Over the past four decades, the American economy has transformed from its prior focus on manufacturing to a new focus on services. In this new world, a degree from a four-year college has become almost mandatory even for entry-level sales and marketing jobs. But for people who had to work immediately after graduating from high school, obtaining such a degree has been tough. That's where specialized degrees from for-profit schools come in. And Strayer Education (STRA) has become a leader in the field, offering education to 55,000 students on a part-time basis and making a lot of money in the process.

Some simple trading strategies involve buying oversold stocks with great numbers -- but another great investment strategy for your retirement money is to buy stocks with strength. There's no denying the market has been swept up in a wave of selling, and over the past eight weeks we've seen the S and P 500 descend about 11% off its April highs. As stocks now are officially in correction territory, investors may think it's the time to go bargain hunting.

While I'll be the first to jump for joy after yesterday's awesome 2.95% rise in the S and P 500 -- I feel obligated to point out the fact that big rallies of 3% or more are rare. And they normally happen in the midst of bear markets. One caveat: Since the SEC got rid of the short-selling uptick rule in 2007, overall volatility has increased. So we've seen a bunch of 3%+ since then -- 32 to be exact. Most of these came during the bear market rallies of the spring and fall of 2008. The rest were clustered around the initial rebound from the March 2009 low.

Stocks continue to churn without making any real progress. But simple trading strategies aren't doomed. Investing your money in the stock market instead of hiding out in cash may be your best bet right now. Retirement investors could miss out on a rally if they sell their stocks, and indicators show there is not that much downside risk left on Wall Street.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) got a little too excited over its Friday launch of the EVO 4G smartphone. Maybe it was an attempt to steal even more thunder from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), which announced its own 4G iPhone on Monday. Sprint originally reported that it had sold three times the number of EVOs on launch day as it had sold Samsung Instinct and Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) Pre phones in the first three days of sales of those two phones combined.

When the chairman/CEO/president of Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) said that his company wasn't buying Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) in order "to be in the smart phone business," did this mean that HP was going to abandon the smartphone market as soon as it completes its acquisition of Palm? Doesn't the company want to fight it out with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) for handset supremacy or with Google Inc. (NYSE: GOOG) for operating system bragging rights?

Stock IPOs get a lot of hype on Wall Street, and initial public offerings are often surrounded with dreams of once-in-a-lifetime investments that make investors enough money for their retirement in a matter of weeks. Even though IPO participants are always insiders and those close to the company, individual investors often race to get into a new stock as soon as it goes public in the hopes of sharing in the success right out of the gate.

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.