A couple of milestones for world markets were hit in the past week. The S and P 500 is up 70% since its March 9 low, which is nice as far as it goes but more importantly for the real economy, vehicle production in the United States is up 45%, semiconductor sales are up 48% worldwide, China retail sales are up 32%, U.S. chain store sales are up 4% and if you put it all together and take out labor, you'll see that corporate profits are up 40%.

The people behind the little blue box, Tiffany and Co. (TIF) issued a mixed report today on the company's fourth quarter and full-year results for the period ending January 2010. Fourth quarter profits rose to $140.4 million (EPS of $1.10) from last year's dismal $31.1 million (EPS $0.25). Revenues also grew nearly 15% compared with the year-ago quarter.

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SOMX) soared last week after the FDA approved its Silenor as the only treatment of insomnia treatment that was not accompanied by all of the side-effects for numerous sleep-actions and additive issues seen in other sleep-aid drugs. Before the FDA approval, this was a $4.00 stock. It ran to $10.60 before closing at $8.25 last week as major profit taking came into play.

Last week, we learned that U.S. retail sales of video games declined 15% in February, part of an ongoing decline for the industry. 2010 could be shaping up to be bad all over, and that could spell disaster for many already-battered video game stocks including retailer Gamestop (GME); hardware makers Microsoft (MSFT), Sony (SNE) and Nintendo (NTDOY) and game studios Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Take Two Interactive (TTWO) and Electronic Arts (ERTS).

If you're an investor doubting the bull market, the flood of secondary stock offerings on Wall Street lately probably isn't sitting well with you. The amount of public companies raising capital by offering up more shares is simply staggering. Stocks include hig, dfs, nvax, lxpx, satc, ttmi, irdm, tsl.

WTI crude oil prices jumped to nearly $82 per barrel today as traders learned that OPEC oil ministries will make no change to its production quotas. Find the latest information on crude prices, crude oil inventories and what this means for investors.

Walmart Stores, Inc. (WMT) announced today that it is launching an exclusive tie-in program with DreamWorks Animation SKG (DWA) surrounding the March 26th release of DreamWorks' latest animated feature, "How to Train Your Dragon." The companies tout the deal as both unique and a game-changer in the way retailers can work with movie makers.

Shares in Palm, Inc. (PALM) peaked shortly after the company's March 2000 IPO and have declined ever since. There have been some ups and downs of course, but from a high of more than $600/share to yesterday's close at $5.65, the river has roared virtually non-stop downhill.

Nintendo (NTDOY) caused a stir this week when one of its top developers said he would be spending his energy adapting the company's DS handheld consoles as tour guides for museums and educational aids for schools. But while some soccer moms are scoffing, the plan is not just a pipe dream. Here are three reasons why NTDOY will likely succeed in this gambit to brand itself as an educational software leader and start eating up a large share of the $1 billion educational toy industry:

As of this week, Starbucks (SBUX) has started offering copies of USA Today to its java-drinking customers. The flagship paper of media giant Gannett (GCI), USA Today is the most widely circulated newspaper in the U.S. with nearly 2 million copies in print.

It's difficult to say which is the more important news for Nike, Inc. (NKE). It reported upbeat earnings, revenues, and forecasts just a couple of days after its premier spokesman, Tiger Woods, announced that he would indeed play in this year's Masters golf tournament.

FedEx Corp. (FDX) reported its fiscal third quarter results this morning, and beat both consensus profit and revenue estimates for the quarter ending in February 2010. The company also raised its EPS estimate for the full 2010 fiscal year from a range of $3.45-$3.75 to $3.60-$3.80. Shares were down about 2.5% in very early trading. Rival United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is also down slightly following FedEx's report.

Yesterday, Nike (NKE) reported its fiscal third-quarter numbers, and the best way to describe the results is to tweak the company's own motto and say they "just did it." The sportswear giant said profit came in at $496 million, or $1.01 a share, from $244 million, or 50 cents a share, in the prior year. Revenue surged 7% to $4.7 billion in the quarter from $4.4 billion last year. The consensus Street estimate pegged Nike at 89 cents a share on revenue of $4.59 billion.

The Dow just marked a 17-month high today, adding 48 points to mark its seventh-straight gain. All told, the major indexes are up nearly 50% in the last 12 months. But the rising tide has left behind a few boats. Here are nine duds that have stumbled – or in some cases, fell flat on their faces – in the last year of the bull market. Returns Stocks include dnb, apol, pwr, hrb, mon, pbct, df, gme, pcs

Pepsi (PEP) is dropping out of school. At least, its vending machines are. Snack and beverage giant Pepsico announced this week it will be pulling sugary soft drinks from vending machines in U.S. schools. That has caused many watchdogs to start hollering that Coca Cola (KO) start doing the same.

There's a lot of talk these days about how bad carbon is for the environment. Well, soft drink seller Coca-Cola (KO) is fighting fire with fire by using C02 to combat climate change in a new line of green vending machines. Pepsi (PEP) and Unilever (UL) are going to soon follow suit.

Just two weeks ago Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) chairman and CEO Jim Keyes was talking up the company's conservative (i.e., slow) move to digital delivery of movies as being what "these times demand." Maybe that's true if you've waited too long to get started and are now faced with nearly $1 billion in debt and limited prospects for paying the interest on that debt.

Pharmaceutical stocks have certainly had their day in the sun. Take Pfizer (PFE), which soared from about $2 a share (adjusted for splits) in 1990 to over $45 a share in 2000. Similar trajectories can be tracked for other drug companies Merck (MRK), Abbott Labs (ABT), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Eli Lilly (LLY), among others.