When Bitcoin withdrawals were halted at its exchange, Mt. Gox began pointing fingers at Bitcoin and its digital issues. However, the rest of the Bitcoin community was quick to say the problem was unique to Mt. Gox.

In this segment of The Motley Fool's financials-focused show, Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discuss the latest Bitcoin issue.

It's no secret that eBay has struggled during the past decade to fend off competition from e-commerce rival Amazon . While Amazon was developing new and inventive ways of attracting more shoppers to its site, eBay was resting on its laurels. Unlike Amazon, eBay lacked complex search technology, which ultimately made it more difficult for users to find and purchase products on eBay.com.

The online marketplace's stock suffered as a result. As you can see from the chart below, eBay's share price inched along over the past decade, while Amazon's continued to climb higher.

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EBAY data by YCharts

Nevertheless, eBay is finding new life in the global e-commerce space thanks, at least in part, to one guy: Jack Abraham.

Meet eBay's kid innovator
Okay, he's not an adolescent. However, he's also not a 50-something eBay-lifer either. Meet Abraham, the 27 -year old mastermind behind eBay Now, a service that lets eBay customers find local products from nearby brick-and-mortar retailers and have them delivered in about an hour. The e-commerce giant currently offers the service in Chicago, Dallas, New York City and Brooklyn, NYC Queens, and San Francisco.

eBay acquired Abraham's start-up, Milo, for $75 million in 2010. At the time, Milo was a website that featured real-time product inventory for more than 50,000 U.S. retailers. After being purchased by eBay, Abraham was brought on board to integrate Milo's technology. Today, eBay Now is a critical piece of the company's competitive strategy to beat Amazon at its own game.

You see, Amazon has been testing same-day shipping in select cities around the country for some time now. However, as eBay rolls out its eBay Now product in more areas in the year ahead, it could give the global commerce company a key advantage over its rival. However, that's only the start of it.

Team Six
After being summoned by eBay's CEO John Donahoe for a special meeting on innovation, Abraham found himself frantically organizing a top secret team that would bring his big idea to life. During the meeting, Abraham proposed creating a special feed, similar to Facebook's News Feed, which would show eBay users new products for sale from retailers and brands that they follow, according to Business Insider. Donahoe loved the idea. He told Abraham to develop it further and eBay would support him with whatever resources he needed as long as he kept the project a secret.

Abraham didn't waste any time. Astonishingly, he was able to circumvent the corporate politics and bureaucracy that often comes with a company of eBay's size. He quickly put together a team of six people and flew everyone to Australia the next day to begin working on a prototype. Why Australia? He felt the team would work faster and more privately at a far away locale.

As for the group, they decided to call themselves Team Six.

Making eBay history
Two weeks in Australia in 2012 turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. In a meeting with eBay's CEO John Donahoe following Team Six's return, Mr. Donahoe laughed and said to Abraham, "Jack, I think this could be the future of eBay," according  to Business Insider. He was right.

Today, Abraham's feed is the focal point of eBay.com. In fact, since its launch last year eBay's homepage has boosted sales and increased user engagement, according to Business  Insider. On top of this, it also taught Donahoe a valuable lesson about the importance of innovation. Abraham doesn't work at eBay anymore, because he left to pursue his other ideas. However, Donahoe hasn't been shy about appointing forward thinking start-up-types to top executive positions.

Andy Palmer, for example, was one of the people on Team Six and today he's the director of product management for eBay's homepage. For the record, he too is still in his twenties. Looking ahead, one of the ways eBay will continue to innovate is by acquiring fresh start-ups and bringing their founders onboard. Donahoe is also innovating the way eBay works with retailers.

Source: eBay.com screen shot

Big box retailers including Target , Home Depot, and Macy's, all have stores on eBay.com today. This positions eBay as a "technology partner" to retailers, according to Donahoe . As you can see from the screen shot above, Target even runs ads on eBay's homepage. This type of collaboration has helped transform eBay from an online auction site to a full blown shopping site where customers can find the latest deals on their favorite designers.

The bottom line is this: Without innovation technology companies, such as eBay and Amazon, would die . Fortunately, eBay finally seems to be evolving, which should help it better compete against rivals in the future.

Too often, investors stay with an investment after the fundamentals have turned. Take Rackspace Hosting for example -- you can admire the company and recognize its strengths, but you must admit that it's not going to change and you probably shouldn't keep it in your portfolio.

Rackspace is the leader in third-party hosting. It founded OpenStack (an open-source operating system for the cloud), it employs over 5,000 people, and it is on Fortune's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. The stock reflected this strength, growing from $4 per share to $81 between 2008-2013. These are good reasons to admire the company, but as an investor you cannot ignore changes in fundamentals, and last year they changed. Today, both revenue growth and profitability are dropping because the company has lost pricing power.

It was a good quarter, but Rackspace announced revenue and earnings of $408 million and $0.14, respectively, that were in line with consensus. However, profit was down 33% from the prior year.  Even though guidance was slightly ahead of expectations for the coming year, the announcement that Lanham Napier would be stepping down immediately caused a shock wave, indicating that people don't necessarily trust the numbers. Executive turnover often indicates that something bad is about to happen, and CEOs rarely step down immediately. The board of directors seems to think drastic action is needed.

Rackspace is caught between titans
Rackspace is caught in the middle of a duel between Amazon and Google where price is being used to attract clients. Amazon and Google are leapfrogging each other with price drops: Amazon in July 2013, Google in December 2013 and Amazon again in January 2014. Rackspace offers a differentiated service, but it hasn't been able to maintain both growth and pricing, and margins have fallen as a result. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight and as contracts are renewed, Rackspace will continue to feel pricing pressure.

Amazon developed its cloud computing initiative in 2006 to leverage its experience building internal datacenters. According to Andy Jassy's keynote at the AWS Invent conference, reduced prices lead to more AWS usage, which leads to economies of scale, which leads back to reduced prices. This is a compelling value proposition, and to get an idea of the scope of the project, in 2012, Amazon added enough server capacity every day to power the "2003 Amazon infrastructure."

Google came into the game later, but according to CNet, it's "now ready for prime time." Customers such as Snapchat and Evite have built complex systems using the service. To manage this new business, Google has recruited some heavy hitters including Ari Balogh, formerly Yahoo!'s CTO, who now manages the storage infrastructure group. Google has been able to use its capital to attract top tier talent in an effort to catch up to Amazon, and if CNet is to be believed, it's succeeding.

What happens to Rackspace?
Even though the company has been meeting expectations, those expectations are being reduced on a daily basis. The war chests at Google and Amazon are being funded by the profits from other businesses and Rackspace cannot compete in a pricing war. Since the company has been reinvesting its profits to gain market share, the balance sheet isn't cash rich and the stock price could fall to single digits before it is supported by asset prices. I respect what the company has been able to achieve, but the market is becoming commoditized and there are better places for people to invest.

Tableau Software is one of the hottest names in big data. The company helps businesses process, read, and react to data more effectively. But as investors take big bets on Tableau's future, is it possible that more upside can be found in peers Tibco Software or Qlik Technologies ?

What is big data?
Big data offers services that make life easier for a company's customers, creates platforms where information can be stored in the cloud, and gives businesses and their employees access so they can better interact, engage, and understand industry- and company-related data.

One segment of this space is called data visualization, and this is an area where Tableau has thrived in the last year due to its user-friendly platform. The company competes directly with other data-visualization companies like Tibco and Qlik.

A little perspective
There's no debating that Tableau had an exceptional quarter earlier this month: The company saw revenue growth of 94.9%, which was an acceleration from its prior quarterly growth of 90%.

Not to mention, in an industry plagued with intense competition and heavy spending, profits are rare. Yet, Tableau managed to earn a non-GAAP net income of $14 million, a very impressive feat.

However, regardless of Tableau's mind-boggling growth and its 1,800-plus new customers added in a three-month span, investors must still be concerned about its valuation.

Tableau saw quarterly revenue of just $81.45 million, and in 2014, analysts expect the company to take in $327 million in revenue. Yet, the stock trades at 17 times future sales.

To put this in perspective, Tableau's competitors Tibco and Qlik, combined, have a market capitalization of just $5.7 billion -- comparable to Tableau. But together, they are expected to generate revenue of $1.7 billion in 2014.

Essentially, Tableau is worth just as much as the combined valuations of two competitors that alone are significantly larger. Therefore, investors are taking massive bets on Tableau to not only maintain growth, but to own this data-visualization space in the future.

The problem is that Qlik and Tibco are not bad companies
Tableau's advantage is that it has become appealing to large customers, and that its platform provides interactive data that is easy to use. However, these companies all offer similar services at different prices, and platforms from all of these companies are becoming more user-friendly with time.

Qlik provides data-visualization platforms to small and medium-sized businesses to integrate and store data to be shared across various work groups and divisions. Thus, Qlik allows users to make more informed business decisions.

For this upcoming year, Qlik is expected to grow by 18%, with sales of $550 million. At 4.25 times expected revenue, it is much cheaper than Tableau. The only negative is that Qlik is not profitable, having an operating margin of near zero, due to high costs. However, peer Tibco is very profitable, with operating margins of almost 15%.

Tibco is a leader in business optimization and process management, providing platforms to integrate and analyze operational data. While its expected revenue growth is much smaller at 8%, this is a company generating more than $1.1 billion in sales, trading at just three times forward revenue.

As a result, given the size, value, and growth rates of these companies, it is hard to validate an investment in Tableau despite its rapid growth. In fact, investors must acknowledge that there are no guarantees Tableau will ever reach $550 million or $1.1 billion in annual sales, much less carry the growth rates of its peers Qlik or Tibco if the same fundamentals are ever earned.

Final thoughts
The business intelligence market is estimated to be worth more than $13 billion, and big data and cloud services are rapidly becoming a larger piece of this pie. With that said, Tableau is believed by many to be a top investment opportunity within this space in the years ahead. However, it is already priced for greatness, and is still very much unproven.

Investors might be better served by looking at one of Tableau's peers, such as Tibco or Qlik, two companies with impressive growth and valuations that still allow for further upside. However, given Tibco's impressive margins, 8% growth rate, and cheapest valuation multiple, it might be the safest and best investment for the future.

The bottom line: It appears Tableau has reached a valuation beyond reason, and most likely, this won't end well for investors who were late to the game.

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

Economic woes have plagued the markets in 2014, but today, the stage belonged to Janet Yellen, and the Federal Reserve chair delivered an impressive opening performance. Major stock market benchmarks were up more than 1% Tuesday, but that paled in comparison to the larger gains that iRobot , TriQuint Semiconductor , and Harmony Gold enjoyed today.

iRobot jumped 11% after the robotic electronics maker's intellectual-property law firm announced that it had been ranked No. 5 on a list of top patent portfolios in the electronics and instruments industry. With even higher showings in the "science strength" and "industry impact" categories, iRobot has developed technology that has had an impact not just on its own products but on the entire industry's offerings as well. Moreover, as Google bought Boston Dynamics and other robot-making companies recently, interest in iRobot as a potential takeover candidate has increased as well.

TriQuint also gained 11% as the company reportedly turned to Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs for assistance in fending off unwanted pressure from activist investors at Starboard Value. With the hedge fund pushing for aggressive moves like selling off its power-amplifier business or divesting its in-house manufacturing capability in favor of third-party foundry services, TriQuint likely wants to assess all of its available options. Yet with Starboard having announced its intention to begin a proxy battle to name directors to TriQuint's board at its annual meeting later this year, TriQuint needs to act carefully but firmly in order to fulfill its obligations to its shareholders.

Harmony Gold rose 9% on a strong day for gold, which reacted favorably to Dr. Yellen's testimony as well. Most gold-mining stocks posted solid gains Tuesday, but Harmony in particular jumped because its relatively high production costs leave it less margin than lower-cost miners. As a result, when gold rises, it has a more dramatic impact on potential future profits for Harmony than with other mining companies. It's unclear whether gold's gains will continue, but signs of Fed accommodation continuing are generally a positive for the market.

The 2014 Maserati Ghibli sedan won't put up huge sales numbers, but it's one of the foundations of Fiat and Chrysler's plan to become a global auto giant. Photo credit: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

When is it possible for two failing companies to add up to a successful one?

When the combination gives them the economies of scale they need to succeed.

As second-tier, regional automakers, Fiat and Chrysler were doomed to fall far behind bigger rivals. But merge the two as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , or FCA, and suddenly the combined company has a promising future.

On paper, Chrysler's traditional strengths in trucks and SUVs meshes nicely with Fiat's strengths in small cars and luxury vehicles. And in practice, the two companies have proved that they can work very well together: Since Fiat took control in 2009, Chrysler has launched a string of much-improved products.

With a full merger now essentially complete, FCA can shift into higher gear and begin building out a truly global product portfolio. As Fool contributor John Rosevear explains in this video, there's still a lot of work to be done -- but already, it's possible to see how FCA's product strategy is taking shape.

A transcript follows the video.

Hey, Fools, it's John Rosevear. So we've talked a bit about this new automaker, FCA, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles -- it's Fiat and Chrysler, but fully merged and building out their portfolio as a global automaker. And I want to talk a little bit about how this is taking shape, because FCA is going to be a big topic for us here at the Fool going forward, the stock is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange sometime this fall, and lots of investors have been interested.

But it's interesting how this is coming together. For a while now we've seen Chrysler's strength in trucks, with the Ram pickups and SUVs with Jeeps, and in larger cars with the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300, but they've lacked somewhat in smaller cars. They've moved to change that a bit with the Dodge Dart a year ago and now the new Chrysler 200. The 200 is an all-new vehicle that is aimed right at the Ford Fusion, they say; it's a big improvement over the outgoing model. And it's built on a platform that started with Alfa Romeo; it has been enlarged and Americanized, they say, but of course Alfa is a Fiat brand, and it is known for sharp handling, so the 200 should be fun to drive.

With very small cars, Fiat, of course, has the Fiat 500; that has been sold here for a while now. And the company is building out its premium offerings. We've seen the Maseratis, the Ghibli, and the Quattroporte, medium and big sedans, along with a couple of sports cars, but we're also expecting to see some new Alfa Romeos, including probably a compact sedan that will be aimed in the BMW 3-Series neighborhood, whereas the Ghibli is kind of being positioned as an alternative to the 5-Series.

Now, this will take a few years to build out, and really it's something of a gamble as to whether they're going to be able to pull this off. A cynic would say that in the big trend of consolidation of the global auto business, Fiat and Chrysler were both companies that were kind of expected to die off. But instead, they've found their way to a mash-up that has the makings of a thriving global automaker, and while they still have a lot of work to do, we have to give them some benefit of the doubt here, simply because the products so far have been good. The overhauled Grand Cherokee is terrific, the Ram is a very strong contender, the new Chrysler 200 looks promising, the new Maserati sedans have gotten good reviews, and those are just starting points.

But consider that the whole company is going to be built out around these bones -- for instance, the platform that underpins the Maseratis will be used in the next-generation Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300, obviously with lower-cost parts to some extent, but still, if the basic quality and execution is there, it should continue to be there. So I'm optimistic about their chances. We'll see. Thanks for watching, and Fool on.

The Department of Defense awarded six defense contracts Tuesday, worth a total of $1.54 billion.

The largest of these awards increases by an estimated $804.8 million the size of an existing contract with a group of carriers dubbed the "Patriot Team" to provide international airlift services to the U.S. Transportation Command. This Patriot Team consists of the following carriers, who are providing these services to the U.S. military:

• Air Transport Services Group subsidiary ABX Air
• JetBlue Airways
• United Continental
• UPS
• Five privately held air carriers.

A separate, slightly smaller contract modification with an "Alliance Contractor Team" will be worth $635.5 million, and involves American Airlines and two other, privately owned carriers.

By virtue of these two contract modifications, all of these firms will continue providing international airlift services to the military through Sept. 30 of this year.

Source: Dick's Sporting Goods.

announced better-than-expected sales for the fourth quarter of 2013. In addition, the company raised its earnings-per-share guidance, which is quite uncommon in the current retail environment. Dick's is attractively valued in comparison with peers such as Cabela's , Hibbett Sports , and Big 5 Sporting Goods , so the company looks well positioned for superior returns.

Dick's Sporting Goods announced on Monday that sales during the key fourth quarter of the year exceeded the company's expectations. The company reported a big 7% increase in comparable-store sales adjusted for the 53rd week in fiscal 2012. The figure was materially better than management's previous estimate, in the range of a 3% to 4% growth rate.

Even better, the company raised its earnings-per-share guidance for the quarter to between $1.10 and $1.11 per share versus a previous guidance of $1.04 to $1.07. Wall Street analysts are forecasting $1.07 per share for the quarter, so the company's updated guidance will probably generate upside revisions in the coming days.

While most retailers are being hurt by weak customer demand and harsh weather conditions, Dick's Sporting Goods is not only reporting solid sales performance, but it's also generating higher-than-expected margins in spite of the aggressively promotional retail environment.

CEO Edward W. Stack is feeling quite confident about the company's prospects in 2014: "We enter 2014 with a robust and growing omni-channel network and exciting merchandising opportunities, which we believe will translate into double-digit earnings growth."

Management estimates that the company will make between $3.03 and $3.08 in earnings per share during fiscal 2014. That means a growth rate in the range of 13% to 15% versus earnings-per-share guidance for fiscal 2013. Not bad at all, especially considering the challenging industry headwinds that are hurting many retailers lately. 

When compared against competitors such as Cabela's, Hibbett, and Big 5, Dick's Sporting Goods looks attractively valued. The company is a bit cheaper than Cabela's and Hibbett in terms of both P/E and forward P/E ratios. While Big 5 Sporting Goods is by a considerable margin the cheapest one in the group, the company is also clearly underperforming its competitors.

Data Source: FinViz.

Cabela's will report earnings for the fourth quarter of 2013 on Thursday. The report should be interesting to watch, since the company has performed particularly well lately. Sales during the third quarter of 2013 increased by 14.8% on the back of a 3.9% increase in comparable-store sales, and earnings per share grew by 16.7% during the period.

Hibbett reported mixed results for the third quarter of last year. Revenues increased by a moderate 2.5%, but comparable-store sales were quite strong, with a 4.8% growth rate versus the third quarter in 2012. However, margins fell during the quarter, and the company reported a 7% decline in earnings per share versus the prior year.

Big 5 announced a 1.8% increase in sales for the fourth quarter, but same-store sales decreased by 0.5%. The company also narrowed its earnings-per-share guidance for the year to between $0.21 and $0.23 versus a previous guidance of $0.20 to $0.28 per share. Management blamed the weak performance during the quarter on tough annual comparisons because of the surge of firearm and ammunition sales in 2012, as well as unfriendly weather conditions.

In all, considering the company's strong performance and healthy prospects, Dick's Sporting Goods is trading at attractive valuation levels in comparison to competitors in the sporting goods stores business.

Dick's Sporting Goods seems to be firing on all cylinders, and the company is entering 2014 with strong momentum and optimistic prospects for the year. This is nothing short of remarkable considering the difficult retail environment. The stock is also attractively valued in comparison with peers, so Dick's Sporting Goods is in a position of strength to deliver winning returns for investors.

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

On Tuesday, investors largely focused on what Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen said before Congressional leaders, drawing comfort from the belief that her tenure will closely resemble that of her predecessor. Yet even though the Dow and S&P 500 both climbed more than 1% today, several individual stocks took big hits, with Rackspace Hosting , Infoblox , and OmniVision Technologies among the poorest performers in an otherwise upbeat session.

Rackspace fell 19% on news that co-founder and CEO Lanham Napier will leave the company to pursue other entrepreneurial opportunities. The cloud-computing service provider posted quarterly results that met or exceeded expectations, and its forward guidance for the current quarter and full 2014 year was reasonably positive as well. Yet in the long run, Napier's departure could have a much bigger impact if Rackspace can't find as capable a leader as a replacement.

Infoblox lost almost half its value Tuesday, plunging 48% after the automated-network control company cut its fiscal second-quarter sales expectations by $5 million. The company pointed to a particularly weak January, with a smaller number of large-value transactions and a big pullback in its federal-government business. Infoblox also cut its full-year guidance, reducing sales expectations by about $20 million and slashing its earnings range by between $0.14 and $0.20 per share. The news also led analysts to worry about Infoblox and its future prospects, and until the company can give more information about what happened, shareholders are taking cover first and will ask questions later.

OmniVision Technologies dropped 8% after rumors surfaced that Apple could pick rival Sony to provide both of the image sensors for the iPhone 6's cameras. Sony has benefited from a huge drop in the value of the yen in the past year, and Apple might well be looking to capitalize on a potential cost-cutting opportunity by boosting the volume of business it does with the Japanese giant. With camera quality playing an important role in distinguishing Apple products from its competitors, the possible vote of no confidence could be a big problem for OmniVision going forward if the rumor proves to be true.

The troubles in the eurozone have made many investors afraid of investing in European banks. But while the economies of peripheral nations are still casting a shadow over Greek and Irish banks, those in Germany are able to escape some of the mess by residing in a more financially stable country. In particular, Germany's two largest banks -- Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG -- present some intriguing opportunities.

Where we've been
With economic malaise in Europe and share dilution from capital infusions, shares of both banks are trading well off their pre-recession highs. Before the recession, Deutsche Bank traded north of $120 per share and currently sits at around $47. Shares of Commerzbank have done even worse. From a split-adjusted high of over $500 in 2007, Commerzbank now trades near $17.

Just how big are they?
To truly value these companies, we need to take market capitalization into consideration. In efforts to raise capital, both banks issued massive numbers of new shares, causing significant share dilution. Deutsche Bank's share count more than doubled from 498.7 million at the end of 2006 to 1.0 billion today.

At Commerzbank, the split-adjusted number of shares outstanding at the end of 2006 was 65.7 million. Today, that number stands at over 1.1 billion. In fact, there's been so much share dilution at Commerzbank that even without adjusting for the 1-for-10 reverse split, Commerzbank still has more shares outstanding today than it did at the end of 2006.

Photo: Flickr/Ian McWilliams.

Using these numbers, Deutsche Bank's market cap at the end of 2006 stood around $62 billion and Commerzbank's came in around $26 billion. Today, Deutsche Bank has a market cap of $48.1 billion, and Commerzbank is valued at $19.3 billion.

Based on those valuation comparisons -- with Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank at 22% and 26% below their end of 2006 market caps, respectively -- it does appear there is room for recovery, but not to the same extent as the share price chart may indicate.

Value comparisons
Because of the uncertain outlook and the risks that I will discuss soon, both German banks trade at low valuations. Deutsche Bank trades at 0.8 times tangible book value and 0.6 times book value, while Commerzbank trades at 0.6 times tangible book value and 0.55 times book value.

Compared with Bank of America, one of the biggest banks on the other side of the Atlantic, both German banks trade relatively cheaply. B of A remains one of the last major U.S. banks to trade below book value. However, a recovery in confidence has shown its ability to work at B of A as shares have rebounded from the mid-single digits at their bottom to over $16 today. If confidence in the financial system continues to build, B of A shares could move closer to book value (carrying double digit upside) and German banks could at least move above tangible book value.

Sounds great, but ...
Just because Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank are not based in a peripheral nation does not mean they are shielded from their threats. Both banks are exposed to these peripheral economies through the ownership of sovereign debt and other investment activities.

Additionally, Commerzbank developed a large shipping loan portfolio prior to the recession and, with the shipping industry suffering financial difficulties, this lending has been a sore spot for the bank.

Stress tests are a major topic today among European banks, as a significant failure could mean more share dilution through forced share sales to raise capital. However, German banks appear to be in better shape than many of their European counterparts. Current expectations from analysts call for German banks to meet requirements through internal restructurings, the sale of risky assets, and possible dividend cuts -- all of which are more favorable than share issuance.

German banks trade at a significantly lower valuation than U.S. banks due to their exposure to the eurozone economy. Commerzbank is the more speculative pick, with a lower valuation, no dividend, and a cloud of uncertainty over its shipping loan portfolio. Value investors looking for a dividend would be more interested in Deutsche Bank as it currently yields just over 2%. However, if the bank has a tough time meeting requirements, it may reduce this payout.

With Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank still trading well below tangible book value and below historical high market cap levels, these stocks look worth examining further for value investors comfortable with some risk.

Akamai Technologies' earnings report suggests the company has many more years of growth ahead, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video. Why? One number stands out: 50.

In an interview conducted the day of the report, Akamai CEO and co-founder Tom Leighton revealed that 50% of revenue for the media group that supports streamed video, gaming, and similar services originates overseas. (A third of overall revenue is derived overseas.)

That's a strong number that suggests growing global appeal for the company's core business at a time when emerging economies are getting their first real taste of broadband. Companywide, revenue improved 15% in the fourth quarter. Adjusted operating profit grew 11%. Both figures beat Street estimates and guidance also impressed.

Second, it suggests that the core business is likely more vibrant than skeptics believed just a year ago. If anything, a healthy media business gives Akamai the resources the grow the newer and more experimental areas of its business, such as security and embedded acceleration software. Ultimately, that bodes well for the stock, Tim says.

Now it's your turn to weigh in. What did you think of Akamai Technologies' earnings report? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take and then leave a comment to let us know whether you would buy, sell, or short Akamai stock at current prices.

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

Janet Yellen took over the role of Fed chair at the beginning of February, but for many investors, today will mark the true beginning of her tenure leading the central bank. With her consistent testimony before Congress today, investors celebrated the continuity of policy that looks likely to persist into the future, and the Dow Jones Industrials rose 193 points to fall just short of 16,000. Yet meager gains of half a percent or less in Coca-Cola , Home Depot , and McDonald's have some shareholders wondering whether they'll participate in any continued economic success.

One reason consumer stocks might have performed badly today is that traditionally, stocks in defensive industries almost always underperform on big up days. Prospects of stronger growth push investors toward more cyclical companies that have a greater chance of capitalizing on improving economic conditions. Indeed, in the case of McDonald's, prosperous times have often been a contrary indicator of success, as it largely competes with higher-priced rivals that customers will gravitate to during good times. Even with its breakfast dominance last year, commanding 19% of the market and nearly tripling its closest rivals, McDonald's needs to figure out how to capture customers even when they could afford to go elsewhere.

Growth considerations are also an important part of the equation. McDonald's has plenty of overseas expansion plans, but in the U.S., it's hard for it to get much bigger. Similarly, Coca-Cola has seen difficulty bolstering domestic growth, even as other countries have much lower per-capita sales volumes and therefore have greater latitude for future growth. Strategic measures like its partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters might represent bona-fide efforts to grow, but in some ways, they reflect the desperation that Coca-Cola is suffering as it looks for legitimate growth opportunities despite flagging demand.

Yet perhaps most troubling is Home Depot's tepid advance today. On its face, Yellen's testimony suggested that interest rates could stay low despite the continuing taper of bond-buying activity under quantitative easing. Yet Home Depot and its home-improvement retail rivals will have to deal with the tension between an improving economy's tendency to raise rates and make homeowner financing more difficult, versus its positive impact on shoppers' wealth. Which way those competing factors play out could determine the direction of the Dow in 2014 and beyond.

If the rally continues, then consumer stocks might lag behind. But the more important question is whether they'll serve their defensive purpose in a downturn. If not, then the consumer stocks of the Dow could prove to be the worst of both worlds for investors.

Networking giant Cisco Systems is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings on Feb. 12, and both analysts and investors have low expectations. With guidance for the quarter pointing toward a large revenue decline, the result of emerging market weakness, earnings are likely to fall considerably compared to the same quarter last year. Better-than-expected performance in mature markets may help Cisco beat the estimates, but the quarter will almost certainly be a very weak one. Here's what to expect from Cisco's earnings report.

What analysts are expecting
While Cisco's first quarter was decent, the company's guidance for the second quarter was downright awful. Revenue was predicted to decline by 8%-10% year over year, driven by extreme weakness in emerging markets, and little detail as to the cause or expected duration of these problems was given. Revenue from China, Brazil, Mexico, India, and Russia all fell by between 18%-30%, and given the guidance, these markets could perform even worse for Cisco in the second quarter. Analysts expect earnings per share to fall to $0.46, down from $0.51 in the same quarter last year.

What to look for
The announcement of expected revenue declines came as a shock last quarter, and the most important thing to observe is what management says about next quarter and beyond. As CEO John Chambers talked about during the Q1 conference call, Cisco is dealing with three distinct issues. First, emerging markets are proving to be incredibly weak. Second, the ramping up of new switching and routing platforms is causing some short-term revenue losses. And third, orders from service providers have declined.

In the first quarter, emerging market orders declined by 12%, while service provider orders declined by 13%. Cisco's set-top box business, which accounts for about 20% of service provider revenue, declined by 20% during the quarter, and some analysts are calling for the company to sell the set-top business. Cisco has stated that it has no plans to do so, and service provider revenue will likely be dragged down in the short term due to this issue.

How long this weakness will last is the big question, and guidance for the third quarter should give some indication. At the company's analyst day in December, Cisco lowered its three- to five-year revenue growth target from 5%-7% to 3%-6%, suggesting that these issues may drag on for quite some time.

The current transition in Cisco's routing and switching platforms may be helping rival Juniper Networks . Juniper beat analyst estimates for both EPS and revenue when the company reported earnings on Jan. 23, with an increase in operating margin driving earnings higher. As Cisco's new platforms ramp up, Juniper could continue to benefit going forward.

Possible dividend increase
Cisco first began paying a dividend in 2011, and since then the company has boosted the dividend payment three times. Currently at $0.17 per share, the quarterly dividend gives shares of Cisco a yield of about 3%. The most recent dividend marks four straight quarters without a dividend increase, so Cisco may be planning to raise the dividend along with its earnings announcement.

Even though earnings will likely take a hit from continued emerging market weakness, Cisco still has plenty of room to increase the dividend. In fiscal 2013, Cisco paid out about 28% of the free cash flow as dividends, so even a significant dividend hike wouldn't pressure the company's cash flow situation. The $50 billion of cash on the balance sheet helps support the dividend as well, although a large portion of this cash is held abroad.

The bottom line
Cisco is facing a few distinct challenges, and the lowered long-term revenue guidance points to these issues persisting for certainly the next few quarters...and possibly the next few years. But Cisco's dominant position in the industry is unlikely to change any time soon, and these short-term problems should eventually subside. The next few quarters probably won't be pretty, but for long-term investors, quarterly results are less important than the long-term story. And the long-term story still looks fine for Cisco, despite the current weakness.

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

Today, Wall Street got to meet Janet Yellen -- and by all accounts, Wall Street loved her. The new Federal Reserve chairwoman addressed a Congressional committee regarding the central bank's plans under her leadership -- and for the most part, it appears that she'll continue the policies of her predecessor, Ben Bernanke. Tapering will continue, and interest rates will remain low until the job market improves. 

All the major indexes increased by more than 1% today. But Yellen wasn't the only one making news. Social-media stocks lit things up, as Facebook and Twitter both increased by more than 2%, while LinkedIn dropped by more than 2%.

So what happened? For Facebook, the increase came as two Sterne Agee analysts maintained their "buy" rating and $70 price target on the stock. Their earnings estimates of $1.32 per share for 2014 and $1.70 for 2015 are higher than the consensus, and that's a clear sign that they don't think Facebook will suffer from the loss of younger users. Meanwhile, eMarketer estimates that 95.9% of social networkers in the 12-to-17 age bracket are on Facebook. That's higher than expected, and it would mean the number of teen users essentially has nowhere to go but down. Investors should keep an eye on these trends in the quarters to come and see whether they affect Facebook's business to any significant degree.  

As for Twitter, a report came out today that the company is testing a new profile look that more closely resembles the layouts at Facebook and Google's social network, Google+. Back when Twitter reported earnings, management conceded that new user growth may have been affected by the difficulty some people were having navigating with Twitter's platform. A redesign shouldn't hurt the company, as most users will probably roll with the changes and new users may be more inclined to give Twitter a chance if they're given a platform that feels more familiar.

Finally, shares of LinkedIn dropped 2.18% on very little news but more than double the normal trading volume -- more than 5 million shares, compared with an average of 2.2 million over the past three months. Shares fell more than 6% in reaction to Friday's earnings report, which delivered weaker guidance than expected, and today's drop may be more of the same, as investors continue to weight the numbers. Of course, long-term investors who believe in the future of this industry in general, and LinkedIn in particular, should simply ride out this short-term bump and keep on holding.

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

Stocks jumped today as new Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen gave her first remarks to Congress, indicating that she will stay the course on the stimulus taper. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 193 points, or 1.2%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed up more than 1% as well.

In her comments, Yellen said she understands that the economy has not fully recovered: "By a number of measures our economy is not back, the labor market is not back, to normal. There's a great deal of slack in the labor market still." Yellen also said she would focus on reducing long-term unemployment, which spiked to extraordinary highs after the financial crisis, and still remains elevated. The new chairwoman seemed to hit all the right notes in her first appearance, as stocks climbed throughout the day following her comments before the House Financial Services Committee this morning.

Stocks making noise today included Groupon , which finished down 6% after its top product executive, Jeff Holden, said he will leave the company March 18. The timing, coming just a week ahead of the daily-deals specialist's earnings report, struck some investors as odd, perhaps signaling poor performance in the fourth quarter. Groupon said Holden was leaving for another unnamed company, but one that's not a Groupon competitor. The sell-off may just be a jittery reaction to a stock that's made investors dizzy since its 2011 IPO, losing more than 90% of its value at one point, but stability seems to be finally arriving, as the stock has recovered since founder Andrew Mason's departure. We'll learn more when Groupon reports earnings next Thursday. Analysts are expecting an adjusted profit of $0.02 a share.

Moving in the opposite direction was iRobot , as shares finished up 11% after the Roomba-maker was recognized by the Patent Board for "having one of the top patent portfolios overall within the competitive electronics and instruments industry. iRobot was ranked No. 5 overall, No. 2 in "Science Strength," and No. 3 in "Industry Impact." The Patent Board put iRobot ahead of several major electronics makers, and the report is not only a feather in the tech company's cap, but also a reminder that its future products may more than justify the current high price tag even as top-line sales have slowed.

Lockheed Martin is continuing to explore ways to "go green."

On Tuesday, the world's biggest pure-play defense contractor announced that has entered into a contract with Australia's Victorian Wave Partners Ltd. to begin development of "the world's largest wave energy project."

Victorian Wave has developed what it calls "PowerBuoy wave generation technology," in which buoys floating in the ocean bob up and down with the rising and falling of waves, creating mechanical energy that drives a generator to create electricity -- which is then conducted back to shore via an underwater cable.

In cooperation with Lockheed, Victorian Wave will build a network of buoys floating off the coast of Victoria, Australia, and capable of generating initially 2.5 megawatts of power, gradually increasing to 62.5 megawatts as the project progresses through three stages to completion. At this latter, advanced stage of development, the project would generate enough electricity to power 10,000 Australian homes.

Lockheed's role in the project will be to assist with manufacturing designs and produce components for the PowerBuoys, integrate them into a single system, and provide "overall project management." Although primarily a defense contractor, Lockheed Martin has some experience in such projects. Last year, Lockheed announced a similar ocean-going green energy project -- based on different technology however -- designed to produce 10 megawatts of power from "ocean thermal energy conversion" for use in powering a "green resort" in China. 

Whole Foods Market is bringing a modern payment system into its stores. The grocery-chain operator announced that it has signed a deal with e-payments specialist Square to bring the latter's systems to some of its prepared food and beverage counters in select stores. These venues will use Square Register and Square Stand to accept payments from customers, allowing them to pay directly at the venues, as opposed to the traditional method of waiting in line at a checkout register.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Whole Foods added that at select venues, customers will have the option to pay with their mobile device using Square Wallet, an app from the payments company.

Whole Foods is slated to release its latest quarterly figures on Wednesday. On average, analysts are expecting EPS of $0.44 on revenue of $4.3 billion. 

There will soon be a new nameplate on comScore's CEO desk. It will belong to Serge Matta, who was appointed the company's chief executive effective March 1. He replaces the current CEO, firm co-founder Magid Abraham, who will become executive chairman of the board of directors.

Matta is a longtime comScore executive, and has served in numerous managerial positions since joining the company just after its founding in 1999. He has been its president since last June.

The company also released its Q4 and fiscal 2013 results. For the quarter, revenue hit an all-time record of $76.5 million, a 15% gain over Q4 2012's figure. Net income also notched a record, coming in at around $170,000 ($0.00 per diluted share) against a loss of $1.6 million ($0.05).  

For the full year, revenue was $287 million, an improvement over 2012's $255 million. Net loss narrowed to $2.3 million ($0.07 per diluted share), compared to the year-ago figure of $11.8 million ($0.35). 

The company also proffered guidance for its current Q1 and the entirety of 2014, saying for the former it expected revenue of $74.8 million to $76.7 million, with net loss of $3.1 million to $4.8 million. For the full year, the top line is anticipated to be $316.5 million to $327.5 million, with net ranging from a loss of $2.8 million to a profit of $6.7 million.

Even though goodwill is not a big part of Amazon's balance sheet, it explains a big part of Amazon's capitalization. Amazon's market capitalization is around $160 billion, while it carries goodwill of only $2.6 billion. 

For decades, Amazon has been forgoing profits to "get big fast" and build customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is theoretically worth a lot. Studies show a totally satisfied customer generates 17 times more revenue than a dissatisfied customer and 2.6 times a more revenue than a somewhat satisfied customer.  

Many Amazon bulls argue that because it has built up significant customer loyalty, Amazon can raise prices and realize higher margins in the future. This thought may soon be put to the test. 

Rising costs may lead to rising Prime prices
In a recent conference call, Amazon said it was considering raising the price of an Amazon Prime membership by $20 to $40 because of higher costs. The price hike is significant because the $79-a-year, free two-day shipping service has not had a price raise in almost nine years. If implemented, the price hike will be one of the first instances that test how loyal customers are to Amazon.

Some investors worry that Amazon could go through the Netflix experience. Back in 2011, many investors thought Netflix had great customer loyalty. Netflix had a killer product that everyone loved. Then the company raised fees by 60%, and its growth slowed dramatically. The online video streamer lost more than 800,000 subscribers in a single quarter, and its stock tanked before eventually recovering.

Long-term thinking
Mr. Bezos is the ultimate long-term thinker. He has positioned Amazon to be long-term greedy rather optimizing profits for the short term, like many other companies. The long-term thinking has helped Amazon gain market share and become a seemingly unstoppable revenue-growing machine. Wall Street has played along, valuing Amazon stock based on its revenue growth rather than on profit metrics. 

With Amazon's new plan, it seems that Bezos is acknowledging that Amazon will no longer grow as fast as it did before. To satisfy investors, Bezos is beginning to better monetize Amazon, starting with raising the cost of Amazon Prime memberships. 

Whether Amazon succeeds in raising profits without ostracizing its customers will offer a crucial tell on Amazon's ability to monetize its entire base. 

Smooth operations
If Amazon succeeds, the future is still bright.  It is still the early innings. Retail accounted for around $4 trillion in revenue in 2013  with E-commerce accounting for only $260 billion. Unlike Wal-Mart , Amazon can sell/launch new products by simply adding new links on its website. Amazon can take its low-margin, hyper-efficient model and grab market share in new, tangential marketplaces. It has the right corporate DNA to innovate and create total game changers, such as the crown jewel, Amazon Web Services. 

Whereas Wal-Mart mainly targets the price-conscious market segment, Amazon targets everyone. Because it targets everyone, Amazon has more customers with significant disposable income. The average household income of an Amazon customer is around $89,000, versus the $71,000 for the U.S. as a whole. Because it has more customers who are not as price-sensitive, Amazon has a higher margin ceiling than Wal-Mart or other discount stores. 

The Foolish bottom line
Nothing is easy. Discount retail is a cutthroat business where profit margins are often in the low single digits. So far, though, Amazon has done very well growing a large user base. How well it does monetizing that user base will soon be put to the test.