Sony is currently crushing its rivals in the video game market. The Japanese electronics giant has now sold more than 6 million PlayStation 4s, likely (though not officially) putting it ahead of both Microsoft's Xbox One and Nintendo's Wii U.

The PlayStation 4 has exceeded Sony's expectations, and should continue to sell well in the coming quarters. That's great for Sony, as its other electronic businesses continue to languish.

A repeat of the PlayStation 2 era?
Although Sony appears to be ahead right now, it was once far more dominant -- the PlayStation 2 sold more units (over 150 million) than both the rival consoles from Nintendo and Microsoft combined (less than 50 million).

Missteps last generation, most notably launching a PlayStation 3 that was far more expensive than Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii, set Sony back. But now it seems to have regained its edge, and the PlayStation 4 could ultimately outsell boxes from both Microsoft and Sony.

A strong launch is a good sign, and the PlayStation 4's momentum should continue as the console sees more major video games released. Sony has built a strong lineup of exclusive intellectual property, with popular franchises like InFamous, God of War, Uncharted, and LittleBigPlanet. As franchises receive PlayStation 4 installments, sales should get a further boost.

Sony's early lead is hardly surprising -- for dedicated gamers, Sony appears to be offering a better value than its rivals: The PlayStation 4 is $100 less expensive than Microsoft's Xbox One, and it's poised to enjoy more third-party support than Nintendo's Wii U. For PlayStation Plus subscribers, Sony also gives away digital copies of select PlayStation 4 games on a monthly basis -- a perk Microsoft's Xbox Live members don't enjoy.

Sony's lone star
The PlayStation 4's success is great for Sony, as its other electronics businesses are increasingly struggling. Last month, the Associated Press' Yuri Kageyama summarized Sony's situation, noting that the PlayStation brand was one of the only ones that hasn't "faded or succumbed to a nimbler competitor."

Sony's VAIO PC business was sold last month to a group of private investors, as demand for PCs powered by Microsoft's Windows has increasingly declined. At the same time, Sony's beleaguered TV business was placed in a separate subsidiary (perhaps to be shut down, sold, or spun-off at some later date). Sony is attempting to break into the mobile market, with a high-end line of smartphones and tablets, but remains far behind Samsung in terms of popularity.

Sony does have a treasure trove of entertainment assets, enough to draw the attention of activist investor Dan Loeb last year. But continued losses led ratings firm Moody's to cut Sony's debt to junk status back in January.

The PlayStation as a platform
If the PlayStation is going to turn around Sony's fortune, it will be because it ultimately transforms into something much more substantial than just a video game console. Although Sony's machine is often characterized as a pure video game device (as opposed to Microsoft's more entertainment-focused Xbox One) Sony seems to have ambitions for the PlayStation that stretch far beyond gaming.

Sony, for example, is currently working on an Internet-based paid TV service that could challenge the existing cable establishment. Sony's CEO, Kaz Hirai, told CNBC back in January that the PlayStation could serve as a base for Sony's upcoming service, acting as an Internet-connected set-top box. Like Microsoft, Sony has its own music subscription, which is easily accessible through any PlayStation, and more services are coming, including PlayStation Now.

It's still early in the current console war, but barring a major shift, Sony's machine seems on pace to outsell both Microsoft's Xbox One and Nintendo's Wii U. That's great for Sony, as it shifts its focus from electronic sales to entertainment services.

Before you start going headfirst into early March Madness, pre-tournament bracketology research, check out what sent stocks to record highs this past week.

1. U.S. Economy adds 175,000 new jobs in February
After weak growth in December and January, some more Americans managed to get out there and finds jobs in February. A total of 175,000 people were added to the workforce in the still cold but slightly less blizzardy month of February. Analysts were expecting a meager 150,000 jobs growth, so the news was taken well.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up from 6.6% to 6.7%. However, more people got encouraged enough to restart their job search, which may have caused the uptick in the unemployment rate for a good reason.

The consumer-spending-reliant economy we've got here in the U.S. needs jobs and good wages to fuel spending, so this positive upside surprise kept investors happy Friday. That 175,000 number gets about a "C" grade normally, but with a frozen (literally) job market recently, it's not bad. Plus, many expect pent-up hiring demand to boost hiring in the coming spring months.

2. Stock market winner ...
You've got to listen to this good news. The maker of headphones all the cool kids are wearing, Skullcandy , surged 24% Friday after its earnings report hit all the right notes, topping analysts' expectations. "The Skull" reported a $3.6 million profit for the quarter, thanks to $72.2 million in revenues, compared with the $71.88 million expected.

But how does that look in the bigger picture? Sales fell 28% this fourth quarter compared with last year, when they generated about three times more profit ($11.5 million). That doesn't sound great, but Thursday's results still topped projections, and Skullcandy has being going through some hard times, like Dr. Dre in the mid-'90s. The company's suffered through legal expenses as a result of patent litigations from the bankruptcy of one of its major retail clients. Plus, aforementioned Dre has some trendy "Beats" headphones, and it's difficult to compete with the Dr.

For Wall Street, the key word here is "turnaround" -- many analysts are expecting a return to full-year profitability in 2014 thanks to the company's new product introductions set for this year and better positioning compared with the beginning of 2013. For a brand-focused industry targeting teens, tweens, and cool kids, the question will be whether Skull can join the holy ranks of Beats, Bose, and Sony in terms of brand equity.

3. ... And the stock market loser
We're not fans of the name (the term "shack" doesn't exactly sound as good as "mansion"), and neither were investors this past week. The '90s electronics retail legend RadioShack  fell more than 17% Tuesday after reporting disappointing earnings. More specifically, the Shack brought in $935 million in revenues during the fourth quarter -- unfortunately, that hefty sum represents a 20% drop from the $1.17 billion reported for the fourth quarter of 2013. And to make matters worse, Wall Street was expecting a dandy $1.12 billion.

Although the widened loss of $63.3 million wasn't up to par, either, investors were more focused on the bricks-and-mortar details -- RadioShack's 19% drop in same-store sales prompted the company to announce that it will close 1,100 underperforming stores (assuming the Shack's lenders for its 2018 credit agreement approve).

The kicker, though, is that all this happened at the worst possible time -- the holidays. For investors focused on retail, the most wonderful time of the year is expected to result in the most wonderful revenues figures for big-box stores. And after Radio Shack released its impressively self-deprecating "The '80s Called: They Want Their Store Back" ad during the Super Bowl (which boosted the stock 7% the next day), Wall Street had higher expectations for the company's recent performance. Looking forward, investors will be paying close attention to whether Radio Shack's cost-cutting initiatives can turn around the trend.

4. The Ukraine-vasion rattled stock and commodities markets
Fresh off winning the most Olympic medals, Russia won the gold for geopolitical upheaval by sending troops into the Crimea region of Ukraine -- just after Ukraine ousted its president over pursuing an economic stability deal with Russia instead of the EU. As Russia's motherland stock market fell over 10%, shares of financial stocks dependent on economic stability suffered early in the week, while North American potash fertilizer producers gained on hopes of sanctions against big-time potash-producin' Russia. One thing's for sure: Military conflict in Ukraine would be bad for European, Russian, and most U.S. stocks (except those crazy Potash producers).

5. Motor vehicle sales froze/stalled in February
Blizzards didn't just slow manufacturing, retail sales, and home turnovers last month, but they also discouraged folks from leaving home to pimp their rides. Despite consistent growth over the past three years, both General Motors and Ford had fewer car sales for the second straight month compared with last year. Only Chrysler (owned by Fiat) switched to four-wheel drive, enjoying its 47th straight month of sales gains thanks to the new Jeep Cherokee SUV.

What MarketSnacks is checking out this week:

• Monday: 2 Federal Reserve presidents speak; earnings: Cooper Tire, Cosi
• Tuesday: National Federation of Independent Businesses' Small Business Index; earnings: American Eagle, Dick's Sporting Goods
• Wednesday: The Treasury releases its budget; earnings: Krispy Kreme, CVS Caremark
• Thursday: February retail sales; earnings: Hugo Boss, SeaWorld
• Friday: Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey

As originally published on MarketSnacks.com

Sales of the 2014 Chevy Silverado were down again in February. Photo credit: General Motors Co.

At first glance, it was a rough month for General Motors and its all-new pickup trucks. 

GM's U.S. sales were down 1% last month, as harsh winter weather in many parts of the country kept buyers away from car dealers. That's not so bad: Rivals Ford  and Toyota  posted bigger declines.

But here's the rough part: Sales of Chevy pickups were down 12%. The 2014 Chevy Silverado, an all-new model introduced last year, has been praised by critics -- but both Ford and Chrysler saw pickup sales rise in February. That's leading some analysts to whisper that GM's new pickups are failures.

But are they? GM says the story isn't so bad, and they make a solid case. Meanwhile, some of GM's other recent models are actually doing quite well. In this short video, Fool contributor John Rosevear digs into the numbers -- and concludes that GM's new pickups, and GM as a whole, are doing better than you might think. 

A transcript of the video is below.

John Rosevear: Hey, Fools, it's John Rosevear. Like most of the other big automakers, GM had a tough month for U.S. sales in February. GM said this past week that its U.S. sales were down 1% last month, as tough winter weather kept buyers away from dealers. That's actually a little better than most analysts expected. Both Ford and Toyota saw bigger sales drops last month.

GM said that its big ad blitz during the Winter Olympics helped push some sales, and that things picked up a bit as the weather in some parts of the country improved toward the end of the month. GM saw good sales of cars and crossovers, but once again, its new pickups had a tough time. Chevy Silverado sales were down 12%. That drop continues to raise questions about the success, or lack of success, of the all-new Silverado that was introduced last year.

But GM says that drop isn't the whole story. That number rolls together both Silverado 1500s as well as Chevy's heavy-duty pickups. The heavy-duties weren't all new last year, they'll be replaced later this year. GM says that if you look just at light-duty pickups and retail sales, its market share actually went up 2 percentage points in February. GM also says that its average transaction prices have been very strong, and that more than half of its light-duty pickups -- that's the Silverado 1500 along with the GMC Sierra 1500 -- more than half of those are "premium" models with higher profit margins.

GM did admit that its incentives rose a bit in February, but they said that's mostly because they're selling down the last of those old heavy-duty pickups as well as the last of the big SUVs, the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukons are in the process of being replaced with the all-new models and dealers are selling off the last of the old ones.

So we continue to keep a sharp eye on GM's less-than-impressive-looking pickup sales, but it's important to note that GM is having some good success in other key parts of the market. Compact and midsize car sales were down at Ford, but not at Chevrolet. Sales of the Sonic and the Cruze and the Malibu were all up by double-digit percentages. At the higher end of the market, overall sales of the new Cadillac CTS were down a bit versus last year's sales of the old version, but GM said that retail sales were up 7%, and they estimate that its market share was up by 1.6 points, which is strong for Cadillac.

GM also said that commercial fleet sales were up for the fourth month in a row, and are up 8% year to date. Now, I know that some folks get worried about fleet sales, but commercial sales are the good ones. This is sales of things like big batches of trucks to contractors. This is good profitable business, business that Ford and GM compete hard for -- we're not talking about dumping cars on rental fleets here.

So, all in all, when you dig into the numbers, it was a decent month for GM in comparison to what some of its competitors put up, and I think the doom and gloom around GM's truck sales might be a bit premature. We'll see how things look once the weather improves, though. Thanks for watching, and Fool on.

IRAs were designed to help people fund their retirement, but with many retirees not using up their retirement account balances before they die, IRAs also serve a useful purpose in passing wealth to future generations. Now, though, proposals in President Obama's new budget would greatly change the way inherited IRAs work.

In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, looks at how changes to inherited IRA rules would make them far less desirable for estate-planning purposes. Dan notes that the proposal doesn't change current rules allowing spouses to roll over inherited IRAs to IRAs in their own name. But the real changes apply to heirs other than spouses. Dan points out that under current law, many beneficiaries can use what's known as a stretch IRA to take distributions over the course of their lifetimes, minimizing the tax impact and maximizing tax deferral. But the budget would change those rules, instead forcing most non-spouse beneficiaries to withdraw the full balance of inherited IRAs within five years of the original owner's death. Dan concludes that such rules accelerate taxation and discourages using inherited IRAs for one's own retirement.

At the end of this month, Starbucks  is likely to post a result that will draw little attention, but is intriguing for its larger implications: The company will overtake McDonald's  for the first time in pre-tax earnings in Japan.  McDonald's, of course, has struggled in Japan recently. Its 50-owned Japanese subsidiary recently announced that it was closing 74 stores, or about 2.3% of its total store count, due to declining customer demand. Starbucks' demand arc in Japan is quite another story -- the company has gone from zero to more than 1,000 stores in less than 20 years. 

The two businesses' trajectories in Japan are emblematic of a more global phenomenon. On nearly every continent, McDonald's is struggling to maintain its growth momentum, while Starbuck's has seemingly effortlessly posted a recent annual growth rate of 11.1%. McDonald's is dealing with a number of factors crimping its revenues, the most prominent of which is a sea change in consumer preferences, for higher-quality, fast-casual establishments over quick-service chains like McDonald's. Yet recently, the company has zeroed in on Starbucks as a threat to its business. Here's Chief Operating Officer Tim Fenton during the company's most recent earnings call, discussing the last quarter's problems and mentioning Starbucks but not by name:

... we lost some share based on our insights to non-traditional competitors, cafés, and bakeries."

As Bloomberg reported a few days after this call, internally, McDonald's has challenged its operators to protect its breakfast segment by winning what it deems a "coffee war" with Starbucks.

Will McDonald's wrench significant amounts of market share from Starbucks with this new push? It's doubtful. But CEO Donald Thompson understands that sometimes, to push forward a big strategic objective, you need to humanize the objective and create a villain that your troops can rally around to defeat.

The point of appearing to go to war
In this case, the strategic objective is simply to increase coffee-driven visits in the U.S., as such visits usually occur at breakfast, which accounts for 25% of company revenue. The strategy is likely informed by the chain's recent experience in Canada. In 2008, career McDonald's executive John Betts took over the company's Canadian division. Along with upgrading McDonald's Canadian locations to a more contemporary aesthetic, Betts implemented a plan to draw more Canadians into McDonald's outlets with coffee, because Canada, similar to the U.S., is a coffee culture. 

Most notably, McDonald's Canada began giving coffee away for free, first running this promotion in 2009. The emphasis on coffee won over skeptical Canadians, and since then, coffee sales in Canada have tripled, and breakfast has seen double-digit sales increases for the last five years. As Betts archly stated in 2012: "When you change someone's coffee habit, you have got them." 

In the U.S., McDonald's can't expect to triple its coffee sales in five years by giving away free coffee. When Starbucks was but a single crammed location in Pike Place Market in Seattle, and the company's global footprint existed only as a network of neurons in Howard Shultz's brain, McDonald's provided by default the most widely available retail cup of coffee in the country. Today, the landscape has changed irrevocably. What McDonald's can expect by pushing a "gold-standard cup of coffee with every visit" is to regain traction with wavering customers.

As CFO Pete Bensen stated during the company's most recent earnings conference call, "If we lose relevance in coffee, then we are going to lose the transaction which yields food purchase." In other words, if the company can direct more of the legions in need of a coffee fix through its arches during breakfast, the rest of the transaction will fall into place. It's interesting how well Woody Allen's famous quote that "80% of life is showing up" applies to a simple and well-reasoned corporate strategy like this one.

McDonald's coffee-led breakfast strategy in visual terms. Image courtesy McDonald's. 

Toward this goal, McDonald's has quietly laid the groundwork for increasing the quality, supply, and promotion of its coffee. Last year, the company announced that it was investing $6.5 million to assist more than 13,000 farmers in Guatemala and other South American countries, to scale up volume of high-grade arabica coffee beans, as well as to assist small-scale farmers with sustainable agricultural methods.

As for promotion, the company's well-publicized push into packaged coffee through its new partnership with Kraft might be construed as an attempt to compete with Starbucks in the retail grocery venue, but it's more immediately about heightening coffee brand perception. It is betting that U.S. incentives such as its "$1 any size coffee" at breakfast, coupled with McDonald's-branded coffee in grocery stores, will keep its coffee top of mind versus Starbucks and other competitors. If increased business at breakfast eventually leads to additional sales of packaged coffee, as well as more non-breakfast visits, the company will take it as a bonus.

Vegetable & Fontiago Breakfast Sandwich. Courtesy Starbucks.

A reaction from Seattle
How is Starbucks responding to McDonald's sudden pressure on the coffee front? By ramping up its new breakfast offerings, of course. This month, the company is introducing four new premium breakfast sandwiches, with enticing names including "Slow-Roasted Ham and Swiss" and "Vegetable & Fontiago." Tearing off a sheet from the McDonald's strategy notebook, Starbucks will offer a free Grande-sized brewed coffee with the purchase of a breakfast sandwich from March 12-14. Of course, Starbucks also has a larger strategy in mind, which is to generate a larger transaction per customer. Yet it speaks to the importance of the breakfast market that given a few more disappointing sales quarters from McDonald's, or any sign of Starbucks' vaunted growth slowing, and these two giants could be headed for confrontation after all.

Chief shipping analyst Peter Sand of the Baltic and International Maritime Council, or BIMCO, shared some interesting insights that investors in DryShips , Diana Shipping , Navios Maritime Partners , Baltic Trading Limited , and Star Bulk Carriers   and others should pay attention to. Though Sand is optimistic about 2014 overall, there is one issue in particular that is of concern.

Good year ahead
In a recent interview with Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide, Sand was quick to dismiss the weak first two months of the year, citing low rates as widely expected and therefore not much of an indicator. He sees rates improving going forward for the balance of the year: "On the average freight rates levels we have already seen 2013 was better than 2012. BIMCO expect 2014, to become better than 2013 in that sense."

Sand still expects even higher rates in 2014 over 2013 despite the fact that rates have plunged to near the same levels as last year. He points out that in periods of declining rates they tend to "undershoot" to the downside. It may remind you of an oversold stock in the stock market. Similar thing.

BIMCO and Sand expect iron ore and coal shipments to rebound in the second quarter followed by grain in the third and fourth quarters.

Slow steaming
An interesting aspect affecting rates and the global supply problems of ships is what Sand calls "slow steaming." Rising fuel costs results in ships traveling at a slower pace in order to maximum their fuel economy, or miles per gallon. As fuel prices rise, Sand reasons, ships will travel slower and more efficiently as fuel costs overtake other operating costs at higher speeds. The slower speed and longer trips lowers the availability of ships for hire at any one time and helps raise rates.

It's a double-edged sword, Sand warns. As rates rise higher, they increase the profit margins of the trips and lower the need for slow steaming. Unlike other areas of the global supply equation such as the physical availability of ships, the change from slow steaming to faster moving means the same ships can adjust their speed and affect global supply at a moment's notice in reaction to a change in fuel prices. Ship speed is a bigger factor to the global supply than even demolitions.

Though BIMCO still expects a positive 2014, it believes "see a winding and potentially long road back to a fully sustainable market." The organization estimates that there still exists an oversupply problem by 20%-25%. A problem for the industry that expects demolition of old ships to bail out the overhang is that rising rates make using the very old ships more attractive rather than scrapping them. BIMCO expects scrapping will actually drop by 33% this year by tonnage compared to last year.

Foolish final thoughts
While BIMCO and Peter Sand see a better 2014, they also believe it's not a lock and the extent of the recovery may not be as strong as some of these companies such as DryShips, Diana Shipping, Navios Maritime Partners, Baltic Trading Limited, or Star Bulk Carriers hope and expect. The takeaway from Sand is to closely watch demolition rates and fuel prices in 2014 that could slow down a recovery. In a perfect world for dry shippers, fuel prices will actually go up at the same time as increased demolitions.

Looking back at predictions in both science and various forms of pop culture, we are supposed to have a lot more robots and other autonomous technology by now. But while we don't have robot butlers and hover cars, automation and robotics are set to power the futures of some major companies.

Hands-free driving
Driving is a task many of us do every day and while some people enjoy driving, many would like to be able to turn over the task to their car for the daily commute. Google saw the demand for autonomous vehicles and has been running a program of self-driving Prius vehicles for a few years now.

So far, the safety record for the autonomous Google cars has been quite positive. The cars have driven thousands of combined miles on a variety of roads with the only accidents being caused by other human-driven vehicles or when the Google car was being driven by a human.

It's unknown where Google will go from here with the self-driving car project. While it has talked to automotive manufacturers, few have been interested. If it does decide to commercialize the technology, it could be done through licensing to manufacturers or through a system similar to the Android operating system.

But Google is not the only player in self-driving cars. Tesla Motors , fresh off launching its first mass-production vehicle, is looking at getting in on the action as well. Considering its high-tech automotive image and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's desire to do anything from solar leasing to launching rockets, it's no big surprise self-driving cars would be on Tesla's agenda.

Although Google's cars are designed to take full control of the vehicle all the time, Tesla is looking at a system to control the car for 90% of the time. The rationale is largely economical as Google's self-driving car system is still too expensive and Tesla believes it can achieve this 90% driving ability (called "autopilot") for a significantly lower cost.

If Tesla can launch a successful autopilot car or Google can find a way to monetize its own technology in the field, either of these companies stand to benefit from automation technologies in the automotive field.

Instant delivery
Amazon.com has grown enormously over its relatively short history. Now boasting sales that topped $25 billion in the 4Q 2013 as well as millions of Amazon Prime members, the online giant has shown its both a giant and growing.

But what if Amazon.com could take shipping speed a step further? By building more warehouses, Amazon.com's products are now within shorter distances of the people who want to buy them. If the warehouse trend continues, Amazon.com may be able to offer same-day delivery on a large scale, letting the online giant sell to customers who need a product by the end of the day.

But the Amazon.com idea gathering the most attention today is one not yet implemented. In an episode of 60 Minutes, Amazon.com showed off its new autonomous drone program, which it could launch in four to five years according to Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos.

The potential advantages from this program are huge. With a planned range of 10 miles, the company targets 30-minute delivery of packages in large metropolitan areas -- a time faster than any postal service delivery and possibly faster than it would take for a person to drive out and buy something themselves. This would allow Amazon.com to effectively compete for customers who need a product immediately and cannot wait for even the current one-day shipping option. At the same time, Amazon.com could deliver products extremely quickly without having to pay for shipping costs.

It will still take years to develop this program and the company will have to jump through some regulatory hurdles. But with such advantages to using autonomous drones, Amazon.com will continue to develop this program to give it another edge over traditional retail.

Technology gains
Autonomous technology has the potential to revolutionize industries and the companies within them. Google, Tesla, and Amazon.com are just a few among many companies that stand to benefit from gains in this technological arena.

Five years ago today was when the market hit its intraday low of 666. Since then, the market has been on a bull run, defying the market bears who called for a pullback at every turn. But how long can it possibly continue?

In this segment of Monday's Investor Beat, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analysts Matt Argersinger and Taylor Muckerman look at a recent statement from hedge fund manager Seth Klarman. His long tenured track record of market outperformance lends a lot of weight to his words, so when he says the market is entering bubble territory, it could definitely mean that looking more carefully at valuation today before buying a stock could be a prudent decision.

FMC Corp. is up today after the chemicals company announced it is spinning off its health-care and agricultural divisions. McDonald's monthly same-store sales fell by 0.3%, which, despite being small, is the second straight month of falling comps for the fast food giant. RetailMeNot lost big today as a new competitor in the daily deals game emerged on the scene with the IPO of Coupons.com last week. And The McClatchy Company hits a five-year high on word that its joint venture may be putting Cars.com up for sale.

In this segment from Monday's Investor Beat, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analysts Matt Argersinger and Taylor Muckerman take a look at four stocks making moves on the market today.

Tablet computers are front and center in the market for mobile devices. Now, airlines are adding tablets as part of a broader push for the increased use of technology and providing marketable extras for passengers. But, even in the airline industry, not all tablets are created equal.

Tablets at Delta
Delta Air Lines has made the Apple iPad into a way to link technology to the customer experience. At New York LaGuardia Airport, iPads take orders for food in the Delta terminal and are on nearly every table for customer use.

But Apple's relationship with Delta is far from a monopoly. Last year, the Department of Transportation fined Delta $750,000 for violating rules regarding the bumping of passengers. But the fine came with an interesting condition: Delta was allowed to use up to $425,000 of the fine to buy electronic tablets "to record consumers' decisions on whether they agreed to leave a flight and accept compensation offered by the airline, as well to train Delta personnel on using the tablets."

Showing it does not have an allegiance to one particular tablet, Delta has opted to use the Microsoft Surface 2 tablet instead of Apple's iPad in much of its operations. Additionally, Computing reports that the airline is phasing out the use of iPads and other unnamed devices in the cockpit, eventually replacing them with the Surface 2. From Delta's perspective, the move appears to be mainly operational. Delta's IT director, Darrell Haskin, attributes the move to the abilities of the Surface 2 including a split screen feature allowing pilots to view maps and weather simultaneously.

Tablets at American Airlines
Delta's not the only U.S.-based airline to use tablets to improve the customer experience; American Airlines Group is using tablets as yet another way to encourage flyers to buy more expensive tickets.

American Airlines Group will now be offering passengers in its premium class cabins Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablets on certain transcontinental and international flights. The move comes as airlines continue to wage a battle for passengers and use amenities to generate ancillary revenues or market higher-priced tickets.

Tablets at Air Canada rouge
As part of Air Canada's expansion strategy, the Canadian flag carrier has launched a discount subsidiary called Air Canada rouge. To differentiate Air Canada rouge from mainline Air Canada, the airline has done everything from rebranding aircraft to having Disney train the flight attendants.

Personal entertainment has become another way to make rouge a more attractive offering for flyers. Customers can connect to the aircraft's entertainment network through their own iPads, iPhones, iPods, or laptops. But for customers without one of these devices, the airline will rent you one for $10 serving as another way for Air Canada rouge to generate ancillary revenue.

Mainline Air Canada has also sought the benefits of tablet computers. The airline has given the nod to Apple and its iPad to replace the current paper manuals that each weigh around 16 kilograms (35 pounds). The airline claims this move will save around $3 million per year from increased operational efficiency and reduced fuel costs.

Tablet wars
Airlines fall into the category of large corporate customers and their purchasing decisions are still very much up for grabs in the tablet arena. Across Delta Air Lines, American Airlines Group, and Air Canada, there are tablets from Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung.

As tech companies do with many corporate customers, these tablet makers still have a lot to fight for in the airline space. And with airlines trying to keep the latest in technology to boost ticket sales, more tablet orders could be on the way.

Gold investors have looked closely at goings-on abroad recently, with the Crimea attracting the attention of markets generally. But today, the focus shifted to China and its extremely weak export data, as oil, copper, and other commodities fell sharply in response to the threat of a further slowdown in the emerging-market powerhouse. Yet April gold futures settled up $3.30 per ounce to $1,341.50, defying the other metals and helping the SPDR Gold Shares inch upward today. But May silver fell $0.02 per ounce to $20.91, sparking a 0.3% drop in the iShares Silver Trust , and platinum-group metals were both down as well.

Source: Kitco. As of 5:30 p.m. EDT.

Image sources: Wikimedia Commons; Creative Commons/Armin Kubelbeck.

The mood of the market
Without huge events driving prices in the market, traders resorted to more technical measures to help guide their moves Monday. One such measure came from data on the commitments of traders, which precious-metals investors use to guide their positions. The latest report, which came out Friday afternoon reflecting activity from the week that ended last Tuesday, showed that large speculative investing firms continued to cover short positions in gold, increasing their net-long positions. They were more bullish on platinum and palladium, taking new long positions in addition to closing out shorts, but were less bullish in silver, reducing their net-long exposure there.

For the most part, large speculative companies tend to take positions against those of producers, and that continued to be the case in this report, with producers using futures to lock in market prices. Although major producers have ended long-term hedging strategies, these positions can also reflect shorter-term futures designed to protect against near-term price fluctuations.

All that glitters isn't gold
Meanwhile, on the mining front, the real action was in the copper arena, with copper prices falling to their worst levels in eight months. That was bad news for major copper producers, but it also helped send Thompson Creek Metals down 6% on the day. Thompson Creek's explosive moves upward earlier this year have hinged on the gold and copper production from its Mt. Milligan mine, and the rise in gold prices created a lot of optimism about the company's future prospects. But copper will play a key part in Thompson Creek's long-term profitability, and so any macroeconomic trend that affects copper will have an outsized impact on Thompson Creek compared to larger companies. Yet even industry giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto suffered losses of 3% and 2%, as they rely especially on China's demand to drive their long-term results.

Many gold investors don't really pay much attention to base metals, but ignoring their impact can create problems when you assess mining companies that produce them as byproducts. Even though gold can go its own way over fairly long periods of time, it often fares much better in environments in which demand for all commodities is on the rise.

In this segment from Monday's edition of Investor Beat, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analysts Matt Argersinger and Taylor Muckerman look at two stocks they're watching today. Taylor discusses eBay and the continuing battle with Carl Icahn over whether to spin off its PayPal business, as well as who should be on the company's board of directors, while Matt will be watching Biglari Holdings . The company owns a Midwest fast casual restaurant chain called Steak 'n Shake, as well as 20% of Cracker Barrel, and has now purchased the men's magazine Maxim. Matt sees Sardar Biglari as a "go anywhere" investor but will still be very curious about how he plans to make Maxim work in a portfolio of restaurant holdings.

On Monday, investors originally went into a near-panic following the release of troubling economic data from China indicating an unexpected plunge in exports. Yet over the course of the day, the market clawed back all but a small fraction of its losses, with the S&P 500 closing down just 0.05% on the day. The best performing stocks in the market included Chiquita Brands International , McClatchy , and Intercept Pharmaceuticals , which climbed for a variety of different reasons today.

Chiquita Brands jumped 11% after the banana giant agreed to merge with Irish produce giant Fyffes to create what will become the largest banana producer in the world. If approved, the merger of near-equals will leave current Chiquita shareholders owning just under 51% of the combined ChiquitaFyffes, and the companies expect to save $40 million per year from the combination. The deal will be bad news for privately held Dole Food, which would lose its No. 1 status in the banana market if the merger goes through, but given that Fyffes shares soared 42% on the London Stock Exchange, it's clear that shareholders of both companies are pleased with the deal. The transaction also effectively transfers Charlotte-based Chiquita's domicile to Ireland, with attendant benefits that have led many other U.S. companies to go across the Atlantic.

McClatchy rose 14% on reports that it and other companies that co-own the Cars.com website are looking to sell the e-commerce site, hoping to get $3 billion for the business. Gannett and several other newspaper companies own Cars.com through a joint venture, and Gannett rose 2% today. But McClatchy has a much smaller market capitalization than Gannett, and so a prospective deal -- and the money that would come from it -- would make a much bigger difference to its shareholders.

Intercept gained 8%. Despite a lack of specific news affecting the promising biotech, investors continue to watch closely for signs of the potential of Intercept's obeticholic-acid therapy for primary biliary cirrhosis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. With analysts suggesting annual sales of $3 billion are possible even if a successful drug only gets used in a limited subset of NASH cases, Intercept has plenty of potential. But nervous investors have also pointed to the huge rise in biotech stocks more generally as being a troubling sign of what could prove to be a short-lived trip to the stock market stratosphere if things don't go perfectly for Intercept.

Pandora Media and I go way back.

I've been following the company loosely since its 2011 IPO. However, in the last six months or so, my concerns over Pandora have intensified my focus from casual observation to deep interest. Many investors have their quirks, and it's starting to seem that this infatuation with Pandora might be mine.

However, as I've highlighted in the past, I also believe the Pandora storyline has been in many ways underappreciated. Because as the company highlighted again for investors recently, Pandora's growth story appears to be losing steam, and fast.

A February to forget for Pandora
I've commented on the gradual decline in Pandora's user growth in the past. In keeping with that worrisome trend, Pandora once again posted disappointing user statistics for the month of February.

All told, Pandora only increased its number of hours of streamed music by a paltry 9% in February. On an only slightly more positive note, Pandora expanded its number of active listeners by 11%. And although its growth is slowing at an alarming rate, these two factors did help to expand Pandora's share of the overall U.S. radio market from 8.25% last February to 8.91% this February.

Take a look at how some of these key figures have essentially flatlined over the last two years.

Source: Pandora Investor Relations

This chart certainly raises some serious concerns for Pandora. However, there's an entire additional facet of the Pandora story that some argue should offset Pandora's present growth issues, which also deserves ample consideration.

Monetization matters just as much as growth
The sell-side community rallied around Pandora in the wake of this disappointing report. In surveying the commentary analysts had to offer in support of Pandora, I noticed several research notes arguing over "the more important trends to monitor as Pandora continues working to take share within the $12bn local radio market."  

This clearly makes sense in a way. It's true, Pandora has put an increased emphasis on expanding its local ad-sales force in large radio markets. In doing so, Pandora should be able to offer more relevant local ads for its listeners, which should drive improvements in the rates Pandora can charge for those ads. We've seen some of this in the past, and its increased monetization efforts are a key component in truly trying to understand the total opportunity set Pandora presents to long-term investors.

Because of its geographical limitations, AM and FM radio advertising is inherently a decidedly local market, as the analyst above shrewdly noted. And while a $12 billion market opportunity isn't anything to sneeze at, Pandora will have to continue to also expand its user base to grow its share of this space. Although it's not a perfect comp, Pandora's 8.91% of the U.S. radio market illustrates it's still relatively early in its penetration of the overall radio market. And that's why single-digit user growth should have alarm bells ringing for investors today.

The real problem at Pandora
The real point I keep trying to highlight isn't that Pandora's business model doesn't work. Radio advertising is an established and profitable business.

However, with Pandora's user growth continuing to slow and its still limited presence in its target markets, Pandora's valuation appears to be light years ahead of its short-term, or even medium-term, business prospects. Trading at over 10x revenue, Pandora's almost priced for perfection, but that simply isn't the reality we see materializing in its monthly users numbers.

And that's something investors would do well to take into account sooner rather than later.

Caterpillar shares were left high and dry by last year's mega bull market, gaining a piddling 3.3%, far below the broader S&P 500 26.5% gain. But Caterpillar was not the only mining-related stock that sat at the sidelines while most stocks soared. Peers Deere , Terex , Cummins , Manitowoc , and Joy Global performed far worse, with all four suffering declines of 7.7%, 0.4%, 0.3%,2% and 4.5%, respectively.

In a pleasant twist, Caterpillar has seen better fortunes this year, and its shares have ramped up 11%, more than they did for the whole of 2013. Its four peers have also seen considerable gains so far. There is reason to believe that these mining equipment makers will continue to perform well for the rest of the year.

Earnings beat
Caterpillar stock rallied 4% on Jan.27, 2014, after it topped quarterly earnings estimates. Its fourth-quarter profit of $1.58 per share was $0.30 better than the consensus estimates. Its operating margins for its various segments expanded, while cost-cutting and strong sales for its construction equipment helped it garner an overall revenue of $14.4 billion, better than the consensus estimate.

After the earnings call rally, shares had gained a further 7.6% in just five days, indicating that investors were optimistic about the company's revenue growth prospects for this year. Cat's mining, engines, and construction equipment are all showing promise, and 2014 looks like it will be a year of stabilization in sales after the company recorded a 40% drop in revenue last year. Its earnings peaked at $8.90 per share in 2012, when mining capital expenditure grew at a blistering pace driven by ultra-high gold and precious metal prices.

In 2013, Caterpillar ratcheted down earnings guidance due to concerns of slowing growth in China. It announced that it expects earnings to come in at $5.85 in fiscal 2014, marginally higher than last year's earnings, and also announced a $10 billion stock buyback program.

Non-residential construction recovery
Analysts expect a recovery in the non-residential, or non-resi, construction sector in Caterpillar's U.S. market, which is also its biggest. Cat is expected to see better sales of construction equipment, driven by non-resi construction recovery, and a likely improvement in commercial building.

Although Caterpillars customers are cutting inventory levels, the rate of slowdown is well below replacement levels, which bodes well for the company's future sales. Meanwhile, cost-cutting is helping to offset the lower sales, particularly that of high-margin mining equipment.

The non-resi construction sector has been undergoing a gradual recovery. The sector recorded mixed results in 2013, with manufacturing facilities, offices, education facilities, and amusement and recreation centers declining 7.4%, 4.7%, 3.4% and 3.9%, respectively in the first half of 2013. Spending in lodging facilities, however, grew rapidly at 20%. Non-resi growth is expected to come in at 5% this year. This should help stocks such Caterpillar, Terex, and Manitowoc.

Pure-play construction machinery manufacturer Manitowoc, which manufactures cranes, stands to benefit the most from this positive trend. Crane sales are projected to grow 10% in 2014. The firm's shares have risen about 5% year to date.

The agricultural machinery sector, however, is not expected to be so rosy. John Deere has a huge exposure to the agricultural machinery sector. The continued poor performance for the sector has led Deere to forecast that its topline will fall from $3.54 in 2013 to 3.3 billion in the current quarter in the current year. This will be the first time the company will be recording a sales decline in five years.

Strong growth in the construction and forestry equipment sectors, however, helped Deere reaffirm its earlier revenue guidance, which was significantly higher than the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Investors are likely to react positively to the good news. Its shares are also very cheap, trading at a forward P/E ratio of just nine, and should see some gains this year.

Improving sales in emerging markets
Despite the huge 11% gain year to date, Caterpillars shares still look reasonably priced trading at a 16.9 forward P/E ratio, and should see further gains buoyed by the strong Chinese market, where revenue shot up 20% in 2013 to about $3.5 billion. Caterpillar revealed that it is seeing strong growth in demand for excavators in the Chinese market.

Caterpillar derives 25% of its revenue in the Asia Pacific region, and another 14% from Latin America. Many countries located in these markets are showing strong growth, with the exception of Argentina and Turkey, which have continued to lag, so the overall outlook for emerging markets is good.

Strong aftermarket business
Caterpillar relies on the aftermarket business for 25% of its revenue. In this golden age of service, pushing products must be complemented by providing valuable after-sale services to customers. The aftermarket helps manufacturing company mitigate the effects of sluggish demand, intensified competition and imploding profit margins.

Mining capex recorded robust growth during a 12-year spending spree during which it shot up an astounding 600% to hit a record $100 billion in 2012. Since then, it has been steadily declining on a cyclical downturn, falling 24% in 2013. Caterpillar saw huge declines for both its top and bottom lines in fiscal 2013, of 17% and 44%, respectively. The huge slide was precipitated by an equally large 33% fall in sales in the company's mining segment.

The long-term trend is decidedly toward more capital spending due to factors such as technical challenges that accompany extraction, scarcity of key minerals, increased mining activity in East Africa, and heightened environmental security. The decline in mining capex is expected to tick in at 55% and bottom out in 2016 or 2017. During the hiatus before the good times return, the aftermarket will take care of all that machinery that was purchased during the 12-year buying spell.

Final thoughts
Although mining capex is expected to continue to fall in 2014, albeit at a slower rate than it did last year, Caterpillar shares should see some more gains driven by growth in the Chinese market, more construction in the non-resi sector, and a robust aftermarket business. Investors should also not worry too much about Cat's restructuring charges because they are already baked into the shares.

Five years ago today was when the market hit its intraday low of 666. Since then, the market has been on a bull run, defying the market bears who called for a pullback at every turn. But how long can it possibly continue?

On Monday's edition of Investor Beat, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analysts Matt Argersinger and Taylor Muckerman look at a recent statement from hedge fund manager Seth Klarman. His long tenured track record of market outperformance lends a lot of weight to his words, so when he says the market is entering bubble territory, it could definitely mean that looking more carefully at valuation today before buying a stock could be a prudent decision.

Then, the guys look at four stocks making moves on the market today. FMC Corp was up today after the chemicals company announced that it's spinning off its health-care and agricultural divisions. McDonald's monthly same-store sales fell by 0.3%, which, despite being small, is the second straight month of falling comps for the fast-food giant. RetailMeNot lost big today as a new competitor in the daily-deals game emerged on the scene with the IPO of Coupons.com last week. And The McClatchy Company hit a five-year high on word that its joint venture may be putting Cars.com up for sale.

And finally, Matt and Taylor each highlight one company they'll be watching closely this week. Taylor discusses eBay and the continuing battle with Carl Icahn over whether to spin off its PayPal business, as well as who should be on the company's board of directors, while Matt will be watching Biglari Holdings. The company owns a Midwest fast-casual restaurant chain called Steak 'n Shake, as well as 20% of Cracker Barrel, and has now purchased the men's magazine Maxim. Matt sees Sardar Biglari as a "go anywhere" investor, but will still be very curious about how he plans to make Maxim work in a portfolio of restaurant holdings.

Google won't stop at smartphones and tablets. The tech giant wants to be everywhere. And now its effort to bring Android to wearables is official. As Google rapidly invades all sorts of Internet-connected devices, will Apple's ecosystem become less significant?

Google's next stop: Your wrist and much more
The online search giant announced the formation of the Open Automotive Alliance at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show with the goal of making cars connected Android devices. The Wall Street Journal said in February that Google's "vision for robotics" includes building an operating system for robotic manufacturing like the Android operating system for mobile computing devices. Then there's Google's recent acquisition of Nest, maker of Internet-connected thermostats and fire detectors (and who knows what else is in Nest's pipeline?). Now Google will be introducing an Android software development kit, or SDK, for wearable devices in two weeks, according to Google executive Sundar Pichai (via The Wall Street Journal). The "Internet of things" is undoubtedly upon us -- and Google wants to lead the way.

Pichai, who oversees Google's Android, Chrome, Gmail, the Nexus smartphone and tablet line, Chromebooks, and the Chromecast, says that Android for wearables will be free for manufacturers, as it was for smartphones and tablets.

"The software kit might give Google an opportunity to attract developers and bring users deeper into an ecosystem powered by its software," said the Journal's Rolfe Winkler. Further, Winkler says Google will be releasing its own smart watch in June, which will be manufactured by LG Electronics. "[T]he company wants to help lay out a 'vision' for other developers to power their own wearable devices," Winkler explained.

CarPlay. Image source: Volvo's official announcement of future integration with CarPlay.

Apple's less rapid move to other devices
Of course, Apple has plans for other devices, too. The company recently unveiled its CarPlay. And to be fair, Apple appears to be moving into cars with its CarPlay faster than Google. Further, though Apple's iWatch is still just a rumor, its recent hiring spree of professionals with skills related to wearables suggests Apple's iWatch is likely inevitable. Then, of course, there's Apple CEO Tim Cook's promise that the company will introduce new categories this year.

But for the most part, Google seems to view the advent of the Internet of things with greater urgency than Apple. A June launch of Google's smart watch, for instance, would precede the rumored fall launch of Apple's iWatch. And launched alongside with a free Android operating system that is ready for other manufacturers to adopt in wearable devices, Google's rapid move to the category easily trumps its entry to smartphones and tablets that significantly lagged Apple.

With Google bringing Android to wearables so soon, could Apple's lack of a significant early advantage as it had in smartphones and tablets handicap the growth of its ecosystem compared to Google's?

Or is Apple up to more than we realize?
If history is any indication of how revolutionary Apple's move to a new category could be, Google's seemingly meaningful advantages in wearables may not be as much as a threat to Apple as they seem. Unlike Google, Apple likes to keep product plans as secret as possible -- so it's difficult to ever really know exactly what is in Apple's product pipeline.

Whether or not Google's ecosystem of connected devices helps the company make gains on Apple is still to be determined, but Apple investors can take refuge in the fact that the stock is largely already priced for greater competition ahead. At just 13 times earnings, a lucrative share repurchase program alone could help Apple reward investors even with flat revenue in the coming years. Google's transition to the Internet of things is a development Apple investors should keep an eye on. But Apple's impressive history of successfully entering new categories, combined with a conservative valuation, more than make up for Google's potential early lead in wearables and other categories.

When folks think of Silicon Valley, two goods come to mind: iPhones and organic food.

Ever on the edge of trends, California was typing on Apple MacBooks back when computers were still nerdy, and munching on granola far before Whole Foods Market made "natural" and "organic" foods a household staple.

Yet now the world's caught onto these food and tech trends, and Apple and Whole Foods risk becoming obsolete as a result. Is America approaching peak iPhone and organic food?

Before Apple was cool
To answer that question, let's take a look at the Rogers Adoption Curve. This curve shows the stages in which consumers adopt a new technology.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Adoption has five phases: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. At the beginning of a product's life-cycle, savvy innovators and early adopters -- who are often wealthy and influential -- pay high prices to flaunt these goods before they're cool.

Yet companies all want to attract the early majority ASAP -- that's where the money is. At 34% of the populace, the early majority can move the needle on a product's profitability.

Apple and Whole Foods won the early majority game, gaining brand clout and high profits rapidly. Do iPhones and organic food now risk becoming fossilized, low-growth goods?

Old man Whole Foods
These next statistics shocked me: the iPhone's U.S. market share hit 52.3% last October and 70% of Americans buy organic food on occasion, with 25% buying organics weekly.

Take a look back at that graph: The yellow curve tracks market share and these numbers place the market shares for the iPhone and organic food above 50% -- AKA the late majority phase.

While Apple and Whole Foods may still seem like hip brands, they're now competing in mature markets. Along with industry maturity comes a different set of rules for success. Rather than focusing on flexibility and experimentation at the expense of revenues and structure, mature companies thrive on process efficiencies and incremental innovation.

While mature industries are great for cashing out, they don't get investors' blood flowing. How are Apple and Whole Foods poised to anticipate and capitalize on the next big thing?

iPhone beats farmers
Apple definitely has a better chance to benefit from another big innovation than does Whole Foods. That's because the tech industry is more conducive to market-capturing brand differentiation than the food industry: while Apple's smooth design and interface will steal high-paying consumers from Microsoft for a long while, it's harder to differentiate organic food.

Whole Foods used to differentiate itself based on organic food's scarcity: when natural, organic food was harder to find, health-conscious shoppers didn't mind paying premiums for these products at Whole Foods. Today's another story: Wal-Mart, Costco, and Kroger are encroaching on organic food, lowering prices and stealing shoppers from Whole Foods.

That said, Apple's also nearing the end of its innovation tether as far as investors are concerned. The Motley Fool's own Jason Moser said a few weeks ago that he expects a breakthrough product from Apple within the next year or so, or as an investor he'll begin to have doubts.

Foolish bottom line
So are either Apple or Whole Foods Market buys today? That depends on your faith in these companies' ability to disrupt themselves and anticipate the iPhones and organic foods of tomorrow. Apple and Whole Foods cannot thrive forever on what made them giants, as the Rogers Adoption Curve demonstrates.

Monday brought investors a mixed bag of news, with the positive of no dramatic escalation in the Ukrainian crisis but the negative of extremely weak export activity from China. The broad stock market ended the day in a draw, with very modest declines for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. But voxeljet , Walter Energy , and E-Commerce China Dangdang posted substantial losses despite the flat day for markets generally.

3-D printing company voxeljet fell 6% on a terrible day for 3-D printing stocks generally, with 3D Systems and ExOne both falling 5% in sympathy. The culprit was a cover story in this week's Barron's that told investors to beware of the sector, with the story suggesting that the highly publicized stocks in the sector face tough competition from companies that aren't yet trading publicly, making voxeljet, 3D Systems, and ExOne less compelling than they might otherwise be. Yet investors need to understand that for stocks trading at such lofty valuations based on current business prospects, voxeljet and other stocks in the sector will be extremely volatile until the industry develops more fully. Only at that point will it become clear which companies will prove to be the winners in 3-D printing.

Walter Energy dropped almost 10% as the coal-mining company said that it would have to try to change the terms of its term-loan financing. Currently, the lending arrangement requires Walter Energy to make payments on a second term loan before refinancing the first, but Walter Energy would prefer to conserve cash and only modify the first existing loan. If approved, the move will help Walter deal with ballooning levels of debt compared to its cash flow.

Dangdang declined 11%, due largely to negative sentiment stemming from the poor Chinese export numbers and their potential impact on levels of e-commerce activity in China. Even though Tencent Holdings agreed to take a 15% stake in e-commerce site JD.com prior to its planned U.S. IPO, Dangdang and its peers are going through the same weeding-out process that hit U.S. Internet stocks in the early 2000s. Dangdang will have to work hard to find ways to differentiate itself from its peers and stay strong even if the e-commerce environment in China gets worse.

The telecom price war is in full swing with T-Mobile US and AT&T cutting plan pricing over the weekend. In the last two months, Sprint launched its Framily plan and Verizon Communications  even jumped into the war. For decades this industry has acted like an oligopoly where pricing was similar and contracts kept you locked into a carrier. All that is changing and the rate of change is picking up...leaving you the winner.

AT&T dropped prices over the weekend...
On March 8, AT&T announced new pricing for customers with one or two lines starting at $65 per month, which is a $15 discount from the current plan for one smartphone with no annual service contract. Customers can also sign up for a free 50 GB allocation of cloud storage. Lastly, new and existing customers will also receive $100 in billing credit for each additional line added on.  

...in response to T-Mobile
This reduction in AT&T's bill comes one day after T-Mobile sweetened the deal on its own monthly plan. Not by reducing the monthly cost but by expanding its services. On March 7, T-Mobile improved its subscription in three ways: 1) it doubled the amount of data on its 4G LTE and tethering plans to 1GB, 2) it began offering free and unlimited international texting and 3) it added more roaming countries.

This follows an admission that competition is heading up
At the Morgan Stanley conference last week, Randall Stephenson, AT&T's CEO, said that the competition among carriers dramatically accelerated last year. It began with T-Mobile shifting away from contracts and device subsidies and began offering to pay early termination fees for customers who switch and trade in their devices. This has forced other carriers to offer device financing as well while embracing no contract plans.

Even Verizon is no longer immune
Verizon had kept out of the war throughout 2013 but T-Mobile's aggressiveness picked up in January and couldn't be ignored any longer. Until this point, Verizon had stuck to its claim that its 4G network was unparalleled and warranted a pricing premium. However, T-Mobile offered to pay $650 to compensate customers of AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint who wanted to switch vendors and trade in their phones for a lower-priced plan.

Evidently, Verizon felt pressure because it finally took the plunge in mid-February and lowered prices. Verizon announced a "More Everything" plan that adds unlimited international text, video, and picture messaging to its unlimited domestic plans. It also doubled the data allowance and dropped the $3 per month fee for access to 25GB of Verizon's cloud storage. While these features seem to be at the periphery of what drives people to a carrier, features like international picture texting could be a pain point for certain demographics and very profitable for firms like Verizon.

In summary, your monthly cost is dropping
The key takeaway from all of these changes is that 1) pricing is coming down and 2) it's going to cut into profits for all of the carriers. They are still offering access to the 25GB of cloud storage, they're just doing it for free, the cost isn't going away. Even though carriers are taking steps to reduce the financial impact by eliminating handset subsidies, its unclear how much of an impact this will have longer term. Its one thing to make an announcement in the press, its another thing for the impact to filter through your installed base.

I'm a good example of this, it took a few weeks for me to realize that we were just handed an opportunity to reduce our monthly bills. Two weeks ago, I called my carrier and cut $40 off of my monthly plan without extending my contract or impacting my level of service. What will happen to profitability when everybody does this?