The contagion is spreading from the explosion at the Macondo well operated by BP plc (NYSE:BP) that destroyed a leased semi-submersible owned by Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) and killed 11 workers. Standard and Poor's Rating Services has already lowered ratings on BP and Transocean debt as well as debt on Anadarko Petroleum Co. (NYSE: APC), a minority partner in the well.

The debate over whose fries are better, Burger King (BKC) or McDonald's (MCD), is one of the oldest fast food fights in the industry. But rather than just limit the debate to the drive-thru window, Burger King has upped the ante by changing the battlefield to the supermarket aisles. How? Well, with a new line of frozen foods that include crinkle-cut French fries and healthy apple fries coming soon to your grocer's freezer. There's even a healthy line of Apple Fries, with the fruit skinned and cut to look like French fries and packaged in that familiar Burger King branded paper cup.

Yahoo! (YHOO) is not what it used to be as it has steadily lost ground to Internet search giant Google Inc. (GOOG) year after year. But thanks to a new partnership with Facebook, the Yahoo may be better equipped to slow or even reverse its recent declines.

Chrysler Group LLC, the Fiat-run venture that is the latest reincarnation of this automaker that went bankrupt a year ago, is recalling almost 575,000 vehicles due to brake defects. While the number of Chrysler minivans and Jeeps affected is far less than the 8 million vehicles recalled in a series of black eyes for Toyota (TM), it is larger than the 400,000 Odyssey vans and Element SUVs or so recalled by Honda (HMC).

For the second time in two weeks, a parts supplier is disrupting production at Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) plants in China. The company last week settled a strike at a transmission plant that had halted Honda's Chinese production. The latest strike is at a plant that makes parts for the car's exhaust system and has not yet had any effect on production. So far, other car makers with operations in China have not been affected. Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), and Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM) all have plants in China.

Investing in stocks is never easy, but picking the right investment strategy after a volatile May seems pretty impossible. But never fear -- if investors do their homework, they will see plenty of investment opportunities in June. Let's do a quick five-minute drill on positives and negatives for the U.S. and global economy, courtesy of our friends at ISI Group in New York.

A Russian-traded company named RUSIA Petroleum, which is majority-owned by TNK-BP, has filed for bankruptcy. TNK-BP is a joint venture between a Russian company and BP plc (NYSE: BP). TNK-BP had earlier filed an early repayment notice on RUSIA Petroleum to collect part of the loans issued to finance development of the Kovykta natural gas condensate field. Because RUSIA Petroleum cannot repay the loans, TNK-BP says it is "obligated to file a bankruptcy procedure with the court."

Talk about the fruit of your labors. Consider a company that provides products to eight out of every ten American households. A company with an exceptional supply chain and industry-leading market share in three of its core products. No, it's not Apple. But close, in a strange way. It's Del Monte Foods (DLM), a company that sells premium brand fruits and vegetables as well as pet food and treats under the brands Kibbles 'n Bits and Milk-bone.

It was a rough market in May, with many stocks taking a plunge along with the broader market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about -10% and the S and P 500 index shed about 11% in May. But not all stocks were battered – and as a group, airline stocks stand out as one of the few sectors that did well in May, with regional carriers like Alaska Air Group (ALK) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU) both posting double-digit gains on the month, and with major carriers U.S. Airways (LCC) and Delta Airlines (DAL) doing even better.

Kellogg Co. (K) has had a difficult go of things in the wake of the recession, lagging rival packaged foods companies in the industries as it struggled to connect with consumers. Things may be getting worse as Kellogg is under fire from the Federal Trade Commission for misleading consumers about the health benefits for Rice Krispies and Frosted Mini-Wheats cereals.

Initial Public Offerings, or IPOs, were once the Holy Grail of prodigious profit potential for investors lucky enough to get in on the ground floor of the hottest new issues. Then the recession hit, and the IPO market dried up faster than a puddle of water in the Mojave Desert. All that has changed, however, as many high-profile new stock IPO plans are set for the next several months. Among the biggest IPO names are retailer Toys R Us, ratings agency Nielsen, options and commodities exchange CBOE, and perhaps the biggest IPO of all time, the Agriculture Bank of China.

Walgreen Co. (WAG), the nation's largest retail drugstore by store count, is ending its 15-year prohibition on alcohol sales and will begin restocking shelves with beer and wine at about 3,100 locations nationwide. Rivals CVS Caremark (CVS) and Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) already sell booze themselves, so the move by Walgreens will put the retail chain on equal footing with its competitors on the alcohol sales front.

Will the iPhone from Apple Inc. (NYSE: AAPL) come to Verizon Wireless, the joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT)? That depends who you ask. A spokesman for Verizon Wireless said yesterday that his company had "no plan to carry the Apple iPhone in the immediate future." That may sound definitive, but is in fact pretty vague. The "immediate future" could be this week and "no plan" can turn into a big plan pretty quickly.