his fund return 86% that year).

Most of these trades were ‘global macro’ plays where huge, concentrated bets were made by analyzing fundamental economic/business conditions.  These investors excelled at turning a great observation about the world into a great investing idea. But, while these make the headlines, you never hear about the other investors who made a big call and missed, and ended up out of business.

It’s almost impossible for regular investor folks to make a ‘big score’ like these traders.  Rather than trying to throw a touchdown pass on every play and make a big score like these traders, the smarter game plan is to focus on trying to get consistent first downs. Do your homework, watch market/sector developments, don’t chase stocks up or down.  Do that, and the score may take care of itself.

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Brazil: Petrobras (PBR); Vale (VALE).  India: Tata Motors (TTM); HDFC Bank (HDB); Wipro (WIT).  China: PetroChina (PTR); Tencent (0700.HK).

Investors looking for international or emerging markets tend to stick to international funds or ADRs  from the so-called “BRIC’ nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China.  But not all BRICs are created equal.  China and Russia have impressive growth rates.  But you have to be more selective in these markets.  China is probably too reliant on stimulus money to boost its economy and there’s evidence of a growing Chinese bubble.  Russia requires you to put your faith in a corrupt oligarchy.  Sooner or later, China and Russia are more likely to suffer from these excesses than their BRIC colleagues, Brazil and India.

You can trade in international or emerging market stocks through the use of ADRs (American Depositary Receipts).  ADRs prices are in U.S. dollars, pay dividends in U.S. dollars and can be traded like the shares of U.S.-based companies.

India is Asia’s 3^rd largest economy and has maintained strong economic growth through the global financial meltdown, managing to post an impressive growth of 6.7% in 2008-2009.  The IMF projects 2009-2010 growth at 6.75-7.5%%.  This is a fall from the 10% growth rates India enjoyed before the global financial meltdown, but India remains one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia.  Just compare this with estimates of 2010 U.S. GDP growth of only 1.5%.  The best way to capitalize on growth in India is by investing in Indian banks.  Although its economy doesn’t grow as fast as China’s, the banking system operates independently of the government so the loans are higher quality and there’s no forced lending.

India ADR picks: Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM): India’s biggest car manufacturer, maker of the Tata Nano, the cheapest car in the world.  Has been one of our top investments the past six months and we expect the growth to continue. The next two stocks have both been hit hard as of late but we see that as a strong buying opportunity getting in on strong brands and companies at discount prices.  HDFC Bank (NYSE: HDB): One of India’s better-managed banks, this stock’s enjoyed a tenfold gain since 2002.  Wipro (NYSE: WIT): leading tech services group with strong earnings surprise history, recently opened in Brazil.

I continue to be positive on China in spite of increasing talk of a jittery China bubble.  Many portfolios are now underweight on China.  China’s mid-to-long-term outlook is bright and it will enjoy higher growth than India, but expect more volatility, so you need to be very selective and/or perhaps more speculative with your picks.

China ADR picks: PetroChina (NYSE: PTR): China’s largest listed oil company, is expected to continue to grow, benefiting from higher crude prices & rising energy demand.  Plus the recent fall in stock price has opened nice entry points for new investors. Tencent Holding (HKSE: 0700.HK): biggest Internet company most people outside China have never heard of, hundreds of millions users for its IM service, market cap of $38 billion bigger than Yahoo & twice the size of Baidu.  Likely to benefit from Google’s China departure, but beware:  This is a volatile speculative play but has done quite well for us the past year. We spoke further on one of Tencent’s biggest holdings, “The World’s Largest Social Network QQ, Facebook but Bigger“

What use to be my personal BRIC favorite is Brazil, the world’s 8^th largest economy has been slowly falling due to what I call too much government intervention.  As the U.S. sinks deeper into public-sector debt and federal bureaucracy, Brazil has had huge success in reducing public debt and the level of bureaucratic control.  Brazil restructured its finances years ago and is now in far better shape in terms of debt than the U.S., Japan and most of Europe.  Brazil also has huge oil reserves and a fast-growing domestic market – which means it’s less dependent on exports to declining markets in the U.S. and Europe.

Brazil ADR picks:  Petrobras (NYSE: PBR): Brazil’s largest oil and gas company.  Vale (NYSE: VALE): Brazilian metals & mining company, also a producer of iron ore.

While we use to be fans of both PBR & VALE from 2003-2009 these stocks are now favorite shorts as the government has been working hard to destroy any value they still have.  Petrobras is an ATM for the Socialist Worker’s Party while poor earnings have proven that the company is unable to sell gas at seven dollars a gallon as the government heavily taxes oil along with setting the price.  National content rules for presalt buildout bleed Petrobras with massive cost, as evidenced at the Pernambuco and Rio refineries. Real is overvalued as Brazilians buy condos in Miamii not shares of PBR. While staying away from these two investments, take a look at EZTEC and Brasil Insurance 100% private companies with incredible growing rate. But as nothing is perfect they do not trade ADR’s

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The Facebook IPO might have drawn a lot of the attention away from the rest of the power tech plays but it didn’t make us forget about them. While America has many great tech plays, China might have even more.  Friday we first started to disclose just some of the great investment opportunities in China in our article “Put Aside All the IPO Hype: The World’s Largest Social Network is QQ, China’s Facebook but Bigger!” With a population of over 1.4 billion and a booming technology industry, China has become a true player in the tech world with many top up and coming stocks worth looking at. While there are some great large-cap, big-game Chinese tech stocks like Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), Sina Corporation (NASDAQQ: SINA) we are going to focus on the smaller, high growth, more speculative plays. What we are going to look at is highly speculative, high growth, small to mid-cap Chinese tech companies. Below is a list of three small to mid-cap Chinese tech stocks worth looking into:

RDA Microelectronics (NASDAQ: RDA) is a Chinese designer of RF and mixed-signal semiconductors for cellular, broadcast, and connectivity applications. RDA’s chips are used in cellular and other products. While not heavily followed by investment firms, there are currently six analysts watching RDA and all recommend ‘Buy’ with two of six recommending it a ‘Strong Buy’. RDA is a fast growing Chinese based chip stock that in the past years has had its ups and downs. Since its initial IPO, RDA shares have made huge swings. Currently shares are trading at $10.50, we think this is very cheap when factoring the basic fundamentals, qualitative factors, its financial statements, etc. RDA’s shares are trading at 13.33X earnings and 4.25X sales. Past quarters have been great for RDA, as sales grew 66% quarter to quarter along with EPS growing 257%. Along with these outstanding numbers, RDA boasts a PEG Ratio of 0.63 a Bullish long-term indicator for us.  The best investor always buys low, sells high. Well luckily for us, RDA is currently trading at low levels due to the market sell-off as a whole opening a strong buying opportunity for investors.  Expect for RDA to rise over the course of the next year as within the next 12-months we expect shares to be trading at around $16.50, a total yield of 58%.

Spreadtrum Communications (NASDAQ: SPRD) is a Chinese based semiconductor company. SPRD is a big player in wireless communication chips and has been capitalizing onthe growing Chinese handset market. While Mediatek dominates the market, Speadtrum is quickly gaining ground and market share and becoming a prominent player.  SPRD is a solid overall investment with a PEG of 0.46, trades at 2.9X sales, 4.1X cash value, and 11.7X forward earnings. Sales have been growing exponentially up 150% from the past two quarters while EPS has skyrocketed 2,675%. The company’s upper management is very efficient producing strong results with 14% Return on Assets and 49% Return on Equity. SPRD is a great company from top to bottom and the stock is trading at a current discount making it a great long-term investment. Long-term SPRD is a safe, strong bet on Chinese telecom and we expect the stock to rise to over $27 per share, a total yield of 70%.

Vimicro International (NASDAQ: VIMC) designs, manufactures and sells semiconductors in China.  Of all three investments they are by far the riskiest and most speculative as the other two stocks are safer plays on the market.  Like both RDA & SPRD though, VIMC has been hit hard as of late with shares falling more than 14%+ in the most recent trading day as shares have fallen to $0.78. When it comes down to it, VIMC are the leading chipmaker for PC webcams and have achieved great success for their design of multimedia chips for mobile phones.  The company has been rapidly expanding, recently they have even created a unit focusing on surveillance-camera chips. The company is a high risk, huge reward speculative play. Trading at such low levels, many worry about the long-term success of the company.  Recent losses have hurt VIMC’s stock price significantly however after recent strategic moves we believe VIMC will return to profitability. If all bodes well and Vimicro succeeds the stock could nearly double soaring to over $2 per share, good news for investors worldwide.

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Whether or not you are an advanced trader or a beginner, one thing you should always have is a good set of publications to rely on for up to date information, strong analysis, market-timing advice, etc. The problem is there are so many different publications out there to choose from it’s hard to decide which one to pick. Luckily we have made your job easy as below we have outlined for you the top online financial publications all of which you should subscribe to. If you have any questions never resist to Contact Us:

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is the most respected source for news and business information. The Wall Street Journal is easily the world’s leading business publication!

The Wall Street Journal is by far the online leader when it comes to business. They offer everything one needs to keep up to date with the world of business. They have been so successful and world renowned that they have launched several other publications on the side, most notably MarketWatch, Barron’s, and Smart Money all of which we highly recommend and go into further detail below.

Ever since we first became interested in finance we have read the Journal. It is what most likely sparked our deep interest and passion. There’s not a day that passes by in which we don’t checkout The Wall Street Journal. They make it too easy not to, we have the daily paper delivered to our office, the website bookmarked on all our computers, and even the iPhone app. What we like most about the journal is it’s very informative and it’s up-to-date content. They have so many diverse writers and categories there is something for everyone to enjoy. They offer great insight and analysis into the world of finance along with strong opinative arguments

We throughly recommend that you check it out, unfortunately the only way to read the Journal is by becoming a subscriber. However, like most things if it’s good, it’s going to cost you. Luckily the journal is economically priced and very reasonable. Right now they have some amazing deals, for instance you can get a yearly subscription for both Print & Online for $99! Plus right now they are giving away a Free 4-Week Trial to show you how good it really is. The dual package is great especially if you are one who loves to read the morning newspaper. However if you are to pick just one we would go with the Online Service as you get unlimited access to all the Wall Street Journal has to offer. The best offer however is the dual package, we would recommend you purchase that. So stop sitting around reading bad articles on Yahoo Finance and step your game up with a subscription to the Wall Street Journal. To take advantage of the 4-Week Trial plus 75% off Yearly Subscriptions of the Wall Street Journal, Simply Click on the Link Below!

Get The Wall Street Journal for 75% off Plus Receive a Free 4-Week Trial!

MarketWatch

MarketWatch operates a financial information website that provides business news, analysis and stock market data to over 6 million people. MarketWatch offers personal finance news and advice, tools for investors and access to industry research.

They are an affiliate to both the Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal. We are avid fans and readers of MarketWatch as we believe their writers have a great grasp of the markets and give intuitive and analytical research word by word. The articles are always very informative and quite beneficial if you invest or trade regularly while at the same time don’t come off like textbook writing, they are both compelling and interesting keeping you tuned in from start to finish. As we have said, they are one of our favorite publications and are one of the industry leaders.

The cost of the subscription is relatively cheap compared to its peers and what you are getting back in return. In fact, currently MarketWatch is giving a FREE 30-Day TRIAL to see if you like what they have to offer. We guarantee if you test it out and sign-up for the 30-Day Free Trial you will be getting either a monthly or yearly subscription shortly after. It’s that good! To sign-up and take advantage of the Free 30-Day Trial of MarketWatch’s Investment Newsletters, Simply Click on the Link Below!

Sign-Up Now & Receive a Free 30 Day Trial of MarketWatch’s Investment Newsletters

Barron’s Magazine

Barron’s is an American weekly newspaper covering U.S. financial information, market developments, and relevant statistics. They are America’s premier financial magazine providing in-depth analysis and commentary on the markets.

Barron’s is a daily updated website & newsletter. Each issue provides a wrap-up of the previous week’s market activity, news reports, and an informative outlook on the week to come. Like MarketWatch, Barron’s is an affiliate of the Wall Street Journal and is one of the top publications out there.

If you have a passion for the financial markets and trade/invest yourself then Barron’s is the perfect publication for you. They deliver quality content and in-depth analysis giving you an upper-edge on the markets. The subscription costs are minimal especially for what you receive so make the jump and sign-up. Plus right now Barron’s is offering a Four-Week Free Trial. Now there is no reason not to test it out. To sign-up and take advantage of the Free 4-Week Trial of Barron’s Magazine, Simply Click on the Link Below!

Sign-Up Now & Receive Four Free Weeks of Barron’s Print and Online Magazine

SmartMoney

SmartMoney offers personal finance and investing analysis, advice and tools to help you make smart decisions with your money. They are one of the premier financial publications with over a million subscribers and are an affiliate to both the Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal.

SmartMoney is a regularly updated magazine and it is mostly know or considered to be the Magazine of Personal Business & Finance for the Wall Street Journal. The magazine is targeted towards affluent professional and managerial business people needing personal finance information. SmartMoney usually talks about ideas for saving, investing, and spending, as well as coverage of technology, automotive, and lifestyle subjects including travel, fashion, wine, music, and food. They are a very entertaining yet informative read.

This subscription is geared more to the long-term investor and males and females age 40 and up. Currently they are offering up to 87% off your subscription so take a look and if you wish to take advantage of this great offer, Simply Click on the Link Below!

Get 87% Off Your SmartMoney Subscription

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Just Do It, Damn it! My 10 Commandments for Entrepreneurs

I’m a student entrepreneur.  Balancing studies and running a company is challenging and requires sacrifice.  But it’s all worth it.  I care as much about my businesses as my degree.  I’m hopefully going to be starting and growing businesses for the next 20 years.

What’s it take to be a successful entrepreneur?  There’s no cookie cutter approach.  Everyone’s unique. Entrepreneurs must be passionate, willing to learn, driven.  It becomes part of the fabric of your life.  You cannot become a successful entrepreneur if you don’t like it.  I do it because I enjoy it.  It’s not just a task.

My 10 Commandments for Entrepreneurs.  Here are my 10 commandments to help motivate, guide and, hopefully, inspire wannabe entrepreneurs of all ages:

1.  Just Do It, Damn It!  This mantra rises above all others. Entrepreneurs must be doers. It’s all about execution. That’s what really defines entrepreneurs. (Credit to Nike for inspiring this twist on their famous ad theme.)

                                  – James Hartje, CEO, Founder, Stocks on Wall Street LLC

2.  The critical ingredient is getting off your butt & doing something. It’s as simple as that. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.

                                  – Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari & Chuck E. Cheese

3.  Success is to the quick. Create your plan, know your market. Take quick, decisive action.

                                  – Douglas Dolan, The Solopreneur’s Guide, Arizona

4.  Not every action will work. Making mistakes, getting it almost right & experimenting to see what happens is all part of the process of eventually getting it right.

                                  – Jack Canfield, Chicken Soup for the Soul

5.  Deliver value. Expect nothing.

                                  – Drew Nagle, Benco Dental, Indiana

6.  Your business relationships are your greatest asset. Money spent on them is the best place to allocate part of your marketing budget.

                                  – Lauren Doyle, Getting Results, Michigan

7.  Always take an enthusiastic approach to everything you do. Life is too short to spend it doing anything half-heartedly. The more energy and enthusiasm you pour into what you do, the more energy and enthusiasm will flow back to you.

                                  – Will Peters, The Anstad Group, N. Carolina

8.  20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do that by the ones you did do.

                                  – Mark Twain

9.  A successful life is one that is lived through understanding and pursuing one’s own path, not chasing after the dreams of others.

                                  – Chin-Ning Chu, The Art of War for Women

10.  Never, never take a “maybe.” “No” is better because you can explore their reasons.

                                  – Sheila Kurtz, Graphology Consulting Group, NY

JUST DO IT, DAMN IT!

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The Facebook IPO wasn’t the success we all had envisioned. Here are our Five Majors Problems that Caused Facebook’s IPO Failure:

1. Too many shares offered. They never should have increased the IPO size 25%.

2. Lack of transperency, many investors were unsure of what they got their $FB shares at or if they had in fact bought shares at all.

3. Trading on a Friday plus the fact they had filled every order, both institution & retail demand. The goal is to create demand not have a surplus.

4. To much hype & speculation, all week this has been the biggest focus of any financial media. Any weakness out the gate like today was going to cause huge worries.

5. Nasdaq Delay right off the gate stalled momentum & did not help.

Below are some great graphs that give insight to Facebook as a company and now a stock, enjoy!

A Facebook IPO By the Numbers

This is Why You Place Limit Orders!

See How Facebook’s IPO Compares to Others

More Facebook Insiders Cashing Out

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Hope everyone has had a great week so far, the markets haven’t quite performed as we would have liked and the Facebook IPO was far from any savior many had expected.  Anyways to cap off a disappointing week we have comprised a list of some great articles that you are sure to enjoy. So sit back relax and enjoy the great list of reads Stocks on Wall Street has comprised for you! Please also let us know which articles your favorite by sharing with us on Facebook or Twitter! 

The Hedge Funds that are Profiting from the JPM Trade (CNN Fortune)

Hedge or Bet? Parsing the JPM Trade (The Wall Street Journal)

Is Dimon’s ‘Stupid’ Defense a Smart Move? (Yahoo Finance)

Polishing the Dimon Principle (The Wall Street Journal)

As One JPM Trade Sold Risky Contracts, Another Bought Them (Dealbook)

Three Reasons Beating the Market is So Difficult (Dallas News)

How Do the Major Economic Players Stack Up? (Northern Funds)

Justin Bieber, Venture Capitalist (Forbes)

Love Dad: Reagan a Life in Letters (Letters of Note)

How Goldman Sachs Engaged in ‘Naked Short Selling’ (The Rolling Stones)

Invest in Stocks? FORGET ABOUT IT (The Big Picture)

7 Reasons I Don’t Mind Sitting in Cash (Joe Fahmy)

13 Disturbing Facts About McDonalds (The Fiscal Times)

Congress: The TSA is Wasting Hundreds of Millions in Taxpayer Money (Tech Dirt)

Scandal & Scrutiny Hem in Murdoch’s Empire (The New York Times)

Google’s Revolutionary New Age of Technology (The Huffington Post)

Bigger than Facebook.  QQ – the largest social internet site in the world

. . . Owned by Tencent – the most profitable internet company in China

You’ve probably never heard of it, unless you live in China.  QQ has almost 950 million accounts, compared to Facebook’s 900 million subscribers globally – 18 times the number of Microsoft’s MSN subscribers in China.  QQ is owned by Tencent, the world’s 3rd largest internet company after Google and Amazon.

I recommended Tencent (0700.HK) as spec play back in December when its stock price was 30% lower and also when Boston Consulting Group ranked it #1 in the world in terms of total shareholder return from 2005-2009.  Tencent shares multiplied by a factor of over twenty over the past 5 years to a market cap of $42.4 billion and profit has doubled in 2009 to $754.7.  Compare that with Facebook which has surged fivefold in value over the past 2 years.  Also note that Tencent holds about a 1% stake in Facebook.

Tencent is valued at about 15 times revenue, according to Bloomberg data.  Compare that to Baidu, China’s largest search engine, which trades at about 31 times revenue.  Youku.com, Chinese largest online video site, is valued at about 90 times revenue after it’s IPO last month.

Tencent was founded in 1998 in Shenzhen, just over the border from Hong Kong, by Ma Huateng, one of China’s richest men.  It began as the QQ instant messaging service and has grown into the most profitable internet company in China. That’s pretty remarkable, given China’s competitive online market which includes search giant, Baidu, to China’s e-commerce leaders, Alibaba, and more recently online video players like Tudou and e-tailer, Dangdang.

QQ’s soaring popularity has helped turned China into the world’s largest market for both internet users and mobile phone subscribers.  It evolved from an instant-messaging site into a cultural phenomenon with added services like multiplayer online gaming, ring tone downloads, and social networks like Qzone.  It even has a virtual bank.  ‘Q-Bi’ coins can be used to buy items and merchandise on the site.  The currency has become so popular that other online gaming sites and e-commerce stores have started to accept the virtual coins as currency.  QQ has become a marketing powerhouse and is the homegrown favorite for multinational advertisers.

Tencent is well positioned to increase its domination in China but, with growth slowing down in the mainland, the company is starting to look overseas for expansion opportunities. In December 2010, Tencent took on Microsoft and Yahoo by offering versions of its QQ instant-messaging service in English, Japanese and French, aiming at expatriates living in China and overseas users with acquaintances in China.  Tencent is pushing a search engine to compete with Baidu and has formed a partnership with Youku rival Tudou to offer video-search services.

Tencent also plans to set up a social-networking site in English in early 2011 to rival Facebook, which has been blocked in China for the past 18 months. Tencent has already made investments in India, Russia and Thailand, mainly through joint ventures with South Africa’s Naspers, Tencent’s largest shareholder.

MY TAKE: Tencent runs the risk of overreaching and can be volatile.  However, its momentum and earnings per share suggests there’s still a lot of room to grow.  For an investor (as opposed to a trader), I’d be a buyer on any pull back.

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Those of you closely following the Facebook IPO will love the list of articles we’ve comprised below. Enjoy! Please let us know which articles your favorite by sharing with us on Facebook or Twitter! 

Is Facebook a Long-Term Investment? (CNBC)

Visualizing the Facebook IPO (All Things SD)

Carly Fiorina: An Open Letter to Mark Zuckenburg (CNBC)

The Other Facebook Founder (The Wall Street Journal)

Facebook IPO: Investors Should Wait (MarketWatch)

Who Owns How Much of Facebook? (Who Owns)

Facebook in Your Mutual Fund? It Could be Soon (The Daily Finance)

Is Wall Street Hustling Facebook? (CNBC)

Facebook’s IPO is Oversubscribed (Reuters)

Buffet ‘Agnostic’ on Facebook (CNBC)

Yes Mark Zuckenburg Does Wear a Tie, Sometimes (The Wall Street Journal)

After Grumbling, Facebook Revamps IPO Show (CNBC)

12 Surprising Things Mark Zuckenburg Likes (BusinessInsider)

6 Signs Your Addicted to Facebook (CNBC)

Zuckerberg’s Hoodie Rankles Wall Street (CNN)

How Facebook’s Revenue Growth is Similar to Pre-IPO Google (Business Insider)

Facebook IPO: What We Know (CNBC)

Mad About Facebook! (Barron’s)

Barron’s Goes Negative on Facebook (The Big Picture)

If you can’t access some of the articles it might be because you need to have a subscription, to get a Free-Trial or Subscribe to any of the Top Financial Publications, Simply Click on the Link!

Building off of our first post earlier today where we gave you picks 6-10 in our article ‘10 Stocks Poised to Prosper From Facebook’s IPO: 6-10‘, here is the second part to that list with the Top 5 Stocks that I believe will benefit from Facebook’s IPO &  what I like to call the Facebook Trickle Down Effect!

10 Stocks Poised to Prosper From Facebook’s IPO: 1-5

1. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) - I don’t think I need to explain what this company does but many of you might be wondering what connection do they have with Facebook? Well after many attempts to become a player in the social networking sector nothing quite has worked out for Microsoft, as a result CEO Steve Ballmer decided to buy part of Facebook instead. Yes, in 2007 Micosoft purchased 1.6% of Facebook for $240 million. Mr. Ballmer great move as back then Facebook was valued at only $15 billion. Since Facebook’s value has increased enormously with anlaysts projecting the company to be worth roughly around $100 billion, ridiculous I know. As a result, Microsoft’s FB shares have done quite nicely so Ballmer decieded to follow the same route as Goldman Sachs & sell 6.56 million of their 32.8 million Facebook shares at a mid-IPO price of $31.50. This sale will make Microsoft $206.5 million almost recouping their initial investment & allowing them to play with the houses money holding over 26 million shares still.

2. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) - You might know them as the evil nemesis on Wall Street as Goldman Sachs’ leaders consider investment banking to be “God’s Work,” however when it comes down to money managing GS is great at what they do. Goldman is currently selling 13.2 million shares of their 65.9 million Facebook shares. Selling at the mid IPO price of $31.50, Goldman stands to make $415.5 million coming close to recouping their initial investment while still holding 42 million more shares. I love their strategy in this one, selling another to get back their initial investment so they can just play with the houses money!

Recommendation Underperform: I foresee GS not really having too much movement in the near future, kind of hovering between $106-$120. One thing to watch out for is if the stock makes a good one-day run during FB’s IPO based on their large investment & just the media buzz swirling around the two, will be interesting to watch!

3. Jive Software (NASDAQ: JIVE) - Jive provides social business software platforms to companies, government agencies, whoever! They’re often called the “Facebook for Enterprise”, originally went public in late 2011, shares have performed strong ever since gaining 42% this year already. Recent critics have questioned the company’s valuation & fundamentals resulting in shares falling however this could just create a good entry point for new investors.

Recommendation Hold: Jive’s a very interesting & intriguing play however I think there are better stocks to own out there right now so I’m sitting tight.

5. Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) – Based in Redwood City, California, Equinix is just like DLR, a data center company and also a client of Facebook as they are among one of their top customers along with financial services and data networking companies. EQIX recently posted outstanding 1st-quarter earnings & revenue as numbers jumped over 25% as their cloud computing mobility & data mangement businesses grew significantly as they reported $452.2 million in revenue. As a result, EQIX has been a great investment so far in 2012 appreciating over 55% mainly due to them beating all consensus analysts estimates with their strong 1st-quarter report.

Recommendation Hold: EQIX looks to be a little overweight at the moment as they are coming off strong recent surges & shares should rise further due to FB’s IPO however after that we could see share prices drop a little before 2nd-Quarter earnings which could open up a great potential buying opportunity for investors.

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With the Facebook IPO Roadshow in full-swing, Stocks on Wall Street has decided to embrace this historic event & dedicate the whole week to everything Facebook IPO! I mean it’s the Largest IPO ever, we had to do something big! While we all speculate Facebook will produce great gains many people under-look the fact that many other companies will prosper as well. I like to call it the Facebook IPO Trickle Down Effect & below are 10 Stocks I Believe Will Benefit Enormously from Facebook’s IPO!

10 Stocks Poised to Prosper From Facebook’s IPO: 6-10

6. GSV Capital (NASDAQ: GSVC) - Investors looking for ways to buy Facebook before it goes public can look no further than GSV Capital. GSV buys stakes in private companies that are in the development stage, like a venture capital fund. GSV acquires positions from the companies themselves & through secondary markets. GSV owns 225,000 shares of Facebook along with large stages in Twitter, Groupon, & Bloom Energy.

Recommendation Buy/Hold: GSV Capital is a strong business from top to bottom with great growth opportunities & assets. Overtime I believe the stock will do just fine, however don’t buy GSV as a way to ride the FB IPO as I think the gains won’t be what you expected as some of that has already been factored in months before. 

7. Fusion-IO (NYSE: FIO) - The company is best know for their solid-state-drives (SSD).  It’s two largest customers are Facebook & Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). SSDs allows Facebook to have access to data at faster speeds with lower power & cooling costs. FIO’s most recent third-quarter earnings beat analyst expectations however shares still fell on gross margin concerns.  The good news however was the fact total revenue rose 40% last year totaling $94.2 million earned. Overall the company has strong potential going forward as the potential market still is vast and untapped. Another strength is how FIO continues to improve their products in which they can offer to customers which will attract many new clients and lead to great future growth opportunities making the stock very attractive to long-term investors.  Based on the fact that Facebook is one of their largest customers the FB IPO trickle down effect will definitely give FIO a nice bump in share prices!

Recommendation Buy/Hold: Right now lets wait and see how shares to on FB’s IPO & examine their future growth prospects & business as a whole then!

8. Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) - Zynga is one of the top social gaming companies out there and they are the closes way to invest in Facebook without actually owning any FB shares. Facebook generates a large portion of its revenue from Zynga, about 11% of 2011 revenue & 12% of 1st-quarter 2012 revenue. Zynga plays such a significant role in Facebook’s operations that the company had to list them as a major risk factor in its S-1 filing. The S-1 filing states “If the use of Zynga games on our platform declines for these or other reasons, our financial results may be adversely affected.” The San Francisco based startup company, Zynga, has been vastly working at diversifying their operations to not be so reliant on Facebook. It started when they launced their Zynga.com platform and some analysts believe the company is current working to expand into online gambling. Zynga has been proactively targeting many new markets to grow the brand, most recently they purchased the popular gaming app Draw Something’s maker OMGPOP for $200 million as another way to diversify from Facebook. Only time will tell if this was a smart acquisition & if their new ventures will pan out but one thing is for sure come Facebook’s IPO ZNGA will is one of the big benefactors so expect the stock to rise.

Recommendation Hold: I would stay clear of ZNGA as don’t think their overall business is strong enough to impress analysts & generate large revenue members so I’d hold off buying any shares, if you already own ZNGA then hold onto them & pay close attention to how the stock fairs on FB’s IPO as could be a great way to sell your shares at a peak!

9. Renren (NYSE: RENN) - Renren is basically the “Facebook of China.” Yes that’s right, many of you might not know but of the 900 million users Facebook already own, none are from China a huge, untapped market that they’ve been fighting to get in. Unfortuantely strict Chinese regulations & privacy laws will most likely never let Facebook enter China so that’s where Renren becomes so interesting! They basically have no competition from the outside world, something ever business would love to have their country do for them.

Recommendation Hold/Overweight: Renren’s been on the the way up throughout 2012 with shares soaring a whopping 81%! While that’s a great sign it’s also a concern from me with speculation of a sell-off in sight. Could see good pump from FB IPO but keep this stock on your watch list as will be interesting to see how it plays out especially as we learn more about Facebook!

10. Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) - The San Francisco based real estate investment trust (REIT) recently reported strong 1st-quarter earnings. Analaysts believe demand for DLR’s data centers still remains strong and is growing. The company is expanding by adding commerical space designed for several tenants along with redevloping vacant space at their Internt gateway data centers. DLR counts Facebook as on of their major tenants and as Facebook’s needs for server farms continues to grow, DLR looks poised to benefit.

Recommendation Hold: DLR is a strong company with many great growth prospects however shares might be a little overweight especially since like the rest of the pack DLR should be a great benefactor from FB’s IPO!

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This most recent J.P. Morgan fiasco has only further differentiated the separation between Wall Street and Main Street. Frankly, most of Main Street has no clue what even actually went on within J.P. Morgan. The Financial Times simply explains that:

“J.P. Morgan chose IWM as an attempted hedge for their exposure under their umbrella of prop traders, not because everyone was long IWM as no one was, but because it figured to be correlated to everyone’s exposures, with an even higher beta which is to say that if someone lost money on a billion dollar long portfolio, J.P. Morgan would expect to make even more money on a billion dollar short IWM position this was by design, as their hedge was much smaller than aggregate long notionals.”

WHAT? Lol ya right that’s what most of you are saying? Probably had most of you lost and confused at the word ‘Prop Traders’ lol! This is the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street that I’m talking about. When talking about J.P. Morgan’s problems I’m going to try and keep it in simple terms so for once both Wall Street and Main Street readers can understand something together.

“What really happened with JPM was their CIO department put a hedge, form of protection, on a $100 billion dollar bet and the hedge didn’t do what they intended it to, hence the reason I am even talking about J.P. Morgan and their recent losses, firings, and government probe.”

To add to this explanation we would like to present a well-explained graph given to us by the New York Times:

Hope this makes things a little easier  to understand. That’s the first real problem with our banks today, the fact they are way to complicated for even the most advanced financial analysts to understand. JPM’s latest 10Q was a short 176 pages and that’s their reformatted version recreated to put double the text on each digital “page.”

Ask Yourself These Three Questions

Put aside J.P. Morgan as they are only a small part of this underlying issue. The bigger issue at hand is the fact that even after the bailouts, TARP money, government assistance are many of our banks still ‘To Big Too Fail?’

Are these banks still taking far too much risk, leveraging huge portions of the banks capital into risky investments that if by chance failed they would cause a sysemisc title wave causing the bank to crash while bringing down the whole sector and economy requiring much more government bailouts and intervention all at the cost of the American Taxpayer?

J.P. Morgan’s market cap is only $140 billion, just think if that position bottomed out and the bank had lost everything. I know they hedged the position and this is theoretically very unlikely, but what if? How would the stock market and economy react to one of our most healthy and stable banks failing?

Armageddon, that’s what it’s called!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m the biggest critic of government anything but in this case for the sake of the American taxpayer and our economy we should hedge our risk and instill some new form of Wall Street reform that this time around actually works. That’s right, policies that work! I’m all for Mitt Romney and the Republican’s decision to repeal Dodd-Frank, not because I don’t believe in Wall Street Reform but because if anything Dodd-Frank has been an epic failure and might have even made things worse. So what should the government do? I haven’t quite got the answer to that answer yet, but stay tuned to Stocks on Wall Street as when I do I’ll make sure to share it with everyone. In the meantime, below I have posted a few great articles outlying potential government plans for regulating the banking sector and plans to break up the big banks:

At JP Morgan Chase, a Complex Strategy That Backfired (The New York Times)

Breaking Up Four Big Banks (Economix)

FDIC to Layout New Plan for Big Bank Failures (The Wall Street Journal)

How Wall Street Killed Financial Reform? (The Rolling Stones)

SEC Disagrees with Supreme Court’s Anti-US Investor Morrison Decision (The Angry Bear)

 Too Big To Hedge (FT Alphaville)

Why Can’t Obama Bring Wall Street to Justice? (The Daily Beast)

In two separate interviews, one before and one after JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion trading loss, CEO Jamie Dimon talks about the company’s crisis.

Please let us know what you think about the whole J.P. Morgan fiasco and what you would do to fix/reform the banking sector? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below or post on either our Facebook or Twitter!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and is having an even better Mothers Day! (We also hope all the Mom’s out there have had an amazing day and hope you all saw our shout-out to you this morning in our Happy Mothers Day Post) To cap off a great week and even better weekend we have comprised a list of our favorite articles throughout the past week. So sit back relax and enjoy the great list of reads Stocks on Wall Street has comprised for you! Also, please let us know which articles your favorite by sharing with us on Facebook or Twitter! 

How Wall Street Killed Financial Reform? (The Rolling Stones)

When Will Main Street Return to Wall Street? Don’t Hold Your Breath (Barron’s)

To all the moms out there, Stocks on Wall Street would like to wish you a ‘Happy Mother’s Day!’ We hope you have the greatest time with the people you love most!

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So, Why Not Just invest in the S&P 500 Index?

How can you beat the S&P 500?  I’m a believer that astute investments in the global market are a better way to beat the S&P 500. What makes it hard for old school money managers at large investment firms to beat the S&P 500 is that in-depth analysis of promising global stocks is often lacking, even at the major Wall Street firms.  The majority of global stocks that interest me do not show up on the lists of researched stocks at many large investment houses.  Most huge investment firms do not provide much coverage of small and micro cap stocks.  It’s only after some of these stocks appreciate 50-100% that big firms finally start to initiate coverage. And, even then, the analysis is sometimes still lacking depth or meaningful analysis.

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Trying to be part of the Top 1%?

Trying to be part of America’s upper elite?

Well a lot more of you are already in that Top 1% bracket than you think, it’s not as hard as one might think! According to CNN Money, you only need to be earning $343,000 a year to qualify. Don’t get us wrong, this is an outstanding salary and one we should all be proud of though it’s nothing outrageous and it misses the full wealth disparity issue that’s caused this whole ‘Occupy Wall Street Movement’. The Top 1% is not what ‘Ocuppy Wall Street’ should be protesting about, it’s not the Top 1% that is flying around in their private jets, owning the mega-million dollar mansions, or living the lavish lifestyles we see on TV. Many of the Top 1% are normal people like you and me. To see where the big bucks are and where the real wealth is you need to look into the Top 0.01% or even the Top 0.001%. That’s where the real money is! They are the billionaires, they are the rich snobs who most of middle America resents, they are the one’s who we all believe should pay the ridiculous amounts of taxes and help support the rest of us. Overall think about this when you are making your protests and trying to prove your point, are you really targeting the right group of people? To see a deeper look into how wealth in America is dispersed, checkout the illustration created by Catherine Mulbrandon.

Top 1% = $368,238 (20.9% of income)


Top 0.5% = $558,726 (16.8% of income)


Top 0.1% = $1,695,136 (10.3% of income)


Top 0.01% = $9,141,190 (5% of income)

We would love to hear what you think about the current Occupy Wall Street Protests and your thoughts and opinions are on the Top 1% and the current class-warefare in America. Leave a comment below or on our Facebook or Twitter!

Good news for Baidu, Skol, Google, China Mobile, Amazon and select financials . . .

Brands that emerged from the recession on a gust of increased demand are likely to enjoy strong growth in the near-term.  Technology leaders – Baidu and Google – and financial institutions – Visa, Santander, RBC, Bank of America — measured high on Brand Momentum according to the 2010 BrandZ ranking of the 100 most valuable global brands by Millward Brown Optimor. There is one exception – the beer brand Skol, which is highly promoted and perennially popular in Brazil.  Its brand value was influenced by expectations surrounding the InBev/Anheuser-Busch merger and growth prospects in the vibrant Brazilian economy.

The economic strength of BRIC countries accounts for the momentum of rapidly growing Chinese search engine Baidu and China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless operator by number of subscribers.  The momentum of Verizon Wireless reflects the anticipated rollout of a 4G technology in 2010.  Verizon controls the most extensive 3G network in the U.S. and has more subscribers than its competitors.

In just 15 years, Google and Amazon have revolutionized how people worldwide search for information and products.  Google’s brand momentum follows its amazing ascent as a search engine, with reportedly more than 1 billion searches daily, and the popularity of its related products, which include YouTube, Gmail and the Android mobile phone platform.  However, Google’s recent withdrawal from China has introduced a glitch to Google’s otherwise remarkable momentum.  This has made it difficult to assess Google’s forward momentum over the near-term.  Amazon’s brand momentum is the result of their sharp rise from an online purveyor of books to a global retailer second in brand value only to Wal-Mart.

The positive outlook for the Spanish bank, Santander, reflects its major presence in Latin America and its relative insulation from the global financial crisis because of the markets it serves and its banking practices.  Canadian regulations restricted RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) from making some of the risky investments that hurt other financial institutions, and the brand is benefiting from that conservative approach.  In contrast, Bank of America was exposed during the crisis, and its brand value declined by more than 50% before rebounding by 6% this year.  The momentum for Bank of America suggests optimism that the brand will continue to recover value.

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Looking for some motivation today then you’ve come to the right place. Stocks on Wall Street has comprised a list of the Top Motivational Quotes all to help you perform better throughout your day!

The longer you’re not taking action the more money you’re losing – Carrie Wilkerson

If you live for weekends or vacations, your shit is broken – Gary Vaynerchuk

Go Big, or Go Home – Eliza Dushku

Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure -Napoleon Hill

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work – Thomas Edison

Have the end in mind and every day make sure your working towards it – Ryan Allis

He who begins many things finishes but few – German Proverb

The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it – William James

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance – Derek Bok

Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people wont so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t – A student in Warren G. Tracy’s class

Lend your friend $20, if he doesn’t pay you back then he’s not your friend. Money well spent – Ted Nicolas

Be nice to geek’s, you’ll probably end up working for one – Bill Gates

Motivation is the wake-up call to the human will. – Anthony Robbins

To never forget that the most important thing in life is the quality of life we lead – Quoted by Tony Hsieh on Retireat21

Its better to own the racecourse then the race horse – Unknown

When you go to buy, don’t show your silver - Chinese Proverb

It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission – Grace Hopper

To win without risk is to triumph without glory - Corneille

Example is not the main thing in influencing other people; it’s the only thing – Abraham Lincoln

Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company – Booker T. Washington

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great – Mark Twain

There is only one success–to be able to spend your life in your own way – Christopher Morley

You don’t buy a nice car and get rich you get rich and buy a nice car – Unknown

Fall seven times, stand up eight - Japanese Proverb

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching – Mooie

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve - Dr. Napoleon Hill

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work – Thomas Alva Edison

If you ain’t making waves, you ain’t kickin’ hard enough – Unknown

What is not started will never get finished – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Do not wait to strike until the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking - William B. Sprague

When you cease to dream you cease to live - Malcolm Forbes

Greed is Good – Gordon Gecko

I don’t think anybody’s too big to fail. If a business fails, what happens is, there are still assets, and those assets get reorganized. Either new management comes in or it’s sold off to another business or it’s bid on and the good assets are retained and the bad assets are eliminated. I believe in the dynamic creativity of capitalism, and it’s self-correcting, if you just allow it to self-correct. – John Mackey

People who say money is the root of all evil don’t have any. You think money can’t buy happiness? Look at the smile on my face then, ear to ear baby. – Ben Affleck

If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right. – Henry Ford

In character, in manners, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The key to making money in stocks is not to get scared out of them. – Peter Lynch

Good order is the foundation of all things. – Edmund Burke

If you want to make enemies, try to change something. – Woodrow Wilson

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. – Sun-Tzu

Character is destiny. – Heraclitus

I have never been in a situation where having money made it worse. – Clinton Jones

I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute. – Warren Buffett

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. – Booker T. Washington

I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. – Steve Jobs

The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it. – Alan Saporta

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve. – Dr. Napoleon Hill

Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them. – Albert Einstein

Being right half the time beats being half-right all the time. – Malcom Forbes

Every morning I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work. – Jay Z

The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want. – Ben Stein

Government is not the solution, Government is the problem. – Ronald Reagan

The wise man once said invest young – Warren Buffet

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. – Abraham Lincoln

If a business does well, the stock eventually follows. – Warren Buffett

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. – Nelson Mandela

Never let your schooling interfere with your education. – Mark Twain

In evaluating people, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. If you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. – Warren Buffett

It’s not a question of enough, pal. It’s a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred from one perception to another. – Gordon Gecko

It is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong - Warren Buffett

Paradoxically, when ‘dumb’ money acknowledges its limitations, it ceases to be dumb. – Warren Buffett

Don’t think that you can make up for it by working twice as hard tomorrow. If you have it within your power to work twice as hard, why aren’t you doing it now? – John Wooden

Please let us know which quotes your favorite by leaving a comment on Facebook or Twitter!

Hope everyones having a great day so far and excited for the weekend ahead. To brighten up your day, Stocks on Wall Street has a great list of articles that we think you all must read, so sit back relax & enjoy! Let us know which articles your favorite by sharing with us on Facebook or Twitter! 

 How McDonald’s Came Back Bigger Than Ever (The New York Times)

Berkshire: A Glimpse of Things to Come (Jeff Matthews)

Your hard work can result in wealth, not unemployment

Whether you’re in college or a 62-year-old baby boomer, I’d like to encourage everyone to reassess their potential for starting their own business.

Consider 13-year-old entrepreneur Hart Main who invented ‘Man Cans’ – candles with scents men can appreciate.  Like bacon, campfire and, his best seller, fresh cut grass (http://www.man-cans.com/).  His business has taken off so rapidly that he moved out of the family kitchen and now has a manufacturer producing his Man Can candles.  He has 2500 orders on back order and cannot produce them fast enough.  He’s learning valuable business and life skills at age 13!

Forbes recently announced its All-Star Student Entrepreneurs – nine men and women from across a wide swath of collegiate America who all started significant businesses (larger than six-figures in revenues) while attending college full-time.  One makes ski hats, another manufactures potting soil from recycled food waste while another is innovating on the Internet.  Check out their profiles and business ideas at http://www.forbes.com/special-features/forbes-college-all-stars.html

Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur.  But the benefits are terrific for those who succeed.  It’s true that the majority of entrepreneurial ventures do not survive past a few years.  Nevertheless, too many people never even consider the possibility and the financial independence that can come with working for yourself.  The possibilities for launching your own business have never been greater.  And the benefits are great:

• Your hard work can result in wealth, not unemployment
• You answer only to yourself (but you better be a tough boss)
• You set your hours
• Use your own creativity to build your business
• Doing it ‘my way’ gives you a great feeling of accomplishment
• For the self-employed, just about everything is a tax write off
• You’ll eventually have the money, time and ability to help others
• You’ll eventually be able to spend with your family
• Success breeds more self esteem.
• You’ll enjoy more freedom at the end of the rainbow, if you’re committed and willing to grow from your mistakes

How do you become an entrepreneur?  Michael Dell, who famously started his $60 billion company in his University of Texas dorm room answers that question like this: “It’s go experiment and do something.  If you’re waiting for somebody else to tell you to be an entrepreneur, you’re not one.”

What great idea could YOU implement and make a business out of?  There lots of online resources on how to start a business.  Many are too ethereal and not all that useful in helping you actually get started.  Below are links to articles that might help spark an idea for you to start your own business:

25 Businesses You Can Start From Home

http://www.dirjournal.com/business-journal/25-businesses-you-can-start-from-home-with-little-to-no-money/ 

50 Side Businesses You Can Start On Your Own

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/04/11/50-side-businesses-you-can-start-on-your-own/

46 Ways To Start A Business With No Money

http://www.startbreakingfree.com/273/46-ways-to-start-a-business-with-no-money/

Entrepreneur: 5 Businesses Born At A Bar – 5 Exercises to Find Your Passion – Wingman Businesses Cash in on Men’s Dating Dilemmas

http://www.entrepreneur.com/findingtherightbusiness/index.html

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Hope everyone has had a great week so far & are excited for things to come. To give you some added excitement and entertainment we have a list of our best technology related articles all for you to read. Everything from “Is Twitter More Valuable than Facebook”, “Why You Should Buy Facebook”, “A Day in the Life of Steve Jobs” to even how “Angry Birds IPO Will Hatch a New Billionaire!”  Stocks on Wall Street has a great list of articles that we think you all must read, so sit back relax & enjoy! Let us know which articles your favorite by sharing with us on Facebook or Twitter! 

Twitter Will be More Valuable than Facebook (Telegraph)

The Maturation of a Billionaire Boy-Man (NY Mag)

A Day in the Life of Steve Jobs (Forbes)

Why to Buy Facebook, After the Hype Fades (The Wall Street Journal)

Enter the Pivot: The Critical Course Corrections Of Flickr, Fab.com, And More (Fast Company)

A Billionaire Could Quietly Hatch With Angry Birds IPO (Forbes)

Social Media in the 16th Century: How Luther Went Viral (The Economist)

We’ve been stocking up for quite some time so here it is everyone, some of our best political cartoons saved throughout 2012!

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Whether or not you are an advanced trader or a beginner, one thing you should always have is a good set of publications to rely on for up to date information, strong analysis, market-timing advice, etc. The problem is there are so many different publications out there to choose from it’s hard to decide which one to pick. Luckily we have made your job easy as below we have outlined for you the top online financial publications all of which you should subscribe to. If you have any questions never resist to Contact Us:

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is the most respected source for news and business information. The Wall Street Journal is easily the world’s leading business publication!

The Wall Street Journal is by far the online leader when it comes to business. They offer everything one needs to keep up to date with the world of business. They have been so successful and world renowned that they have launched several other publications on the side, most notably MarketWatch, Barron’s, and Smart Money all of which we highly recommend and go into further detail below.

Ever since we first became interested in finance we have read the Journal. It is what most likely sparked our deep interest and passion. There’s not a day that passes by in which we don’t checkout The Wall Street Journal. They make it too easy not to, we have the daily paper delivered to our office, the website bookmarked on all our computers, and even the iPhone app. What we like most about the journal is it’s very informative and it’s up-to-date content. They have so many diverse writers and categories there is something for everyone to enjoy. They offer great insight and analysis into the world of finance along with strong opinative arguments

We throughly recommend that you check it out, unfortunately the only way to read the Journal is by becoming a subscriber. However, like most things if it’s good, it’s going to cost you. Luckily the journal is economically priced and very reasonable. Right now they have some amazing deals, for instance you can get a yearly subscription for both Print & Online for $99! Plus right now they are giving away a Free 4-Week Trial to show you how good it really is. The dual package is great especially if you are one who loves to read the morning newspaper. However if you are to pick just one we would go with the Online Service as you get unlimited access to all the Wall Street Journal has to offer. The best offer however is the dual package, we would recommend you purchase that. So stop sitting around reading bad articles on Yahoo Finance and step your game up with a subscription to the Wall Street Journal. To take advantage of the 4-Week Trial plus 75% off Yearly Subscriptions of the Wall Street Journal, Simply Click on the Link Below!

Get The Wall Street Journal for 75% off Plus Receive a Free 4-Week Trial!

MarketWatch

MarketWatch operates a financial information website that provides business news, analysis and stock market data to over 6 million people. MarketWatch offers personal finance news and advice, tools for investors and access to industry research.

They are an affiliate to both the Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal. We are avid fans and readers of MarketWatch as we believe their writers have a great grasp of the markets and give intuitive and analytical research word by word. The articles are always very informative and quite beneficial if you invest or trade regularly while at the same time don’t come off like textbook writing, they are both compelling and interesting keeping you tuned in from start to finish. As we have said, they are one of our favorite publications and are one of the industry leaders.

The cost of the subscription is relatively cheap compared to its peers and what you are getting back in return. In fact, currently MarketWatch is giving a FREE 30-Day TRIAL to see if you like what they have to offer. We guarantee if you test it out and sign-up for the 30-Day Free Trial you will be getting either a monthly or yearly subscription shortly after. It’s that good! To sign-up and take advantage of the Free 30-Day Trial of MarketWatch’s Investment Newsletters, Simply Click on the Link Below!

Sign-Up Now & Receive a Free 30 Day Trial of MarketWatch’s Investment Newsletters

Barron’s Magazine

Barron’s is an American weekly newspaper covering U.S. financial information, market developments, and relevant statistics. They are America’s premier financial magazine providing in-depth analysis and commentary on the markets.

Barron’s is a daily updated website & newsletter. Each issue provides a wrap-up of the previous week’s market activity, news reports, and an informative outlook on the week to come. Like MarketWatch, Barron’s is an affiliate of the Wall Street Journal and is one of the top publications out there.

If you have a passion for the financial markets and trade/invest yourself then Barron’s is the perfect publication for you. They deliver quality content and in-depth analysis giving you an upper-edge on the markets. The subscription costs are minimal especially for what you receive so make the jump and sign-up. Plus right now Barron’s is offering a Four-Week Free Trial. Now there is no reason not to test it out. To sign-up and take advantage of the Free 4-Week Trial of Barron’s Magazine, Simply Click on the Link Below!

Sign-Up Now & Receive Four Free Weeks of Barron’s Print and Online Magazine

SmartMoney

SmartMoney offers personal finance and investing analysis, advice and tools to help you make smart decisions with your money. They are one of the premier financial publications with over a million subscribers and are an affiliate to both the Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal.

SmartMoney is a regularly updated magazine and it is mostly know or considered to be the Magazine of Personal Business & Finance for the Wall Street Journal. The magazine is targeted towards affluent professional and managerial business people needing personal finance information. SmartMoney usually talks about ideas for saving, investing, and spending, as well as coverage of technology, automotive, and lifestyle subjects including travel, fashion, wine, music, and food. They are a very entertaining yet informative read.

This subscription is geared more to the long-term investor and males and females age 40 and up. Currently they are offering up to 87% off your subscription so take a look and if you wish to take advantage of this great offer, Simply Click on the Link Below!

Get 87% Off Your SmartMoney Subscription

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What: FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Liz Claman will interview Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles Munger and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in an exclusive sit-down following the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. The interview will take place live, and air commercial-free on Monday, May 7^th at 9:30 AM/ET.

When: Monday, May 7^th, 2012; 9:30-10:25 AM/ET

Where: FOX Business Network (FBN)

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To everyone across the nation who is graduating today especially a shout out to all my good friends graduating from Arizona State University this first article is for you! Best of luck now on the next level of life, time to make that money! To everyone else hope your having a great thursday morning so far and hopefully you already enjoyed our first two articles of the day.  To give you something else to read here is a list of our top articles of the day! Hope you enjoy each and everyone of them and please let us know what you thought or which is your personal favorite by leaving a comment below or on our Facebook or Twitter.

10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won’t Tell You (The Wall Street Journal)

26-Year Old VC Cashes in on Instagram (Forbes)

A Nation of Spoiler Brats (Foreign Policy)

There is no Tech Bubble (Smart-phones are still under-hyped) (Wired)

Investing Ideas that can Save the World (MarketWatch)

The 86 Million Invisible Unemployed (CNN Money)

Many Who Portray Like the 99%, Live Like the 1% (Investors)

The 99% Wakes Up (The Daily Beast)

Who Googled You? This Website Knows. (Mashable)

Making Sense of Marvell’s Mega-Bet on the Avengers (Grantland)

Should CNBC be scared about their recent drop in the Nielsen ratings?

No not really, they’re still the No. 1 financial-news television network. However they shouldn’t get comfortable sitting at the top.

As we highlighted in our article the other day “Kudlow v. Dobbs: CNBC’s New Weapon to Try & Win the Ratings War” CNBC is already feeling the pressure from the Fox Business Network. It started to get noticed a month ago when they lost their first ratings war to FBN. It became even more apparent when in an attempt to win the ratings war CNBC tried to misconstrue the numbers by airing the NHL Playoffs during their Prime-Time show. Yes that’s all facts that some simple Google search can find you or if you read our previous article you would have seen how CNBC tried to fool the Nielsen ratings and boost it’s primetime show with temporary superficial ratings courtesy of the NHL Playoffs. What this might be building at is a bigger more long-term concern for CNBC? Right now things look A OK; CNBC is coming off its sixth consecutive year of record profits amassing over $400 million in 2011 alone. They have quickly becoming one of NBC Universal’s most lucrative and valuable members.  However if you look a lot closer things don’t appear to be so perfect in paradise.

According to sources close to the issue, CNBC executives are ‘freaking out’ about the recent decline in ratings for some of their top shows.  Maria Bartiromo, considered to be CNBC’s No. 1 star, Andrew Ross Sorkin, the world renowned New York Times journalist & author of the best-selling novel “Too Big To Fail”, & even the long-running, all so famous Larry Kudlow are some of the network’s biggest worries and recent failures. Even when it comes to the News piece and Andrew Sorkin’s the “Squawk Box” ratings are down.  Sorkin considered the journalist extraordinaire and savior for the networks morning showcase has been nothing but a failure with his subpar ratings, falling 16% in total viewers and 29% in the 25-54 demographic. I guess apparently Andrew Sorkin is not Too Big To Tank.  CNBC executives just roll their eyes at such numbers saying that the Nielsen ratings don’t accurately reflect CNBC’s audience because CNBC’s viewers happen to be notably more affluent than those generally surveyed by Nielsen. Bartiromo’s “Closing Bell” program is just another show witnessing its third consecutive quarter of slippage in the ratings. Unlike Sorkin who CNBC doesn’t know what to do with, Bartiromo is receiving the networks support and assistance to boost ratings as recently CNBC announced the hiring of TV news producer, Gary Schreier, who recently worked for Fox helping the widely respected “Cavuto” program.

In the grand scheme of things when you talk to many other TV networks you can tell that they’d die to be in NBC shoes and have to deal with their problems. CNBC is still the leading business-news television network along with being the main asset in Comcast’s decision to acquire NBC Universal from General Electric.  The main reason, because CNBC generate substantial amounts of money. However the thing is, for them to continue to generate all that money CNBC needs to stay at No. 1 however day-by-day their position at the top becomes more and more less stable.

One month ago when Fox Business Network’s anchor, Lou Dobbs, beat Larry Kudlow of CNBC in the ratings it marked the first time in over four years of Fox Business that one of its program surpassed a CNBC program for an the overall weekly ratings. One would think to fight back a network might invest in new TV personalities, hire new producers, shift up the shows style. Nope, guess how CNBC fought back? By interrupting their prime-time program to air the NHL Playoffs.  One might ask what similarities do the NHL Playoffs have to do with business news? None, despite the fact that Wall Street and the New York Rangers are both based in the same city, it’s hard to draw similarities that drew the two together. NBC has now made it known that this is part of their lucrative 10 year deal with the NHL that requires them to air all the games. The thing is with how powerful and value NBC markets CNBC to be why would you interrupt one of those shows when NBC has an arsenal of networks to choose from (G4, MSNBC, USA, Bravo etc.). CNBC however does seem like an odd choice.

Since CNBC started cutting into the Kudlow Report on April 12^th, the program has been able to maintain a two-week winning streak against its chief timeslot rival, FOX Business Network’s Lou Dobbs Tonight. It will be interesting to see how the ratings pan out once CNBC returns to its regular programming schedule. The first round of the playoffs is almost over so slowly there is going to be less and less games to air. Wonder what’s the next media ploy or last attempt to salvage CNBC’s No. 1 ranking?

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The Occupy Movement is all about Economic Disparity, Misplaced Anger or Jealousy and the Forced Redistribution of Wealth.  The global ‘Occupy’ movement seems to be a real mixed bag.  I don’t doubt it’s populated with a lot of well-intentioned folks who have just had enough. But I don’t see any cohesiveness or constructive ideas.  I sympathize with their frustration on corporate bailouts and crony capitalism (as opposed the capitalism) – but not much else.

The Occupiers seem to exude a lot of ignorant intelligence.  Herman Cain would probably also agree that too many Occupiers are comprised of those ‘stupid people who are killing America’.  Sure, corporate greed accounts for a fair amount of crony capitalism.  But the Occupy folks are totally ignorant of government’s far larger underlying role in foisting crony capitalism upon all of us.  Perhaps their objectivity is muted by their dependence on the largesse of all those government entitlements they love so dearly.  They don’t get that higher income taxes will simply result in less tax for the government.  The government cannot run the economy and should limit its role to enforcing codes of honest conduct and equal opportunity, not a guaranteed result.  The problem is not capitalism, which is simply optimism monetized.

The problem is CRONY capitalism.  Let’s focus on getting rid of the crony part.  No one doubts global economic disparity has increased.  But the degree of their economic illiteracy is stunning.  The correct role of government is to create an environment that incentivizes the private sector to create jobs.  Government does not create jobs; the private sector does.  Occupiers wrongly demonize economic success.  Throughout history, all successful economies have been driven by a small sector at the top who risk their capital to create wealth and, in turn, jobs and livelihoods for many others.  If they succeed, they become wealthy.

The notion of sawing the ladder of success in half just means that there will be less upside for all the people at the bottom!  Too many Occupiers seem to be nothing more than unfocused malcontents who have misplaced their anger toward anyone who has created wealth.  They assume wrongly that wealth creation is a zero sum equation – that all wealth is by definition created at the expense of someone else.  NOT!!!  Wealth creation is not a zero sum equation.  Without the risk and innovation of those at the top of the economic ladder, all of society would be left behind.  All they can do is complain about what they don’t have that someone else has.  That’s just unfounded jealousy pure and simple and a loser mentality.

Forced distribution of wealth is the underlying theme to the Occupy Movement.  I’m all for helping the helpless, but not the clueless.  Even Jesus Christ said, “You don’t prefer a poor person over a rich person at law.”  A democratic society cannot survive for long after 51% of the people decide they want to live off the other 49%.  Entitlements have created a vast permanent underclass of millions who cannot cope and must be carried by the rest of society. America is now divided between those who pay double fare and those who forever ride free.  Freedom includes the freedom to fail.  These occupiers need to be reminded that need is not a claim.  This is a battle between self-responsibility and parasitism. 

Let’s stop demonizing success.  Self-reliance, not government assistance.  That’s the real secret to re-building the American Dream.  That should be the rally cry for Occupy Wall Street.

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Thank Fortune & CNN Money who recently comprised a list of the Top 10 Young Business Stars Under 40. If your looking for role models, I think this is a great place to start, enjoy!

1. Mark Zuckerberg

Photo: David Yellen

Founder and CEO, Facebook
Age: 27
Industry: Technology

This may have been the year your grandmother joined Facebook. The Harvard dropout and tech wizard is a household name, thanks in part to The Social Network, but the real-life script is still being written. In 2011 his baby hit 800 million users and was valued at $50 billion, setting the stage for a monster IPO to come. The company also partnered with Skype and redesigned key parts of its service, leading to the usual temporary backlash.

On the hunt: Zuck made headlines earlier this year when he told Fortune his goal for 2011 was to eat only animals he had personally killed.

2. Larry Page

Courtesy: Google

Co-founder and CEO, Google
Age: 38
Industry: Technology

Since retaking the reins at Google last April, the introverted Page has won praise for making some fast decisions — and big acquisitions. He’s cut back on nonessential projects, while plowing resources into Facebook competitor Google. Ad-driven revenue is stronger than ever — in July the company reported record-breaking quarterly earnings. But with nearly 30,000 employees across some 30 countries, steering the search giant back to its nimbler roots won’t be easy. Even Page recently admitted Google’s biggest threat is, well, Google.

Net worth: Page is now worth some $17 billion.

3. Greg Jensen

Courtesy: Bridgewater

Co-CEO and co-CIO, Bridgewater Associates
Age: 37
Industry: Finance

Jensen’s work overseeing research at the world’s largest hedge fund (assets under management: $125 billion) has paid off. Bridgewater’s flagship fund is up 25%, while many marquee names are losing money. Jensen also oversaw the rollout of the $10 billion fund Pure Alpha Major Markets in June. Jensen, who started at Bridgewater as an intern while at Dartmouth, believes the firm’s unusual culture (articulated by founder Ray Dalio in the form of 300 self-help principles) is the key to the firm’s success — and his own.

4. Aditya Mittal

Courtesy: ArcelorMittal

CFO, ArcelorMittal
Age: 35
Industry: Industrial

He’s more than just the son of his company’s billionaire founder: The finance whiz helped build the world’s biggest steel group through acquisitions — and is now helping run it. This year he assumed responsibility for European operations, the company’s largest division, and he just returned from the Arctic, where the company’s new iron ore mine is one of billions of dollars’ worth of new projects.

Media diet: He reads the state-controlled China Daily every day “to get perspective on how they are framing the news.”

5. John Arnold

Photo: Centaurus Advisors

Founder, Centaurus Energy
Age: 37
Industry: Finance

The trading star who cut his teeth at Enron turned a talent for reading the notoriously fickle gas markets into an estimated $4 billion hedge fund fortune. He’s bounced back from his first-ever down year, with his flagship fund up about 4%, and invests in natural-gas storage caverns and power plants, turning Centaurus into a diversified energy firm some have likened to a mini-Enron. Billionaire props include an art-filled modernist mansion in Houston and a foundation to support overhauling America’s pension system.

Spare time: Arnold is said to be a Dave Matthews and U2 fan.

6. Brian Deese

Courtesy: National Economic Council

Deputy director, National Economic Council 
Age: 33
Industry: Government

A driving force behind the auto bailouts, the Obama administration’s most unalloyed win to date, Deese cemented his wunderkind status on the White House economic team by building the case against liquidating Chrysler. Now the Yale Law graduate claims an even bigger portfolio — ranging from Wall Street reform to housing finance — and the President’s full attention. When Obama decamped for Martha’s Vineyard in August, Deese went along to help him craft his new jobs plan.

Linguistic pet peeve: When people confuse “further” and “farther.” (“Don’t know why, but it drives me nuts.”)

7. Daniel Ammann

Courtesy: General Motors

CFO, General Motors
Age: 39
Industry: Automotive

Last fall Ammann spent weeks on the road persuading investors to buy General Motors stock. Now he’s working to keep them happy. The native New Zealander advised GM for years as a Morgan Stanley banker before taking over as CFO this spring. His job today: making sure the automaker stays profitable in any market — historically a tough task for GM. “We’re off to a good start,” says Ammann, who splits his time between Detroit and New York City; this year GM has earned $6.3 billion in a humdrum economy.

Least favorite business term: “End-to-end solution.”

8. Jack Dorsey

Courtesy: Square

Co-founder and executive chairman, Twitter; co-founder and CEO, Square 
Age: 34
Industry: Technology

Dorsey’s comeback is a classic Valley tale: After being ousted as CEO of Twitter in 2008, he returned to the company he helped found to lead product development (and clean house — four of Twitter’s key product execs reportedly left in July). He continues to run Square, his hyper-hot mobile-payments startup, which has shipped more than 800,000 of its credit card readers and recently closed a $100 million round of funding, giving it a valuation north of $1 billion.

Relaxation technique: Dorsey is a big fan of going for walks; he also takes “microvacations,” driving on Sundays to nearby Point Reyes or Big Sur.

9. Jeff George

Courtesy: Sandoz

Global head of Sandoz, Novartis
Age: 38
Industry: Consumer Products

Since joining Novartis in 2007, George, a former international-relations student and McKinsey consultant, has shot up the ranks at the Swiss pharmaceuticals giant. After stints in the company’s vaccine and emerging-markets divisions, he was tapped in 2008 to lead Sandoz, the company’s massive generics unit, whose $8.5 billion in revenue makes it the world’s second-biggest generics operation after Israel’s Teva. With George at the helm, Sandoz has posted double-digit revenue growth and made big gains in the field of biosimilars, or generic versions of complex drugs.

Stress reliever: Meditates each morning and runs three to four times a week.

10. Sid Sankaran

Courtesy: AIG

Chief risk officer, AIG
Age: 34
Industry: Finance

The financial crisis proved that AIG had no clothes — or at least no controls. Now it’s up to Sankaran, a Canadian math hotshot (his degree from the University of Waterloo was in actuarial sciences) and former partner at consultancy Oliver Wyman, to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Sankaran declined AIG at first; today, as chief risk officer, he oversees the billions flowing among disparate insurance operations and reports to CEO Robert Benmosche if something suspicious rears its head.

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Investor Scams:  Bernie Madoff and Social Security

There is no meaningful difference between the schemes adopted by Bernie Madoff and our Social Security system.  Madoff did to his investors what the government has been doing to wage earners for over 60 years with Social Security.

Why did Bernie Madoff go to prison? He persuaded people to invest with him, but he didn’t invest their money.  As Madoff built his portfolio over time, he simply took the money from the new investors to pay off the old investors.  Eventually, there were too many old investors and not enough money from new investors coming in to keep the payments going.  Madoff’s scam was finally debunked; he went to jail and became one of the most hated men in America.

Soooo…. there is fundamentally no difference between Social Security and Bernie Madoff’s scam – except that one was operated by a private individual who is now in jail and the other is operated by politicians who enjoy perks, privileges and status in spite of their actions.  Here’s a nifty little chart with a side-by-side comparison.

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Part of being successful in life is about how long you can hold up, how long you can continue to fight & persevere. This article is great inspiration to everyone that it is truly never is too late to achieve your dreams.  As goes for all the middle-agers out there who once had big dreams of becoming a billionaire, well make sure you never say never.  Say things didn’t pan out so far in your life, you didn’t make your first million before you turned 30?

Don’t worry, stick with your day job, keep paying the bills, just make sure to never stop generating ideas, never stop your path to creating that next big thing. Just because you haven’t reached your goals or made your mark doesn’t mean it is ever too late. Continue to be passionate about what you do & one day then everything will connect in place.  A perfect example is if a 34 year old lawyer had never followed his friends advice & instead decided to give up on his dreams of performing opera we might have never known or been enlightened to Andrea Bocelli & his amazing voice. Below is a perfect example of why you should never stop pushing:

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Hope everyone had a great weekend & are excited for the week to come. While we all know Monday’s are often the worst day of the week (this week specifically with the markets already starting off dismal with all the major indexes falling lower), we have just the right thing to brighten up your day. Stocks on Wall Street has a great list of articles that we think you all must read, so sit back relax & enjoy!

Monday’s Top Reads

Social Security Fund to Run Out in 2035 (Bloomberg)

Russian Billionaires vs. American Billionaires: Who’s Best at Excess (Daily Finance)

Silicon Valley VC’s Perk Up (Entrepreneur)

The Man Who Hacked Hollywood (GQ)

10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won’t Tell You (The Wall Street Journal)

Is Stanford to Close to Silicon Valley? (The New Yorker)

Are You a Right Brain or Left Brain Investor? (Forbes)

Forbes: Real-Time Billionaires (Forbes)

A Summer Rally Would Really Mean A Lot (The Wall Street Journal)

Black Scholes & the Formula of Doom (FT Alpaville)

A Reality Check for Facebook Investors (MarketWatch)

Here’s Why Google & Facebook Might Completely Disappear in the Next 5 Years (Forbes)

What Your Klout Score Really Means? (Wired)

The Elephant on the Court (The Economist)

 If you can’t access some of the articles it might be because you need to have a subscription, to get a Free-Trial or Subscribe to any of the Top Financial Publications, Simply Click on the Link!

What do the NHL Playoffs have to do with business news? If you are a watcher of CNBC, you might have been asking yourself the same question when the 23 year old financial news channel started to cut short their 7pm show The Kudlow Report in favor of NHL playoff games. Last year NBC signed a lucrative 10 year deal with the NHL, so it’s no surprise that the playoff games have appeared on affiliate programming, but considering the arsenal of networks NBC can choose from (G4, MSNBC, USA, Bravo etc), CNBC does seem like an odd choice.

Despite the only similarities being the fact that Wall Street and the New York Rangers are both based in the same city, the airing has actually been beneficial for CNBC’s viewership. Since the CNBC started cutting into the Kudlow Report on April 12^th, the program has been able to maintain a two week winning streak against its chief timeslot rival, FOX Business Network’s Lou Dobbs Tonight.

However, taking closer look at the Nielsen numbers and factoring out the NHL broadcast on CNBC, Dobbs actually achieve a ratings win in the demo last week. For the week of April 16-20^th , FBN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight averaged 137,000 total viewers and 44,000 viewers in the coveted advertising demo of persons 25-54. CNBC’s The Kudlow Report for the week averaged 164,000 total viewers and only 35,000 in the demo excluding NHL broadcasts. When including the NHL broadcast, CNBC’s 7pm hour brought in 177,000 viewers and 48,000 in the demo, which just barely beats FBN by 4,000 demo viewers.

It will be interesting to see how the ratings pan out once CNBC returns to its regular programming schedule. Prior to the playoffs, Dobbs had its first winning week against Kudlow in both total viewers and the demo, which is big considering the four year old FBN is in roughly half as many homes as CNBC. The first round of the playoffs will be coming to an end soon, and with fewer games we anticipate that to take place within the next week or two. Do you think this should be allowed by CNBC or is it just part of the TV business? Also of the two networks, which do you watch more, Fox Business Network or CNBC?

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The Obama Administration’s class warfare rhetoric and reliance on massive wealth redistribution will only serve to hurt the very people they seek to help.  Throughout history, the economic engine for successful economies has always comprised those at the very top of the income scale.  History is littered with examples of the imperial rich exploiting the huddled masses.  But in 21st-century America, most of those extreme historical iniquities have been mollified by modern labor laws and other civil remedies.  We have plenty of laws already to ensure that almost any injustice can eventually be remedied.  The challenge is to enforce them.  Sure, things aren’t perfect and there’s still a lot of inequity.  And, yes, there’s still plenty of corporate greed — think 2008 financial meltdown.  But there is far more economic justice today and more economic opportunity for far more people than ever before in history.

So, I say:  Stop demonizing financial success!  Class warfare only exacerbates social unrest and does nothing the help anyone.  Let’s shift the dialogue to how personal initiative and personal accountability can help anyone improve their financial status, no matter where they’re starting from.

The message needs to be:  “Get over the envy of those more successful than you.  Live within your means.  Economic equality is a utopian drug dispensed by the liberal establishment to foment discontent, exploit fears for the purpose of concentrating more power with politicians.  Get off your butt and improve your lot in life.  Stop expecting big government to subsidize you.  Stop expecting entitlements and handouts.”

That’s how you build an economy.  That’s how you help those in most need.

Higher taxes on the most wealthy rarely yield additional revenue over time.  Those at the top of the income pyramid — the economic engine of any economy — are the only     ones investing back into the economy or driving economic growth.  The masses, those lower on the socio-economic scale do not create jobs — the rich do.  Punitive taxes on the top 20% of earners who already pay 80%+ of all taxes only constrains economic growth.  The wealthy can legitimately avoid paying more tax via their asset mobility and reliance on investment income and that’s why taxing the rich too far never, never works.  The unintended consequence is always a higher tax burden on the middle class and fewer resources to redistribute to lower income groups.

“Anything you tax, you get less of. Fact of life.”  –  William Dunkenberg, Chief Economist, National Federation of Independent Business.

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Screw investing, we have found the perfect formula to making it rich? Have no prior experience in coding, launch an app based on taking photos just like Kodak (even though they went bankrupt last year), allow users to alter photos & post them on all their social medias. Next hire 13 employees, reach out to a few investors, acquire around $10 million in financing & then take off. Rapidly get 30 million users in less than 2 years while making no revenues & what do you get? A $1 billion dollar buyout by the most popular social media company, Facebook.  God Bless the American Dream! Below are just some of our favorite Tweets about the Facebook Instragram Buyout:

“Instagram has no revenue & a dozen employees…but to Facebook, it is already worth $1 billion”

“#Instagram value based on speed at which they’re adding app & social network users, name me a comp $1 bln value w 13 employees?”

“Facebook felt like it had to do the deal” via @pkedrosky on the#Instagram takeover, #FB will have to amend their S-1 “highly material”

“Facebook purchase of Instagram, the San Francisco #startup has just 13 employees, that’s $76 mln per at $1 bln take over price”

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Alcoa (NYSE: AA) has been a stock hit hard throughout the past year dropping from a high of $17.96 to a low of $8.45. Today we are privileged enough to hear first hand from Alcoa’s CEO Klaus Kleinfeld who spoke with FOX Business Network’s Liz Claman about the company’s recent announcement that it has trimmed its aluminum demand outlook for China. Kleinfeld said, China  “might not slow down” its aluminum production but that “the first, most important thing is they are not going to export.”

On why he thinks China may not slow aluminum production:

“They might not slow down, but the first, most important thing is they are not going to export. Certainly they are not a threat to the world market because they are not going to export. They are very expensive. They need energy. They don’t have energy. Most of the energy is made by coal; almost 90 plus percent is  made by coal. They might not slow down because they have a very heavy growth rate. We project for this year, 11 percent,  world market we think it is going to grow 7 percent. I think with the political changes going on in China, it is very unlikely that major moves are happening.”

If you wish to watch the full the full interview between Alcoa’s CEO, Klaus Kleinfeld, & FOX Business Network’s, Liz Claman, simply click play below:

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In an interview to air on Countdown to the Closing Bell (3 PM/ET) Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz spoke with FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Liz Claman about the company’s expansion abroad and hiring in the United States. Schultz said that “China represents probably the largest prize in all of Starbucks’ global geography” and while there will “ultimately will be thousands of stores in China for Starbucks” the company remains vigilant not to “repeat the mistakes that we made earlier in the US.” Schultz went on to say the company “could have built that new plant offshore. It would have been less expensive” but they want to create jobs in America and won’t “wait for Washington. “

Excerpts from the interview are below to watch the full interview brought to you by Fox Business Network! Simply click on the ‘LINK’ to Watch the Full Length Interview with Starbuck’s CEO, Howard Schuktz, or to Read the Full Transcript!

On Starbucks’ expansion into China:

“China represents probably the largest prize in all of Starbucks’ global geography.  We’ve been there 13 years. We’re the leader in our business. It is a very profitable business for the company. And we think that the market is much, much larger than we originally thought. And there ultimately will be thousands of stores in China for Starbucks.  But we will do it with discipline and thoughtfulness and we will never repeat the mistakes that we made earlier in the US. I think we’ll have thousands of stores in China and it will be our second largest market in the world.”

On unemployment in America and how Starbucks is trying to help:

“I think it’s primarily the government’s responsibility to set the foundation of confidence so that business can do the right thing. The government was just celebrating 8.3 percent unemployment. I don’t think that’s a victory. What we’re trying to do is use Starbucks’ scale for good. And we’re creating jobs. I don’t want to wait for Washington. We’re hiring thousands of people this year.  We’re opening 200 new stores, remodeling 1,700, building a new facility in August, Georgia. We’re trying to do as much as we possibly can to make an investment back in this country.”

On the new Starbucks plant created in Augusta, Georgia:
“We could have built that new plant offshore. It would have been less expensive.  We decided no, let’s do the right thing, let’s create jobs in America. Let’s build a new manufacturing facility in Georgia.” 

On the company’s earnings success in light of the economy:

“I don’t think the economy is much better.  I think we’ve executed fairly well.  And I think most companies have to navigate through a very difficult time.  And I think the economic environment is going to stay this way for quite some time.”

On the price of coffee down 18% and how that translates to the price for consumers:

Nothing has changed in terms of supply and demand.  What’s happened is the financial spectators made their money, got out of the way and now market prices are normalized. We do not want to see those prices be a burden on the consumer. The challenge we have is that we are a year out. And so we won’t see lower prices come into the Starbucks P&L until 2013.”

On their entry into the juice business:
“We are very enthused about the category of health and wellness and what the Evolution brand can be.  We’ve opened our first store. There will be more of those stores. Evolution Juice will be in every Starbucks store over the next 12 months.  And we are deeply committed to building a health and wellness category under the Evolution brand.”

On whether Starbucks would ever sell soda:
“We have a unique partnership with Pepsi, that manufactures and sells Frappuccino.  But I don’t see us selling soda. That’s not our business.”

On business in Europe today:

“I think Europe is very challenging for almost every consumer brand in the world today.  We’re going to continue to build our European business, expand it.  But we’re mindful of the challenges that are out of our control. But we’re there for the long-term.”

On the discovery that beetle juice was being used to color some Starbucks drinks:

“What we tried to do is create an all natural product that we thought embraced what the industry had been doing for many years. As an example, most women today in America who are wearing red lipstick are probably unaware this is the same extract that is in your lipstick.  I’m not going to go there, but that’s a fact. So what we’re doing right now is, in view of the fact that there’s been so much concern, we are reviewing and trying to analyze other formulations. And I suspect, over time, we will make a change.”

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STARBUCKS CEO HOWARD SCHULTZ TELLS FOX BUSINESS “CHINA REPRESENTS THE LARGEST PRIZE” IN EFFORTS TO EXPAND THE COMPANY’S GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

In an interview to air on Countdown to the Closing Bell (3 PM/ET) Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz spoke with FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Liz Claman about the company’s expansion abroad and hiring in the United States. Schultz said that “China represents probably the largest prize in all of Starbucks’ global geography” and while there will “ultimately will be thousands of stores in China for Starbucks” the company remains vigilant not to “repeat the mistakes that we made earlier in the US.” Schultz went on to say the company “could have built that new plant offshore. It would have been less expensive” but they want to create jobs in America and won’t “wait for Washington. “

Excerpts from the interview are below.

**MANDATORY CREDIT FOX BUSINESS NETWORK**

LIZ CLAMAN, HOST:  So you’ve got this project today that you’re really officially outlining.  And it’s private enterprise helping to create jobs.

So the question really becomes here we have billions of dollars in government stimulus and attempts and then private companies separately trying to do things.

Who’s better at creating jobs, private companies or the government?

HOWARD SCHULTZ, CEO, STARBUCKS:  Well, I think it’s primarily the government’s responsibility to set the foundation of confidence so that business can do the right thing.

But let’s frame the situation.  There’s over 13 million people still unemployed.  Many African-Americans and Hispanics cannot find work.  The government, in a sense, was just celebrating 8.3 percent unemployment.  I don’t think that’s a victory.  It’s still a major, major crisis in the country.

So what we’re trying to do is, in a sense, use Starbucks’ scale for good.  Over the last four months, we’ve created this program in which customers come in and donate $5.  We’ve raised millions of dollars already plus a $5 million donation from Starbucks.  And we’ve created a national network of, in a sense, private banks that are giving low interest loans to small businesses, which are the engine for job creation in America. And we’re creating jobs.

Now the question you’re asking is the right question, but in a sense, what I’m saying is I don’t want to wait for Washington.  I think we’re at a — we’re in a crucible in America where there’s so many issues, businesses, citizens and business leaders need to do more.  And I’m just trying, in a sense, to demonstrate to many other businesses across the country.

We’re having record revenue and record profits at Starbucks.  And I think in large part, because our customers recognize that the values of the company are consistent with their own and we’re trying to do the right thing.

CLAMAN:  So it’s not because the economy is coming back that you’re doing as well, you think?

I mean your stock is up markedly –

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  — continually hitting 52 week highs, all-time highs.

SCHULTZ:  I think, on the margin, consumer confidence might be slightly better.  I don’t think the economy is much better.  I think we’ve executed fairly well.  And I think most companies have to navigate through a very difficult time.  And I think the economic environment is going to stay this way for quite some time.

CLAMAN:  Job creation at Starbucks, you’re hiring people in Augusta, Georgia for a new plant there.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  What’s that plant going to be making?

SCHULTZ:  We’re going to do VIA, Starbucks instant coffee –

CLAMAN:  Right.

SCHULTZ:  — has been very successful.  And we made a decision which I think is another example of American businesses trying to do the right thing, is that we could have built that new plant offshore.  It would have been less expensive.  We decided no, let’s do the right thing, let’s create jobs in America.  Let’s build a new manufacturing facility in Georgia.

Now, here’s the situation.  We’re down to nine million manufacturing jobs left in this country.  And there’s over 30 million people working in the government.  There’s something really wrong.

And then you look at the presidential election cycle.  Here’s another number that is just stunning to me.  Over $6 billion is going to be spent between now and the election cycle in November.

Now, is something wrong with that?

I mean, and we’re just walking around like everything is fine?

CLAMAN:  And you launched the boycott.  You asked CEOs and others not to make campaign donations until politicians put their differences aside and start to work to solve the real problems.

Are you ready to lift that boycott, Howard?

SCHULTZ:  Well, we — we’ve — we have released people who have signed that.  One hundred fifty people have said we — we support you.

But the question was, after the debt ceiling debacle, a crisis of confidence and a crisis of leadership surfaced in America.  And we said with civility and respect, we do not want to give more money to incumbents until we see compromise.

And the fact is, we’re going to face this again in a few months.  And let’s see what happens.

CLAMAN:  Are you picking a winner in this horse race for the election?

SCHULTZ:  I — I’m not here to — to either say anything, you know, pro or negative on either party.  I’m here to say Americans need better leadership from our — from our elected officials.  And we need — I think people in Washington need to put their feet in the shoes of working Americans and understand that there are so many people being left behind.

CLAMAN:  Now, back to hiring, how many people in the U.S. do you expect to hire this year?

SCHULTZ:  We’re hiring thousands of people this year.  We’re opening 200 new stores, remodeling 1,700, building a new facility in August, Georgia, as I mentioned.  And I think, you know, we’re — we’re trying to do as much as we possibly can to make an investment back in this country.

CLAMAN:  Let’s get to a bunch of pieces of news that you’ve made over the past six months to eight months.

China –

SCHULTZ:  Sure.

CLAMAN:  — your expansion there.  You have 500 stores, 10,000 employees.  You expect to triple that by 2015, this for a nation of tea drinkers.  For centuries, they’ve been drinking tea.  The average Chinese consumer only drinks three cups of coffee a year.

How are you going to get them on board?

Obviously, it’s working –

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  — because you have 500 stores.

But do you risk over expanding too quickly and then having to close stores, as you did during the financial crisis here?

SCHULTZ:  I think that’s a very fair question.  China represents probably the largest prize in all of Starbucks’ global geography.  We’ve been there 13 years.  We’re the leader in our business.  It is a very profitable business for the company.  And we think that the market is much, much larger than we originally thought.

And there ultimately will be thousands of stores in China for Starbucks.  But we will do it with discipline and thoughtfulness and we will never repeat the mistakes that we made earlier in the US.

And I think we have an opportunity, at the same time, to expand our business in the US.  Right now in America, Starbucks’ business is stronger than it ever has been, you know, almost in our history.

So I think right now, we are expanding in the US.  We’re expanding in China.  We’re going to open India before the end of the year.  We’ll open Vietnam in 2013.

CLAMAN:  I know you haven’t broken out China numbers and Asia-Pacific region, but the most recent quarter, you made about $166 million in revenues.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  A fraction of it –

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  How much, a quarter is China?

Half is China?

SCHULTZ:  I think we’ll have thousands of stores in China and it will be our second largest market in the world.  And I don’t know how high is high in China.

I will say that after 13 years of being there, the equity in the Starbucks brand, the iconic stature that we occupy.

And I’m doing something very unusual that might interest you.  This month I’m going to China to have an annual meeting with the parents of our employees in Beijing and Shanghai to show respect for them.  And I think this is a unique thing that we’re doing because of the relationship that the parents have with their children.

CLAMAN:  So you kind of (INAUDIBLE) to market culturally as well as, hey, I can just make a quick buck for the company off of something like this?

SCHULTZ:  Well, I think — I think what we’ve demonstrated over 40 years is that the success of the company has been based on this balance between profitability and a social conscience.  And I think everywhere we’re doing business, were trying to manage the business through the lens of humanity.

And our success this year, our financial success — record revenue, record profit, you said record stock price — is, in large part, because the consumer recognizes the conscience of the company.

CLAMAN:  Let me throw out some names.

Which coffee chain other than your own do you really admire?

I mean there’s Dunkin’, there’s (INAUDIBLE), there’s McDonald’s McCafe, there’s something called Aroma.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  There’s Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Espresso.

Which one do you look at and — and say, not bad?

SCHULTZ:  I think that, you know, the coffee market is a very large market.  You’ve mentioned a lot of companies.  We don’t spend too much time worrying about the competition.

CLAMAN:  All right.

SCHULTZ:  Our focus every single day is put — putting everything we do in — in doing the things we do — we can do to exceed the expectations of our own customer –

CLAMAN:  You’re not going to pick a name for me?

SCHULTZ:  I’m not going to pick a name, but I — I think, you know, there’s — the market is very large.  We’re the leader globally and we’re going to continue to be the leader.

CLAMAN:  Partnership — let’s talk about this Verismo single cup business.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  That’s going to be the machine that Starbucks is launching.  This could potentially be a huge business for you, yet you’re already doing single cup for Green Mountain Coffee (INAUDIBLE) –

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  At some point, are you going to have to pick a winner there and jettison your relationship with Green Mountain and their carafe machines?

SCHULTZ:  You’ve really done your homework today, haven’t you?

(LAUGHTER)

SCHULTZ:  Well, this is — the regional (ph) is going to be a big business for Starbucks.  But it will be a business that is complementary to our partnership with Green Mountain.  The relationship we have with Green Mountain is around blue coffee.  Verismo is an espresso-based high pressure machine.  We will sell it in our stores this holiday, giving us, I think, a big boost for the holiday season.

But we are supportive of the Green Mountain business and we want to continue the partnership.

CLAMAN:  OK, because I wanted to make that clear.

Coffee prices — when you and I last spoke for the 40th anniversary of Starbucks, you flat out said that the gyrating coffee prices — by then they were up considerably –

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  — were due to financial speculators, hedge funds.  And you said it was a real problem.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  Coffee prices year-to-date have fallen 18 percent.

SCHULTZ:  Right.

CLAMAN:  Do you still feel that way about spectators?

SCHULTZ:  A hundred percent.  I mean, give me one reason why coffee prices went to those highs and now are being very low?

Nothing has changed in terms of supply and demand.  What’s happened is the financial spectators made their money, got out of the way and now market prices are normalized.

And I think once again, it demonstrates that we have a problem when it comes to the commodities and how these things are priced.  And we do not want to see those prices be a burden on the consumer.

So I think that is an issue that we have had to navigate through.

CLAMAN:  Since prices have come down, will you lower prices at Starbucks?

SCHULTZ:  Well, the challenge we have is that we are a year out.  And so we won’t see lower prices come into the Starbucks CNL until 2013.

CLAMAN:  So there’s that issue.  OK.

The juice business.  You acquired Evolution Fresh.

How big could that be for you guys?

SCHULTZ:  We are very, very enthused about the category of health and wellness and what the Evolution brand can be.  We’ve opened our first store.  We’ve only had two weeks under our belt, but it’s been a great surprise.  It’s open in Seattle.  There will be more of those stores.

Evolution Juice will be in every Starbucks store over the next 12 months.  And we are deeply committed to building a health and wellness category under the Evolution brand.

CLAMAN:  Now, you’re going for energy drinks, as well –

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  — something called refreshers.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  Are you going to take on the five hour energy drink, the little bottle that’s everywhere now?

SCHULTZ:  Well, I think we — you know, we were very mindful of how big that category has become.  And it’s not a natural beverage.  And we felt we could bring some innovation to the category and make it all natural.  We’ll bring that into our stores this summer.  It’s already in about 50,000 points of distribution in the grocery channel.

And I think this is an example of the reach and breadth that Starbucks can have as a company, well beyond our stores.

CLAMAN:  Would Starbucks ever sell soda?

SCHULTZ:  You know, we have a unique partnership with Pepsi, that manufactures and sells Frappuccino.  But I don’t see us selling soda.  That’s not our business.

CLAMAN:  So you haven’t worked in the test kitchen to develop something like that?

SCHULTZ:  No.  No.

CLAMAN:  Europe.

SCHULTZ:  Yes?

CLAMAN:  Europe is a tough business.

Is it going to get better or worse?

SCHULTZ:  I think Europe is very challenging for almost every consumer brand in the world today.  You see what’s happening in Spain and Greece, the pressure and austerity, even in the UK.  And I think we — we’re going to continue to build our European business, expand it.  But we’re mindful of the challenges that are out of our control.

But we’re there for the long-term.

CLAMAN:  All right, we talked about this country and all of the bitter elections that we’re facing, but we’re talking, also, about the tax policy.

SCHULTZ:  Right.

CLAMAN:  And the president is saying that wealthier should pay higher taxes.  There are those on the other side who say you raise marginal tax rates and businesses will stop spending.

To you, as a businessman, will a higher tax rate for either you personally or Starbucks affect your hiring decisions?

SCHULTZ:  I don’t think that would affect our hiring decisions.  But you bring up the tax issue.

Let me bring out one issue.

There’s approximately $2 trillion sitting on the books of U.S. companies overseas.  For the life of me, I do not understand why we can’t create a bipartisan policy to bring that money back, lower the tax rate and have that money come back, mandated to create un — to create employment opportunities.

And I think this is an example where Republicans and Democrats, I suspect, would agree.  And that — and that is not happening.

CLAMAN:  Because the last time the repatriation of profits came through, a lot of U.S. companies fired employees here.

SCHULTZ:  But if — but if you mandated that a portion of that money has to be to hire people, you could probably lower unemployment to 5 percent.

CLAMAN:  So you’re saying do that, but make it a requirement –

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  — a requirement that they do something like that.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  OK.

Finally, let’s get to — because we’re running out of time here, I understand?

Are we?

SCHULTZ:  OK.

CLAMAN:  Frappuccino.

You want to get that?

SCHULTZ:  This is like a –

(CROSSTALK)

CLAMAN:  I know.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ:  OK.  Yes.  Yes.

CLAMAN:  OK.  All right.

SCHULTZ:  OK.

CLAMAN:  You know what, hand it to me.  Lance (ph), do you want to — Christie (ph) is going to hand it to me.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

(OFF CAMERA REMARKS)

CLAMAN:  And finally, the beetle juice controversy.

SCHULTZ:  Did you have to bring that in here?

(LAUGHTER)

SCHULTZ:  OK.

CLAMAN:  I’m telling you –

SCHULTZ:  OK.

CLAMAN:  — this controversy has gotten some people upset.

SCHULTZ:  Sure.

CLAMAN:  Vegans who say we didn’t know that the coloring in this Frappuccino –

SCHULTZ:  Right.

CLAMAN:  — was made from fresh beetles or the cochineal –

SCHULTZ:  Sure.

CLAMAN:  — extract.

Are you going to change the way you color the strawberry frappuccinos pink?

SCHULTZ:  So let me answer it this way.  In a sense, no good deed goes undone.  So what we tried to do is create an all natural product that we thought embraced what the industry had been doing for many years.

As an example, most women today in America who are wearing red lipstick are probably unaware this is the same extract that is in your lipstick.  I’m not going to go there, but that’s a fact.

(LAUGHTER)

CLAMAN:  OK.

SCHULTZ:  So what we’re doing right now is, in view of the fact that there’s been so much concern, we are reviewing and trying to analyze other formulations.  And I suspect, over time, we will make a change.

CLAMAN:  There’s crushed beet juice, the actual vegetable –

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  There’s something called black carrot.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

CLAMAN:  I’ve learned a lot about this in the past 48 hours.  You go on with something like that –

SCHULTZ:  Sure.

CLAMAN:  — is there like (INAUDIBLE) beet futures?

SCHULTZ:  Well, we’re looking at all these other opportunities.  And I think we’ll make the right change for our customers.  We do not want to do anything that’s not in the best interests of our customers.  We thought we made a good decision.  Our customers are not happy with it.  We’re probably going to change it.

CLAMAN:  Want to take a sip?

SCHULTZ:  Sure.  I mean this is — this is totally healthy.

CLAMAN:  It’s all natural, right?

SCHULTZ:  And it’s all natural.  And it’s a great Frappuccino.  But we’ll change it to make sure our customers are pleased with what we’re doing.

CLAMAN:  OK.  So you’ll first look into it and then you’ll officially change it?

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  Yes.

CLAMAN:  So it’s a done deal to change it?

SCHULTZ:  Well, we’re examining it.  I suspect it will be changed.

CLAMAN:  OK, last word.

SCHULTZ:  Yes?

CLAMAN:  What is the number one thing you think this nation needs to be doing or not doing to get ourselves on firmer footing in the economy?

SCHULTZ:  You know, I think that’s a — of all the things that you could have asked me, probably the most important question.

Forty-two out of 50 states in America are facing a budget deficit.  A number of states may not be able to make pension payments between now and the end of the year.

Let’s just stop there for one second.

Is that the America that we believe in?

Is that the dreams that our parents and grandparents built for the country?

And the answer is no.

The leaders in Washington have got to come together in a bipartisan way and do the right thing for the people who are being left behind.  We cannot have an America that is only based on the wealthy.

And I think creating a framework where there is hope and opportunity for everybody and much more confidence in the future of the country will be better for everybody.

CLAMAN:  Howard Schultz, thank you very, very much.

SCHULTZ:  Thank you.

Thank you.

I enjoyed it.

CLAMAN:  I know it wasn’t as broad as CBS.

SCHULTZ:  No.  No, it’s great.

CLAMAN:  You’ve got to be kidding.

(OFF CAMERA REMARKS)

CLAMAN:  I’ll tell you what — what is that?

That’s –

SCHULTZ:  So this is the wristband that has been in our stores for the last few months.  Our customers donate $5.

CLAMAN:  Right.

SCHULTZ:  Over 500,000 people are wearing this wristband.  And this is how we’re collecting the money, in addition to the $5 million –

CLAMAN:  OK.

SCHULTZ:  — the $5 million donation that Starbucks has made.

CLAMAN:  Perfect.

And, secondly, Lance (ph), at one point I touched this and I went like this with the logo.

END

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Markets aren’t behaving the way they used to.  Gridlocked governments avoid the tough decisions.  Public and private sectors seem unable to work together to find the real solutions.  People who’ve spent their lives working, saving and planning – people who’ve done ‘everything right’ – are worried about their future.

The traditional mix of stocks and bonds no longer delivers returns you need.  Volatility has fueled fear of owning stocks.  Bonds no longer deliver.  Yields are so low that most fixed income doesn’t even protect from inflation.  Yet, people need returns more than ever because they’re living longer.

It’s time to rewrite the rules of building your portfolio.  BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, believes tumultuous change brings opportunity and that investors must become more flexible at adapting to rapidly changing, hyper connected global markets in order to achieve returns that aren’t consumed by inflation.  They want today’s short-term savers to become long-term investors and start investing more for retirement.  31% of American workers have saved nothing for retirement.  BlackRock has five practical actions for a more dynamic, diverse portfolio under what they call “The New Diversification.”

1.    Rethink the Cost of Cash

Holding too much cash is no way to save.  Cash will lose nearly half its purchasing power over the course of a 20-year retirement.  You need strategies that go beyond cash.

2.    Seek Income in Different Places

For income that beats inflation, investors have to consider new opportunities.  Many companies that pay dividends deliver twice the yields of government bonds.  For example, look for higher yields in emerging market sovereign debt.  50% of the world’s GDP is now represented in emerging markets.

3.    Open Your Eyes to Alternatives

Alternatives like long/short strategies, commodities, real estate and exchange traded funds (ETFs) have the potential to provide above-average returns and could reduce your risk because they’re less likely to more in tandem with stocks and bonds.

4.    Be Active About Passive

Use ETFs.  They’re an important building block and a low-cost way to gain access to a full range of asset classes and global markets.  ETFs can be traded like stocks, so they allow you to easily adjust your portfolio when the need arises.

5.    Use Your Longevity

Many people worry they’ll outlive their income.  But because we’re going to live longer, we can expand our investment horizon well beyond the day we retire.  50-year-olds can look at 25-year time horizons – even 65-year-olds have the life expectancy to consider equities, commodities and alternatives to keep generating returns over the long term.  Consider ways to keep your money working for you by using your longevity to ride out market cycles.

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StocksonWallStreet readers know I’ve been bullish on Vietnam.  Bloomberg seems to agree.  The Bloomberg Markets, March 2012 list of the most promising Frontier markets for investors ranks Vietnam #1.  United Arab Emirates is #2 – a market I also think has strong growth potential.

It’s no secret that growth in the U.S. and Europe over the next decade will be outpaced by the BRIC’s and emerging markets.  Adventurous investors looking for even more attractive growth potential should also consider Frontier markets.  Frontier markets tend to be smaller than emerging markets.  Shares of frontier companies are also harder to trade than those of emerging countries.

I like Frontier markets that are moving to Emerging Markets.  Developed capital markets are key to becoming an emerging market.  So, I’m most interested in economies where the stock market is developing and companies are beginning to get access to capital.  Also, it’s worth noting that weakness in China tends to get picked up by Frontier Markets.  Sectors that show the most promise in Frontier markets are technology, energy, consumer discretionary and industrials that benefit from infrastructure improvements.

Vietnam fits the bill on all counts.  It has enjoyed a strong and consistent average GDP growth of 7.2% annually since 2000 and projected cumulative GDP growth from 2012-2016 is 31.4%.

The main ETF tracking Vietnam is the Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM) sank 47% in 2011 and was one of the worst performers in the entire emerging world which fell by an average of 21% in 2011.  These horrible losses were largely due to runaway inflation.  While inflation is still high (around 20%) it appears the country is finally starting to turn around.  VNM is certainly capable of producing huge gains.  VNM is up about 36% year-to-date, suggesting that investors who have a high-risk tolerance may want to consider making a play on this Vietnam ETF.

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My top 5 most promising emerging markets and selected stock picks are listed at the end of this article.  Bloomberg Markets’ March 2012 edition also published its most-promising emerging markets for investors.  We both agree China is # 1, following by Thailand at #2.  In spite of worries over a hard

landing, the latest IMB predictions are for China to grow an average of 9.4% per year from 2012-2016.  China’s low GDP-to-debt ratio (16% of GDP vs. no. 2-ranked Thailand at 45.3%) will ensure that China remains a strong investment opportunity over the longer term.

Bloomberg ranked the other three BRICs much lower.  Russia is 8^th, India 15^th and Brazil is not even in the top 15.  India is second to China in terms of cumulative GDP growth, but inflation and expensive stocks hurt its economic outlook, not to mention a government debt of 60.4% of GDP.

Inflation will continue to loom as a drag on emerging markets.  There’ll also be volatility.  But investors who can tolerate the roller coaster ride will be rewarded over the longer term.

Investors should look for windows of opportunities in the most promising emerging markets.  But do your homework! 

Here are my top 5 most promising emerging markets:

1.     China

China’s slow down will present a buying opportunity.  I like iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund EFT (FXI), Tencent Holdings (0700.HK), Bidu (BIDU), China Mobile (CHL), online media company Sina (SINA) and New Oriental Education & Technology Group (EDU).

2.     Thailand

I’ve started researching investment opportunities in Thailand.  Thai equities have yet to bounce back after floods and political turmoil and there’s still negative sentiment.  Weakness over the past year has made Thai equities a value.

3.     Brazil

Analysts seem to have turned negative on Brazil and predict a further slow down.  My bet is that, after several more months of pullbacks, Brazil will once again be ripe later this year for opportunistic investors.  In the meantime, I’ll be looking for buying opportunities in Brazilian banking, commodity, mining and energy equities.

4.     Turkey

I like the iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index EFT (TUR) which is up an impressive 20% year-to-date.

5.     South Africa and Poland (tie)

South Africa is on my radar as an emerging market with lots of potential.  I need to do more research before making any further recommendations.  Ditto for Poland.

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Invest in economies growing 1-2% with debt loads as large as their GDP’s?   Or those growing 6-8% with minimal debt? 

Invest where you see greatest potential for growth: Emerging Markets.

2011 tested my emerging market bullishness as they dropped 20% amid the debt crisis in Europe and worries of a slow-down in China.  But compare GDP forecasts for the world’s top 10 economies and their national debt growth rates for 2012.

China and India are the only countries with a GDP growth rate larger than their national debt growth rate.  Brazil and Canada are next.  Every other major economy continues to deliver ho-hum growth with dramatically rising GDP-to-debt rates.

I remain bullish on emerging markets.  They should be a significant part of your portfolio.  Sure, we have to balance emerging market volatility and their increased short-term risk with growth.  Nevertheless, this short-term risk is more than offset by returns that will almost certainly outperform over the long term.

Timing is always key.  Emerging market bulls have done well during the first quarter of 2012.  Opportunistic investors should buy into the dips and use emerging market volatility to your advantage.  Although a ‘hard landing’ in China is still a worry, the fundamentals for China’s long-term growth remain intact.  I think China will find a way to achieve 8+% in 2012.

Bottom Line:  Invest where you see the greatest potential for growth.  Think Emerging Markets

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The P/E (price/earnings) ratio is a measure of value that measures a company’s share price compared to its per-share earnings, sometimes also referred to as the ‘price multiple’ or ‘earnings multiple’. Broadly speaking, stocks or stock markets with high P/Es suggest that investors expect higher earnings growth than those with low P/Es. But a high P/E can also be a warning for value investors that a stock or stock market is becoming too speculative.

Most investors don’t grasp that low P/E stocks return the most over time, not high P/E stocks. This is really no different to being a contrarian investor and buying stocks that are out of favor over stocks that are considered ‘hot’ by the masses. Stock market profits are made “in the buying.” Meaning that the price you pay for growth is as important…if not more important…than the price you sell for.

This is backed up by research and multiple studies have shown that investors using a low P/E strategy have outperformed investors using a high P/E strategy. One big study of thousands of stocks on the NYSE and Amex exchanges in the U.S. from 1968 to 1990 showed that stocks with low P/E’s had total 1-year returns of 17.9% vs. total returns of 12.4% for stocks with high P/E’s.

According to contrarian investor, David Dremen, over almost every period measured, the stocks considered to have the best prospects (those with high P/E’s) performed significantly worse that the ‘contrarian’ stocks (those with low P/E’s).

There are exceptions because sometime stocks or stock markets are on a low P/E for good reason. Maybe future earnings outlooks really low. Or maybe there’s another internal problem dragging the company/country down.

But, generally, a low P/E strategy works.

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Building off of yesterday’s post “Why You Should Invest & the Power of Compound Interest” we have another great article about how time plays a key component into compound interest and generating great wealth through investing. We have broken it down into simple terms for everyone to understand in our Jack and Jill story below, enjoy!

The Story of Jack and Jill

Delaying making investments in order to launch your career can cost you dearly later on. Smaller investments made between the ages of 18-25 will yield much greater returns than larger investments made later on over a longer period from ages 26-65. Consider the classic parable taught in many basic economic courses:

Jack decided not to go to college. He got a job at 18 and invested $4,000 each year into an IRA. He stopped after eight years after investing a total of $32,000. His sister, Jill, went to medical school, started her medical practice at age 26, at which point she began contributing $4,000 to her IRA. Jill did this for 40 years from 26 to 65. She invested a total of $160,000 and put her money into the same investment as her brother. Jill started investing the same year Jack stopped, and she saved for 40 years compared to just eight years for her brother.

By age 65, whose IRA account do you thing was worth more money?

Assuming both Jack and Jill earned a 10% annual return, Jill accumulated $1,327,778. But Jack had $1,552,739 – $224,961 more than his sister!

Jack’s account grows to a higher value because he started sooner!

+$224,961

Jack stopped investing at age 26 having invested only $32,000 to Jill’s $160,000. But Jack’s money earned interest for eight years longer than his sister. It wasn’t the money that made him successful – it was the time value of money. Jack didn’t put off investing when he first launched his career. By investing sooner than Jill, his account grew larger.

The moral of this story is not to forego a college education and its promise of higher earning potential. No doubt, Jill earned more disposable income during her career. But Jack’s investment head start was far superior, resulting in substantially greater savings.

Without question, procrastination is the most common cause of financial failure.

If you haven’t started investing yet don’t panic or worry. It’s never too late and always better to start at some point than to never start.  Over the course of the next few days we will be highlighting more reasons on“Why You Should Invest in the Stock Market“ so tune into Stocks on Wall Street to follow along. If you are interested in getting started investing and would like some help and assistance in getting setup and finding a brokerage account that fits your needs, etc then feel free to Contact Us. Also checkout both the links below for more assistance:

How to Choose a Brokerage Account

Top Brokerage Accounts

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Why you should Invest? Plain and simple, investing is the easiest way to create wealth. Investing is relatively simple and the rewards are great. By Investing in the Markets it will open up the world to you offering you more money to do what you want. Money gives you opportunities so investing will allow you to explore your opportunities whether they are retiring in a beach house in Mexico, paying for child’s education, or just for traveling the globe. Realistically, unless you have a top-notch salary, investing in the Stock Market is the only true way to reach financial independence.

Benefits of Investing and Power of Compounding

Lets put it real simple to show you the benefits of investing. Say you put $2,000 of your savings into the stock market and invest within the S&P 500. Well the S&P’s historical average is 10% and would make your 2,000 worth $34,898.80 after 30 years. Now do you see the gain from investing? On the contrary if you put that same amount of money into a savings account your $2,000 would only be worth $3,622.72 30 years later. Quite a difference huh? This number will shock you even more. If you invest $1,000 a year in the S&P 500 after 45 years it will have grown to over one million dollars. Overall you only added $46,000 over the time but compound interest and solid investments did the job for you. Below is a graph that shows the power of investing and why you should put your money in the Stock Market rather than a CD or Bond. Historically overtime CD’s and Government Bonds have averaged around 5%. The Stock Market has averaged 10% over the same period and if you learned how to trade yourself or followed Stocks on Wall Street you could easily achieve 15%-20%.

Growing At

Shocking what a few percentage points can do and why it pays off to take some risk. Remember you are a long-term investor so you’ll go through the bull markets and bear ones but overall your money stays put and grows exponentially.

Time Value of Money

Lets say your parents start you investing when your 15 years old with a simple $100 dollar bill. Look how that simple bill will grow:

Growing At

If you haven’t started investing yet don’t panic or worry. It’s never too late and always better to start at some point than to never start.  Over the course of the next few days we will be highlighting more reasons on “Why You Should Invest in the Stock Market“ so tune into Stocks on Wall Street to follow along. If you are interested in getting started investing and would like some help and assistance in getting setup and finding a brokerage account that fits your needs, etc then feel free to Contact Us. Also checkout both the links below for more assistance:

How to Choose a Brokerage Account

Top Brokerage Accounts

Please Follow Us on Facebook & Twitter & Don’t Be Shy To Leave a Comment!

And the Goldman Sachs jokes keep on coming. The wrath against Goldman continues after last week’s PR nightmare caused by from ex-Goldman employee, Greg Smith, when he published his tell all article in the New York TImes called “Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs!” Below are some funny pictures swirling the web, enjoy!

If you want some more laughs, checkout our past article we published with the “Top Goldman Sachs Jokes!”

Let Us Know What You Think on Either Facebook or Twitter Plus Don’t Forget to Leave a Comment Below!

With an already falling reputation and what has been a couple troubled years for Goldman Sachs, today the bank hit another low. Again Goldman Sachs took a huge PR hit being exposed negatively to the public this time from a former employee, Greg Smith, in the headlining New York Times Article. If you have been watching CNBC or following the financial news today then you have heard all about this but for those of you who haven’t, check out the article it’s an insight into Goldman Sachs true culture or at least how this ex-employee saw it.  The opening paragragh can explain it all:

“TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.”

 To read either of the articles simply click on the link below:

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs (The New York Times)

A Public Exit From Goldman Sachs Hit a Wounded Wall Street (The New York Times)

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Hope you all had a great weekend. While we all know Monday is the worst day of the week, we have just the right thing to brighten it up. Below are a list of great articles, enjoy!

What to Sell if Capital-Gains Taxes Rise? (Barron’s)

How Keynes Overwhelmed Hayek (TLS)

Fade in China, Made in America (The Wall Street Journal)

Safe Keeping (The Economist)

Stuck in Arbitration (The New Work Times)

Even Dairy Farming has a 1 Percent (The New York Times)

The Final Facebook IPO Analysis (Boom Bust Blog)

Slaughterhouse Five: So it Goes (TLS)

The Worst of Times to Buy Stocks (Barrons)

What Market Panic? Halcyon Days for Silicon Valley (The Daily Beast)

Undercover Billionaire (Forbes)

Why the iPad 3 Won’t Replace Your PC? (PC Mag)

How Infographics Can Bend the Truth (Fast Co Design)

Tim Sykes is a Cancer (Howard Lindzon)

Apple Leading the Charge in All 401K-ETF Plans (ETF Guide)

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Most recent jobs report shows signs of encouragement for our economy going forward. Is this true? Is our economy actually improving? While this is a good start we still have a long ways to go.

In addition, what many people don’t know is how the information can be dramatically altered to conform to fit the model in which they choose, Bloomberg explains this in “Beware Analysts Torturing Jobs Data to Fit Model.” An exert from the article helps further explain what we mean:

“How much of the job creation is real? How much of it is the result of the unseasonably warm winter weather, which boosts seasonally adjusted employment in industries such as construction, mining and real estate? (Remember, what the seasonal adjustment factors add in one month, they take away in others.) What about the birth-death model, which uses sample- based estimates to capture new business formation and the creative destruction of others?”

Going along with the results from the jobs report we thank Barry Riholtz’s blog “The Big Picture” for sharing with us a cool little widget from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta:

“The Jobs Calculator calculates the net employment change needed to achieve a target unemployment rate after a specified number of months. The user can adjust the target unemployment rate, the number of months, and the assumed labor force growth.”

Fun little tool, recommend you all give it a try. Just click on the LINK HERE to give it a shot!

What’s your opinion on the most recent jobs report? Do you think the economy is actually on the up or is this really just an economists move to make it seem like we are actually improving to in fact help out a struggling President in an election year? The incumbent is usually never defeated however with very few achievements and a weak record to run on Obama needs all the help he can get and an improving economy and creation of more jobs would be a huge asset to his campaign.

We would love to hear your thoughts either by leaving a comment below or go to our Facebook & let us hear what you believe is the truth. Also feel free to send us Tweet & follow our Twitter for more updates!

Hope you all had a great weekend, below are some great articles from the past week for you to enjoy! So sit back relax & enjoy the rest of your weekend!

What We Owe Each Other: Part 1 (Boston Review)

What We Owe Each Other: Part 2 (Boston Review)

Dear Walmart, McDonald’s, & Starbucks: How Do You Feel About Paying Your Employees So Little That Most of Them Are Poor? (Business Insider)

Mitt Romney & Ron Paul Friendly Amid the Rivalry (The New York Times)

Bad News for Boomers (The Wall Street Journal)

Merrill Lynch Losing Top Advisors (Investment News)

Stocks Cheaper Than Any U.S. Peak in 23 Years (Bloomberg)

Election Year Poses Challenges for Stocks (The Wall Street Journal)

Why Investing in Fringe Markets May Beat Silicon Valley (The Next Web)

35 Years of Buffet’s Greatest Investing Wisdom (The Motley Fool)

The Middle Missing in American Politics (Foreign Affairs)

Revenge of the Nerd (American Conservative)

Being Wrong (The Value of Agnosticism) (Synapses)

The iGod: Steve Job’s Pursuit of Perfection & the Consequences (The New Republic)

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