After five years in a steep bull market, we have seen some signs of weakness in stock prices lately. Nobody knows for certain what the future will bring, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared for different possibilities. In case of a market pullback, high-quality growth companies like Chipotle Mexican Grill , Netflix , and Tesla could be great candidates for an opportunistic purchase.

Source: Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle for mouthwatering growth
Chipotle Mexican Grill is one of the most notable success stories in the restaurant industry during the last several years. The fast-casual category is gaining a lot of ground versus traditional fast food chains, and Chipotle is a growth leader in that exciting niche.

Chipotle has delivered a compounded annual growth rate of 19.3% per year through the last five years, and there is no slowdown in sight judging by its latest earnings report. Sales during the fourth quarter of 2013 jumped by 20.7% on the back of a big increase of 9.3% in comparable-store sales.

Considering demand strength, Chipotle still has exciting growth prospects in the U.S., and international markets are practically untapped as the company has less than 1,600 locations overall, and only 16 of them overseas. The company is also experimenting with new concepts such as Asian cuisine and pizza with ShopHouse and Pizzeria Locale, respectively, so Chipotle has enormous room for growth in the years ahead.

Chipotle trades at a considerable premium to other companies in the industry with a P/E ratio above 55, so the stock is incorporating aggressive growth expectations. A premium valuation is certainly well deserved in this case, but a market pullback could provide a convenient opportunity to grab this organic burrito with both hands while it's not as hot as usual.

Source: Netflix

Netflix is no house of cards
Netflix has been one of the biggest winners in the market lately. The stock is up by more than 120% in the last year alone, and for valid reasons. The company has consolidated its position as the undisputed leader in online streaming, a business with abundant opportunities for growth in the coming years.

Venturing into original content has been a big success for Netflix in terms of differentiating the company from the competition, and attracting the attention of viewers around the world with productions like House of Cards.

Netflix is not only rapidly growing its subscriber base, revenues are outgrowing content costs, and profit margins are on the rise. This means that Netflix is dissipating doubts regarding its ability to sustain both rapid growth and improving profitability over time.

Shares of Netflix don't come cheap, though -- the stock trades at a forward P/E above 58 -- so a market pullback could provide an opportunity to invest in this extraordinary growth story at a more attractive entry point.

Source: Tesla

Tesla is running at full speed
What Tesla has achieved during the last few years is nothing short of spectacular. The company is on its way to revolutionizing the automotive industry with its widely acclaimed Model S. Demand is exceeding production capacity, and the company is paving the road to not only delivering more units of the model, but also launching the new Model X, which is expected to reach the markets before the end of this year.

Not only that, but the company is also moving in the right direction in terms of profitability. Tesla is not yet profitable on a GAAP net-income basis, but the company has reached its goal of a gross margin of 25% without zero emission vehicle credit revenues, and it also produced a positive free cash flow of $40.3 million during the last quarter of 2013.

Tesla will face enormous challenges and uncertainties during the coming years, but if there's a company that can lead the electric vehicle revolution, it's certainly Tesla under the visionary leadership of Elon Musk.

On the other hand, the stock looks considerably overcharged after rising by a mind-blowing 510% during the last 12 months. Tesla trades at a forward P/E ratio above 60, so waiting for a dip before placing an order could be a sensibleidea.

Bottom line
The market is always uncertain, but no matter what happens in the short term, buying high-quality growth stocks with a long-term horizon tends to be a winning strategy over time, so market pullbacks are no reason to fear. On the contrary, the smart thing to do is capitalize on the opportunity to invest in extraordinary businesses at discounted prices. Companies such as Chipotle, Netflix, and Tesla are great candidates to add to your shopping list for a market pullback.

In the early 2000s, Motley Fool co-founder and CEO Tom Gardner recommended one under-the-radar stock in the Fool's Hidden Gems service, that would go on to become his greatest investment of all time. The stock was called Middleby , a little commercial kitchen equipment manufacturer, and when Tom spotted it, the company immediately stood out to him as the type of company he considers an outsider.

Based on the book, The Outsiders, by Will Thorndike, an outsider company is the type of company that delivers unbelievable results in highly unorthodox ways. Tom bought in at $9 a share; today, it stands at $280 a share, bringing in an unbelievable 30 times Tom's investment during the decade that he's held the stock.

Now, Tom wants to share the concept of finding outsider companies early, by outlining how to pick stocks that have the potential to grow 15%-20% or more per year during the course of 10, 15, even 20 years. In this video, he tells investors how he found Middleby, why it stood out as a shining star, and the handful of key ingredients he looks for to tell an outsider stock apart from the crowd. He then tells investors how they can find out more about outsider investing through Motley Fool One, and even invites investors to join him in Dallas, along with prominent CEOs and other interested investors, to attend the Saturday and Monday games of this year's Final Four.

A full transcript follows the video.

TOM GARDNER: Hi. I'm Tom Gardner, co-founder and CEO of The Motley Fool and advisor of Motley Fool One.

At Motley Fool One -- our all-access service at The Motley Fool -- we've been talking this month about outsider companies... companies that have delivered unbelievable results for shareholders, and they've done so in a highly unorthodox way, usually off the beaten path. They're not the companies, necessarily, that you've heard of in your everyday experience as a consumer.

No, these are businesses like Teledyne , which was run by Henry Singleton for decades and delivered more than 20% a year to investors over a 20-plus year period. That type of return turns your few thousand dollars, added here and there along the way, into a multimillion dollar portfolio... just one great stock like that. And that's what we've been looking for in our outsider companies based on a wonderful book, The Outsiders, by Will Thorndike.

Now, my greatest investment ever was an outsider investment, and it was an investment in a company called Middleby Corporation -- which I found. In the early 2000s, the stock was trading about $9 a share, and what I loved about the business were a few things.

Number one -- their CEO, Selim Bassoul -- who is pretty much the greatest CEO that I've encountered as an investor and student of business over the last 25 years. Selim Bassoul, number one, is all in on ovens. In fact, when he took over Middleby, the business ... When he took over as CEO, the business was distributed in a whole bunch of different products for commercial kitchens -- refrigerators, deli cases, all sorts of different... pots and pans.... everything. And ovens.

And Selim made a very interesting and highly unorthodox decision. He made the decision to simply stop selling 80% of the products that were being sold. He dropped all those SKUs, and he moved with a focus on just ovens, and he did so because ovens are a... energy efficiency is a big concern. Cost is a big concern. Safety is a big concern. And he felt, "If we can just dominate this niche... instead of trying to be all things to all people in restaurant chains around the world, let's dominate this one category."

That stock was at $9 a share. Today, it's at around $280 a share since I recommended it in 2003, 2004. It's a 30-bagger.

And what I learned from that is, if you can learn as much as possible about the CEO of your company... ensure that they are absolutely obsessed with their industry... and that they are excellent in capital allocation... in other words, Selim Bassoul has used debt -- low-interest debt -- very effectively to make acquisitions. He paid a big, special one-time dividend about seven or eight years ago. He's incredibly thoughtful about how to use capital effectively to drive long-term results for shareowners of the business at Middleby.

Middleby has gone from $9 a share. When it was about a 10-bagger, I put it out there that we would open a bottle of champagne with Selim Bassoul when the stock hit $150, and we did that together in Greenwood, Mississippi at the headquarters of Viking. If you know the Viking residential oven company, they were acquired by Middleby, and we met to discuss that acquisition and share those insights with our members.

When we were there, the stock was around $150, and I said: "Here we are, Selim. When the stock hits $300, we're going to get together again and open another bottle of champagne and celebrate." And it did that about a month ago. The stock's come back a little bit to around $280 a share, but it's still a 30-bagger since our initial recommendation in Hidden Gems about 10 years ago.

And so, what we are doing? We're gathering with Selim, with other members of Motley Fool One, with new members of Motley Fool One, with some other CEOs, and some other great investors in Dallas at the Final Four. We're going to attend the Saturday and Monday games together, which will be a very exciting time and opportunity to talk investments, to talk business, to talk to principals of the outsiders, and to find some great companies. And that's what we're doing every day in Motley Fool One.

So, if you have an interest in learning more about Motley Fool One ... In finding great outsider investments that have the potential to grow 15-20% or more per year, over not just a year or three years, but 10-25 years... these companies are not common. It takes some work to find them, but there are principles that you can use to find them, and that's what we're doing together in Motley Fool One.

So, if you're interested in Motley Fool One, outsider investing, and possibly attending the Final Four with us, click the link below and join us in the Motley Fool One member lobby. It's a completely free experience. I look forward to working together with you in the lobby and, perhaps, hopefully working together in Motley Fool One in the year and years to come.

I wish you the best of luck with your investments, and Fool on!

Positive economic data released on Thursday morning was not enough to keep U.S. stocks in positive territory, as investors reportedly turned their attention back to the Crimean crisis. The benchmark S&P 500 ended the day down 1.2% -- erasing the last of its gains for the year -- while the narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4%. Meanwhile, shares of Herbalife came under more pressure one day after it announced it is the subject of an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, losing 5.1%, for a cumulative two-day loss of 12.4%. The stock may look cheap at less than 10 times next 12 months' earnings-per-share estimate; but you shouldn't fall prey to the allure of "cheap" -- unless you're knowingly looking for a cheap gamble (and I do mean a pure gamble.)

Where Herbalife may not provide investment value per se, it certainly has been a tremendous source of entertainment value as the battleground between two of the most aggressive and vociferous value investors of their respective generations, Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management and the legendary Carl Icahn. Once all is said and done, and regardless of the outcome, the "Herbalife affair" will be a classic Wall Street tale about huge, opposite-way financial bets and even larger egos. Ackman put on a $1 billion short position in Herbalife's stock, while Icahn is now the company's largest shareholder, with a 17% stake.

This week, Bill Ackman won a battle when his lobbying of U.S. Senator Ed Markey [sign-up may be required] paid off, as Herbalife announced that the FTC had opened an investigation into the multi-level marketing nutritional supplements company. But don't count Mr. Icahn out - this isn't his first rodeo, and he knows a thing or two about aggressive tactics. Furthermore, Ackman is still underwater on his "short" -- his firm disclosed last month that it was down 49% on the trade. Icahn's long position, on the other hand, is profitable.

Icahn isn't taking this latest salvo lying down, either. Herbalife announced today that it will delay its April annual meeting by five days in order to hold discussions with Icahn. Ackman has said that he will take the fight against the company "until the end of the earth," and he is exceptionally dogged (some might say stubborn.) But this situation could end before it gets that far.

Although I still think it's a low-probability outcome at this stage, I wouldn't be flabbergasted to see Icahn organize a going-private transaction (as an aside, Herbalife's $5.8 billion market capitalization is little more than one-fourth of Carl Icahn's estimated net worth.) Ackman had clearly been pondering adverse scenarios when he reduced his short position via shares and replaced it via options (which can't be called in by a broker).

Herbalife is a very unusual situation; but before you even consider putting a dollar into the shares, ask yourself: What information or resources advantage do I have over Bill Ackman or Carl Icahn? One of them is wrong, but how will you tell who? Investors will be smart to place Herbalife in their "too hard" pile - and enjoy the show instead.

Forget over-the-top reality TV shows and hitting up Vimeo for cool time-lapse videos. If you want to see a true extreme makeover, take a look at the difference between Ford's  balance sheet at the end of 2008, versus the just-ended fiscal 2013 year.

Shortly after coming on board as CEO in 2006, Alan Mulally launched the "One Ford" plan, a clearly stated, four-point corporate strategy. One of the goals of this still-current plan is for Ford to "Finance our plan and improve our balance sheet." This commitment is fascinating, as so few corporations seem to reference their balance sheets when discussing business strategy. At the time the plan was launched, Ford truly needed to face its overextended debt load and lack of resources on hand to finance sustainable growth. 

Let's review the areas of notable change in Ford's resources between 2008 and the present. Unless otherwise stated, we'll focus primarily on Ford's automotive balance sheet -- the portion of the balance sheet that does not include Ford's financial services arm.

Attacking large liabilities and long-term debt
In 2007, Ford began an arduous process to reduce both its mammoth retirement liabilities and its long-term debt. It established and funded a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA), the result of negotiations with its workforce, which transferred some retirement liabilities off Ford's books. Ford also issued billions of dollars of common stock between 2008 and 2013 to convert and restructure its long-term debt load. The company has also used operating cash flow to pay down debt and reduce the associated interest expense. The following table shows the difference in six years between these liability categories: 

 Dollar figures in billions. Source: SEC filings.

There's nothing wrong with keeping cash in the bank
What's Ford done with the profits it's generated since 2008? At least $9.4 billion of those profits have appeared on the automotive balance sheet as a combination of cash and marketable securities. The company now keeps just under $5.0 billion in cash on hand, with another $20.1 billion invested in marketable securities. This is a 60% increase in cash and securities from the $15.7 billion totals the company presented on its books at the end of 2008. Building up healthy cash balances again will serve Ford handsomely, as it gives the company more flexibility to pursue small acquisitions, as well as invest in product innovation.

Detail of Ford logo courtesy Dominic Alves under Creative Commons License. The Ford logo was famously collateralized under the company's huge borrowings in the mid-2000s, and was finally released from collateral liens in 2012.

Optimizing Inventory
Ford's inventory line item is one of the places where the company's progress really gets illuminated. Inventory at 12/31/2013 was recorded at $7.7 billion, nearly $1 billion less than the amount of automotive inventory shown at 12/31/2008. Sales climbed during the period, and Ford's automotive revenue is now about $10 billion more than 2008 levels (at $139.3 billion for the year just ended), so you would expect higher inventory on the balance sheet with increased revenue, correct?

The easy answer is yes, but by tying production as closely as possible to actual demand, a savvy manufacturer can avoid tying up excessive amounts of resources in raw materials and finished goods. Ford has made a practice of building to demand levels rather than churning out finished vehicles to place ad hoc with dealers. Thus, the company is turning its annual inventory about 15% faster than in 2008, and it's also managing the inputs of production more efficiently. While Ford is on track to reduce its global vehicle platforms from 15 to nine by 2016, the company actually produced 85% of global vehicle volume on just nine core platforms last year, so for all practical purposes, the automaker is already at its platform goal.

If there's one place to be skeptical of Ford's balance sheet, which is related to inventory, it's Ford's automotive payables, which were 1.7 times inventory in 2008, but have expanded to 2.3 times inventory at the end of 2013. The rise in payables is partially explained by the fact that Ford's trade payables tend to balloon at year-end, during December plant shutdowns, when production halts, but supplier costs continue to accrue. But higher average AP balances indicate some lengthening of days payable outstanding. This is a recent practice common among Fortune 500 companies: By shifting supplier payments back by even a few days, companies can marginally improve cash flow.

Deferred tax assets are a finance team's best friend
In certain situations, utter failure can result in balance sheet strength. This occurs when a company with steep losses carries forward net operating losses and tax credits, as Ford has done from its years in the red in the early and mid 2000s. As a result, Ford now has a net tax-deferred asset of $12.7 billion on its consolidated balance sheet. Out of this number, $8.0 billion derives from tax losses and credits that the company will be able to utilize against taxable income in the coming years. While Ford will still record income tax expense on its books, the actual cash paid to Uncle Sam for taxes should be quite low for at least the next couple of years, if not further, depending on Ford's profitability.

Shareholder equity is a great way to keep score on a balance sheet's progress
Ultimately, how do you measure if a company is managing its balance sheet well? If the company is profitable, over time, you will see a clear correlation between increased assets and a reduction of liabilities on the other side of the ledger. After all, the basic equation that governs the balance sheet is not any different from when you or I present a personal financial statement to a bank, to get a car loan or mortgage. Simply expressed,

Assets - Liabilities = Equity

A well-run company that generates profit will place a priority on converting those profits to cash. With cash, it will reduce non-productive liabilities, increase capital investment, and invest a prudent amount of  the remainder wisely in marketable securities. At the end of each year, the balance sheet position of any company is a snapshot of that organization's fiscal health, and a healthier complexion should be reflected in the Shareholder's Equity account.

In 2008, Ford's total (consolidated) Shareholder's Equity was plunged so deeply underwater that financial analysts had to don diving gear just to find it, at negative $14.5 billion. Six short years later, equity is a positive $26.4 billion. Factor out $10.5 billion of common stock issued for debt conversions and restructuring, and you'll still find a $30.4 billion positive swing. That's an extreme makeover that veteran shareholders can surely appreciate.

The recent bankruptcy of Mt. Gox curbed the staggering rally of bitcoin. This recent controversy raised the debate over the validity of bitcoin. Despite the securities issues related to this currency, the current price of bitcoin remains high, at more than $600. After all, the virtual currency offers some advantages over regular money, such as instant money transfers with few, if any, regulations. But considering bitcoin as an investment, is it the new gold -- a substitute investment against the potential devaluation of the U.S. dollar? I think there are three reasons bitcoin isn't the new gold.

The chart below shows the sharp rise in the price of bitcoin in the past six months. At one point, bitcoin passed the $1,000 mark. Since then, however, its price came down to the $600-$900 range. 

Source: Blockchain.  

One of the reasons for the drop in its price is the security issues related to bitcoin.  

1. Security issues 
Besides the latest Mt. Gox controversy, bitcoin has had its fair share of security issues, including heists. But even users of PayPal, a global online money transfer company, which is fully owned by eBay , have faced scams. The main difference is that PayPal has ample funds to invest toward improving its security. Just in 2013, the company brought in $6.6 billion in revenue for parent company eBay. This provides cash for investing in security and keeping PayPal from facing security breaches.

This kind of security risk is less common in gold, because it is mostly traded in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which isn't as heavily used as PayPal is. Moreover, gold trading is very limited to a few exchange markets and is heavily regulated  so that heisting gold derivatives is as likely as robbing Apple shares. The recent breach in Mt. Gox is still unclear but some analysts suspect the security breach was in  bitcoin's protocol: Hackers were able to deceive Mt. Gox's software into assuming transactions didn't go through. It's unknown how much Bitcoin inventors and exchange companies such as Bitstamp, the world's largest bitcoin exchange, invest in the currency's security. But the recent collapse of Mt. Gox suggests the virtual currency's level of security isn't enough. Furthermore, such publicity is likely to impede bitcoin's broader acceptance. Besides security issues, bitcoin remains a risky investment .  

2. Riskier than U.S. dollars or gold
The risk of the potential devaluation of the U.S. dollar has increased in the past several years, mainly after the 2008 financial meltdown. These circumstances resulted in a shift toward safe-haven investments such as gold. The shift in market sentiment toward risk aversion was also accompanied by the Federal Reserve's decisions to purchase long-term securities, which resulted in an increase in the U.S. monetary base. These factors enabled the price of gold to reach $1,900 back in 2011. Gold enthusiasts tend to use SPDR Gold to invest in gold. And up until the middle of 2012, the price of gold and SPDR Gold rallied. Since then, however, gold and SPDR Gold haven't performed well as the market sentiment has slowly shifted back toward taking more risk.

But the Fed's ongoing policy to purchase long-term securities left fear of a potential rise in inflation. The inflation never materialized, but these circumstances raised the demand for alternative currencies such as bitcoin. But this currency remains very risky, which puts into question its value. For example, in the past year, the standard deviation of the daily percent changes of bitcoin's price was 7.6%. In comparison, during that time frame, the standard deviation of the euro/USD was 0.4% and USD/Yen was 0.4%. The standard deviation of the price of gold was 1.4%. This means bitcoin is much more volatile than leading currencies or gold, and even though bitcoin might be considered an alternative to the U.S. dollar, it's still much riskier. The last issue to consider is this currency's underlying value.

3. No underlying value
This is one of the main issues bitcoin investors face: Gold and the U.S. dollar have their underlying value: Gold can be used to make jewelry, and the U.S. dollar is backed by the Federal Reserve. Does bitcoin have a base value? What if tomorrow, no one believes in bitcoin anymore? 

The takeaway
For now, bitcoin is still alive and kicking, even after the recent fall of Mt. Gox, which put a spotlight on one of bitcoin's main problems: security. This isn't the only problem bitcoin enthusiasts face, though. The currency's high volatility and lack of base value will keep haunting bitcoin investors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin deserves a sarcastic "Thank You" note from anyone currently invested in the stock market. The note would indicate to Mr. Putin that his reckless and threatening stance toward Ukraine not only threw the world's leaders into crisis prevention mode, but his brazen power play also managed to erase 386 points from the Dow Jones Industrial Average this week alone. "You're just crazy enough to cause a pullback in the global financial markets, all by yourself" the note would conclude. "Impressive stuff, Vlad."

In reality, Russia's offensive deserves no praise, and could endanger the lives of the ethnically divided citizens of Ukraine -- not to mention Russia's already fragile relationship with Western powers. As diplomatic talks with Russia and the U.S. stalled, the Dow lost 43 points, or 0.3%, to end at 16,065. 

Wal-Mart stock lost 0.9% Friday, ending as one of the 20 blue chip stocks to lose ground. As a $240-billion global titan of commerce, Wal-Mart's days of booming growth are over. One way to gauge Wally World's future prospects is to keep tabs on U.S. retail sales, and those aren't setting any records right now, ticking up 0.3% in February. Some investors think Wal-Mart should seek growth by acquiring a prominent grocer or dollar store, but it may just be muscling its way into the market uninvited. Outside of the Dow, Ulta Salon and Sirius XM Holdings also finished as big movers, though neither stock retreated in today's trading. 

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance surged 6.4% after the beauty retailer continued to post impressive top- and bottom-line growth. Same-store sales grew by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, and the company expects same-store sales to continue growing between 5% and 7% in the first quarter. Wal-Mart, as a megaretailer, is already far larger than Ulta can ever be as purely a beauty store, but Ulta will likely maintain higher gross margins than Wal-Mart into the future. 

Finally, shares of Sirius XM Holdings tacked on 2.1% today after Liberty Media Corporation decided to drop its bid to purchase the remaining shares of Sirius XM. Immediately following the decision, Sirius reinstituted a share buyback program. The satellite radio company also reiterated guidance for 2014, predicting the service will add more than 1.2 million customers, log $4 billion in sales, and haul in over $1 billion in free cash flow. It's no surprise investors decided to stay tuned; Sirius has a pretty tight grasp on its market. And with Liberty Media no longer looming, Sirius has more control over its own destiny, as well..

A recall scandal has GM's Detroit headquarters in turmoil. Photo credit: General Motors

Last week was a rough one for General Motors  and its new CEO Mary Barra. An emerging scandal over a long-overdue recall is turning into a tough test for GM's new chief. 

GM recalled 1.6 million vehicles in February to replace a defective ignition switch. The issue: The switch could cause cars to shut off suddenly -- or worse, they could fail in such a way as to shut off the car's airbags in a crash.

The scandal: The affected cars were made between 2003 and 2007, and GM -- at least, some parts of GM -- have known about the problem for many years. Meanwhile, at least a dozen people have died in accidents related to the defective switches.

That's a problem, one that has federal officials outraged -- and trial lawyers salivating.

It's a tough test for GM's new CEO, and it could get even tougher as more facts emerge in coming weeks. But as Fool contributor John Rosevear explains in this video, so far, Barra appears to be making the right moves to guide GM through this unfortunate mess.

A transcript of the video is below.

John Rosevear: Hey Fools, it's John Rosevear. It has been a rough week for General Motors, which is getting beaten up over a huge recall.GM last month recalled 1.6 million vehicles, most made between 2003 and 2007, for an ignition switch defect that is blamed for a bunch of accidents in which at least 12 people have died.

The issue is that some people within GM have known for years and years that these switches were a problem, but GM for whatever reason didn't do a recall at the time, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration didn't for whatever reason force them to do a recall.

So there are some pretty serious inquiries going on here.

On Monday we heard that a U.S. House of Representatives committee led by Michigan Representative Fred Upton said they would hold hearings, and Upton is a longtime auto safety champion so these are likely to be serious stuff. On Tuesday we heard that a Senate committee will have its own hearings, and late in the day word emerged that the U.S. Justice Department is opening its own investigation, that's the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, meaning New York City, so this will be high profile. That news sent GM's shares down over 5% on Tuesday.

Then on Wednesday, GM said that its internal investigation showed that the company had seen signs of trouble with the switches as early as 2001, and it's not sure that it has determined the full scope of the problem, so these recalls may be expanded.

Delphi Automotive , the supplier that made the switches, said that the replacement switches will cost between $2 dollars and $5 dollars each, and that GM dealers will able to swap out the defective switches for replacements in a matter of minutes, so I guess the good news is that this recall isn't going to cost GM a fortune in terms of parts and labor.And aside from that big hit on Tuesday, GM's stock has held up fairly well.

I think there's a recognition that really the blame for this falls on GM's former management, GM has a whole new team in place now led by CEO Mary Barra, they do things very differently, and so far Barra has made all the right moves here, issuing an apology and starting a credible, in-depth internal investigation and being very transparent, not trying to hide or spin anything. They've also moved to try to take care of affected customers, GM dealers are authorized to offer anyone who owns a recalled car $500 toward a new one, and they emphasized that this isn't to be used for marketing purposes, its to help out customers who may need some help.

But this is still a big deal, and between lawsuit settlements and potential criminal and regulatory exposure the ultimate cost to GM could end up being quite big here. The good news though is again, this is a remnant of old GM, it doesn't affect the current company's reputation in quite the same way that the Toyota  recalls did a few years ago. So we'll continue to keep a close eye on this, but so far it's not something that GM shareholders need to panic about. Thanks for watching, and Fool on.

When it comes to refrigerators, General Electric is a household name. When it comes to banking, however, the industrial giant's not so interested in the everyday consumer.

To that end, the company filed paperwork with the SEC on Thursday to conduct an IPO for the North American retail finance unit, which makes up a portion of GE Capital's consumer business. On a day-to-day basis, the retail finance unit handles credit card financing for stores like Amazon.com and American Eagle. This credit card unit, which will be called Synchrony Financial after the spin-off, also happens to be the largest U.S. issuer of credit cards for retailers and related industries.

Let's look at how the upcoming spin-off could unlock value for GE investors along the way.

Source: General Electric

A view from 20,000 feet
To understand exactly what GE is parting ways with, here is a brief overview of how the businesses stack up at the conglomerate:

1. First, keep in mind that GE's banking division, GE Capital, generated $44 billion in revenue and $8.3 billion in profits in 2013. Of the whole GE pie, that made up 30% of revenue and 34% of segment profits for the latest fiscal year. That's a rather large slice, and one that GE intends to narrow to 30% of profits by 2015. The spin-off of the consumer business is a step in that direction.

2. Within GE Capital, the North American retail finance unit contributed $2 billion in profits during 2013, or roughly 29% of post-tax earnings. As you can see, this consumer business is no small potato either, so GE has decided to cut ties in a two-step process. Step one is the 2014 IPO.

3. This IPO, which could take place in the next couple of months, will consist of roughly 20% of the equity of GE's North American retail finance business. Step two will distribute the remaining 80% of the equity to GE shareholders next year. All told, the resulting company, Synchrony Financial, could fetch a value of up to $20 billion according to multiple estimates.

When it's all said and done, GE aims to separate itself from a non-core business that served as a distraction in recent years. Despite the hefty $1.98 billion in profits provided by North American retail finance in 2013, GE said this business is a "step removed from GE Capital's strength of lending to industrial middle-market companies."

For shareholders, there are several reasons to be optimistic about what this move brings to the table.

What the spin-off means for investors
The spin-off, first and foremost, signals a continuation of GE's plans to "right-size" GE Capital and reposition itself as an infrastructure leader. In that regard, GE considers the IPO and subsequent tax-free distribution to shareholders as the "last major action" to get to the right balance between industrial and banking businesses. That's good news for shareholders because it frees up management to focus on lending geared toward the mid-market customers, which is GE Capital's bread-and-butter business.

Secondly, GE's spin-off arrives at an attractive time for both the business and the market environment. As the Wall Street Journal reported, the underlying operations at soon-to-be Synchrony are quite strong. Profits, for example, have surged from $400 million to $2 billion in only four years. GE's waited wisely to conduct a spin-off at an opportune moment.

On top of that, the market for consumer lending is rebounding quite nicely. As a case in point, Santander Consumer, a similar lending business which makes car loans to subprime borrowers, recently raised $1.8 billion in an IPO that was enlarged due to heightened interest. Meanwhile, shares in credit card competitors like Discover Financial Services are up more than 80% in the past two years.

In other words, the timing couldn't be better. While GE's been making strides in other areas of the business, many analysts still believe the GE Capital overhang has been weighing down the stock. It's one of the key reasons GE's shares trade at a P/E multiple that's 17% lower than the industry average according to Morningstar.

Finally, the second half of the upcoming transaction will effectively result in a diminished share count as stockholders are able to swap their ownership in GE for shares in the consumer finance business in 2015. This will effectively serve as a beneficial buyback so long as the contracting outstanding shares are greater than the earnings diverted through the spin-off. 

Source: General Electric

Foolish takeaway
While GE's still in the early stages of the consumer finance spin-off, the payoff at the end of the road looks attractive both qualitatively and quantitatively. When it's all said and done, GE will be free to focus on growing financial earnings commensurate with the industrial side of the business, and shareholders will have the opportunity to invest in Synchrony - should they choose - or reap the benefits of the stock-for-stock swap through an increased claim to the parent company's earnings. The stand-alone unit might face some challenges on its own, but right now this is looking like a win-win for GE shareholders.

Source: Ann.

Ann was rising by more than 7.6% on Friday after the company reported better than expected results for the fourth quarter of 2013. This performance is particularly encouraging when compared against industry peers such as Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch , which are being materially affected by industry headwinds. Should you go shopping for shares of this trendy fashion company?

On the right side of the trend
Total sales during the fourth quarter of 2013 came in at $623 million, versus $608 million in the same quarter of the prior year, thanks to a strong increase of 2.9% in comparable store sales.

While many competitors have experienced margin pressure due to intense promotions lately, Ann reported an increase of 20 basis points in gross margin to 49.3% during the quarter.

The Ann Taylor brand suffered a 1.1% decline in comparable sales, while store and online sales rose by 0.9%, the factory channel showed a big decline of 6.1%, which management attributed to weak traffic in regions that were particularly affected by the weather. 

The LOFT brand, on the other hand, continues firing on all cylinders with an increase of 5.7% in total brand comparable sales during the quarter. While comparable sales in the LOFT outlet channel decreased by 3.5%, store and online sales showed a remarkable growth rate of 7.6% in comparable revenues during the quarter.

Net income during the period came in at $4.7 million versus $2.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. Earnings per share were $0.10, double the $0.05 per share the company generated in the same quarter of the prior year, and materially better than the $0.07 per share forecasted on average by Wall Street analysts.

The company has a pristine balance sheet with more than $200 million in cash and equivalents and no financial debt, and management is planning to use its financial flexibility to reward shareholders with stock buybacks. During fiscal 2013, Ann repurchased approximately 1.5 million of its outstanding shares at a total cost of $49.1 million, decreasing shares outstanding by 4% during the year.

Industry headwinds
Retailers in different sectors are facing heavy headwinds due to weak consumer spending and tough weather conditions over the last months, and fashion apparel companies are no exception by any means.

Gap is typically considered a steady performer in comparison to peers because of its wide global reach and diverse customer base, which provide stability for the company´s sales. However, Gap is clearly not immune to weather conditions; the company reported big same-store sales declines across its different brands during February, as more than 450 of its stores had to close during the unusually cold winter.

Comparable-store sales at Gap Global fell by 10% in February versus the same month in the prior year, while revenues from Banana Republic declined by 7%, and Old Navy delivered a decrease of 6% in comparable-store sales.

Abercrombie & Fitch is trying to implement a turnaround by reinvigorating its brands and streamlining operations. Even if the company is making some improvements in areas like cost cuttings and closing unprofitable stores, sales continue to decline at a considerable speed, so there is little or no sign of a sustainable turnaround for Abercrombie & Fitch at this point.

Net sales during the 14 weeks ended on Feb.1 declined by 11.5% versus the same period in the prior year, and performance remains week across the board. Comparable sales decreased 6% for Abercrombie & Fitch, while Abercrombie Kids delivered a decline of 8%, and comparable sales at Hollister fell by 10% during the period.

Moving forward
The company ended the year with a total of 1,025 stores, comprised of 268 Ann Taylor stores, 108 Ann Taylor Factory stores, 539 LOFT stores, and 110 LOFT Outlet stores. Management is planning to open approximately 50 stores in the coming year, with a special focus on its particularly successful LOFT brand.

In addition, the company has announced it will be cutting approximately 100 jobs as it streamlines its operations to adapt to an onmi-channel world. Management expects costs savings in the area of $25 million per year from this restructuring.

These kinds of decisions are always hard to make, especially when a company is reporting better-than-expected performance. However, Ann seems to be trying to stay ahead of the curve and adapting to changing industry conditions as quickly as possible while keeping costs at bay, and this is the right approach to a dynamic and competitive business like fashion retail.

Bottom line
Ann is doing materially better than its competitors in spite of a challenging environment for the industry, as its LOFT brand is performing specially well. Management remains focused on keeping costs under control and adapting to changing industry dynamics, so the company looks well positioned to continue rewarding shareholders with superior performance in the middle term.

Santa Clara-based chipmaker NVIDIA recently released strong fourth-quarter results. NVIDIA's stock has received a massive boost in the past year as the company continues to put in strong performances on the back of increasing sales of its graphics chips. Also, with a rebound in sales of its Tegra mobile chips, NVIDIA investors have found yet another reason to be optimistic about the company's prospects. In addition, NVIDIA seems to be gaining an upper hand on prime rival Advanced Micro Devices , both in terms of market share and product development.

Positives all around
NVIDIA's recent results were decent, with quarterly revenue increasing 3% to $1.14 billion. Non-GAAP earnings amounted to $0.32 per share in the fourth quarter, up from $0.26 per share in the third quarter and well ahead of the $0.18 per share consensus estimate. This outperformance is expected to continue in the future since NVIDIA is riding on a lot of tailwinds, as we shall see.

First off, NVIDIA's GeForce business is performing quite well as a result of high-end PC gaming. The company sees good business opportunities in the future because of the launch of some excellent graphics-heavy games such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Black Flag, Assassin's Creed IV, and Batman Arkham Origins. Further, NVIDIA is expecting better GeForce GTX sales in Asia due to the growing popularity of games such as Blade and Soul, which are resource-heavy compared to other games played in China. NVIDIA is looking forward to the boom in the PC gaming market, which is expected to hit $20 billion this year.

Also, NVIDIA has entered into a partnership with IBM for its Tesla GPUs, and this should strengthen its GPU business further on the enterprise front. The company has a lot of expectation from the Tesla GPU accelerators. The integration of Tesla in Europe's fastest supercomputer, as well as Ansys fluid, which is one of the most widely used commercial high-performance computing applications, indicates stronger performance from NVIDIA going forward. 

The presence of NVIDIA's Tesla in IBM's servers and enterprise hardware is good news for the chip maker. As Foolish contributor Timothy Green points out, IBM had to bring a differentiating factor into its hardware in order to perk up sales. IBM's Power systems, which are driven by IBM's Power architecture, faced a lot of weakness in the previous quarter, with sales dropping 38%. So, the integration of NVIDIA's GPU could drive sales of IBM's servers and hardware because of NVIDIA's expertise in accelerating hardware.

Tegra and GRID also gaining steam
Also, NVIDIA's GRID is also gaining momentum, with trials increasing 46% quarter over quarter. Further, in the mobile segment, it expects more from its latest Tegra K1, which is the first processor that delivers PC-class graphics, according to NVIDIA. Moving on, in the automotive segment, NVIDIA is seeing stronger adoption of the Tegra K1 because of deployment in driver assistance systems and self parking systems.

What is even more impressive is that NVIDIA has stolen a march over its arch-rival AMD, which was looking to make some foray into tablets with its semi-custom chips. AMD hasn't focused much on the mobile space, but lower sales of notebooks and computing chipsets are probably forcing it to look at other options, and the tablet space was one such option. However, with NVIDIA already releasing a reference tablet for the Tegra K1, it could leave AMD way behind in the race as tablet makers will have an early start if they are to integrate the Tegra into their devices.

Bottom line
NVIDIA is making a lot of good moves. The company looks to be in a good position to grow further with strong performances from its mobile and computing businesses, and innovations such as the Tegra K1. Finally, a dividend yield of 1.90% makes NVIDIA even more attractive, so investors should definitely look at this stock for their portfolio.

Tesla Motors has had a long-standing partnership with Daimler , the German automaker that lays claim to the Mercedes Benz brand. Going as far back as 2008, Daimler and Tesla have been collaborating on powertrain, battery, and charger development for the electric drives of Daimler subsidiary Smart's fortwo model. Development commenced in 2009, and the cohorts have played nicely together.

An interesting stake
Daimler has a history of relying on Tesla's technology for its electric fleet. From May 2009 through December 2012 Tesla provided Daimler with 2,700 battery packs and chargers. In 2010, the companies entered into an arrangement in which Tesla would develop and produce the battery pack and charger for Daimler's A-class electric vehicles, which were introduced to the European market in 2011. It's not only passenger cars that Daimler has entrusted Tesla to supply EV components for, it's also for the German company's electric delivery vans for its Freightliner affiliate.

Source: Freightliner

Burning both ends
Upon completion of the Smart fortwo and A-Class EV-component development, production, and delivery, Tesla began to develop the full-electric power train for the B-Class Mercedes-Benz vehicle. This production agreement was entered into in July 2013. Tesla expects to complete a substantial portion of the agreed-upon development services early this year, and will commence production of the EV components soon after.

Source: Mercedes Benz

So what does this history tell us about Tesla's future? Daimler has already expressed its desire to expand its partnership with the electric-car maker. Bodo Uebber, Daimler's CFO, said that they are intent on finding new opportunities for cooperation with Tesla. Considering the potential Daimler sees in its next-generation compacts (the company views this market as crucial to its growth), there could be even greater partnership potential ahead.

It's not just bits and pieces
Sure, its one thing for Tesla to have a history of supplying components to one of its most prominent competitors, its another thing all together when you consider that -- along with relying on Tesla for power trains, batteries, and chargers -- Daimler also has a stake in Tesla. As of last year the German automaker beneficially owned 4,867,929 shares of Tesla's common stock. Having equity in the electric-car maker just goes to show how much Daimler believes in Tesla's mission and growth potential.

Source: Tesla

Friendly competition
Tesla isn't going to go easy on its German partner, in fact its gunning for Daimler's market share in China. Combined with BMW, Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand has a hold on about 70% of China's annual $40 billion high-end-vehicle market. Tesla is swooping in, building out its Supercharger network, opening its most popular store in Bejing, and offering its Model S at a fair price. Daimler will have to balance its reliance on Tesla with its need to compete with the electric-car maker in a market with huge growth potential.

Tesla and its investors have a lot to gain from its partnership with Daimler, from future development deals to competitive marketing strategy -- it's a win-win situation for everyone involved.   

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

What: Shares of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co were peeling out today, gaining as much as 11%, and finishing up 7% on a strong fourth-quarter earnings report.

So what: The tire maker said sales declined 19%, to $861 million, well ahead of estimates at $774.3 million, while earnings of $0.31 beat the experts' view of $0.26. Cooper delivered its second-highest full-year operating profit in the company's 100-year history, and CEO Roy Armes said the company's performance was "a testament to the resilience of our business model." Profits and sales were down year over year due to a labor standoff at its joint venture in China, an unfavorable sales mix, and higher manufacturing costs; but, with strong beats on top and bottom lines, Cooper rose to the occasion.  

Now what: For the current year, management did not provide guidance, but it said it expects first quarter raw material costs to decline 3% and then rise over the long term. Armes also said, "The challenges of 2013 are largely behind us," and that Cooper should see unit volumes recover and grow at a rate equal to or greater than the industry. Analysts are expecting flat revenue, but the company should see some sales growth on higher volumes, which could send shares higher.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to escalate, and Wall Street continues to hate it. Investors chose to reduce their exposure to stocks today, given the risk that the situation gets dramatically worse during the weekend. Celgene Corporation , Gilead Sciences , and Priceline.com ended as the three worst stocks in the S&P 500 Index Friday; the S&P lost five points, or 0.3%, to end at 1,841.

Two of the three most miserable performers today were biotech players. Celgene Corporation finished as the largest retreater in the 500-stock index, losing 4.2% in trading today. A pesky protection of intellectual property, the "patent," is to blame for Celgene's loss today, as a U.S. judge scheduled an earier-than-expected hearing on Revlimid, a blood disease treatment. While investors generally don't expect the patent challenge to cause problems, the fact that a small risk exists, and is now closer on the time horizon, worried investors.

Unlike Celgene, Gilead Sciences' patent woes aren't due to an earlier resolution in the courts, but a brand-new problem that just popped up. Idenix Pharmaceuticals initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against Gilead today, causing the stock to shed 3.8% in trading. Gilead's hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir is the subject of contention; Idenix claims it was first to patent the treatment in Europe. These two companies clearly aren't fond of each other, with Idenix filing two suits against Gilead in December. Investors should resist the temptation to equate lawsuits with valid plaints, since frivolous cases come through the courts all the time in the health-care industry.

Finally, shares of Priceline.com Incorporated stumbled 2.5% today, though there were no emerging patent fiascos for shareholders to worry about. Priceline.com shareholders haven't had much to worry about for years, actually, as the online travel booking industry has gone absolutely bonkers. Not only is Internet access on an irreversible trek toward ubiquity, but with the economic recovery and William Shatner as your pitchman, it's no wonder shares are up more than 1,500% in the last five years. On top of that, as my colleague Daniel James argues, impressive fourth-quarter performance from Priceline and its competitors show the industry is still flying high.

On Friday, the stock market continued in the same direction it has moved throughout the week, with investors looking at this weekend's referendum in the Crimean region of Ukraine as a pivotal moment in the conflict with Russia. Given the dramatic implications the decision could have on the world economy in light of expected sanctions if Russia moves forward to annex Crimea, the modest drops of about a quarter percent for major-market benchmarks seemed reasonable. Yet JA Solar Holdings , ANN , and magicJack VocalTec defied the down market and climbed higher.

For Chinese solar stock JA Solar, today's 8% gain stemmed from an analyst upgrade of the stock immediately before its earnings report on Monday. Axiom Capital boosted its target price on JA Solar by almost 10 times, completely reversing course from a previous sell rating and hoping that the solar player can deliver on expectations to post a modest profit for the fourth quarter and for 2014. Given the strong tailwinds that solar companies have enjoyed lately, it's essential for JA Solar to take maximum advantage now in case conditions in the industry get worse in the future.

Women's retailer ANN rose almost 8% after announcing it would make a strategic realignment. The announcement came along with fourth-quarter earnings, in which the parent company of the Loft and Ann Taylor stores said that same-store sales rose 2.9%, along with a faster 5.7% rate at Loft. Net income doubled, but ANN said that the current quarter could face problems due to winter weather and high levels of promotional discounting. Yet investors focused on the longer-term potential from the realignment, which will better integrate its stores and its e-commerce strategy, and job cuts of about 100 workers should cut costs as well.

For magicJack VocalTec, today's 8% rise came from follow-through buying after yesterday's 20% jump on positive earnings results. Investors applauded the extent to which the voice-over-Internet provider has managed to grow, even in a competitive environment, with both Vonage and 8x8 trying to encroach on its territory and beat it out for prospective business. But shareholders clearly believe that magicJack's plans to boost exposure by making its products available from more locations will help overall traffic, and that could send earnings up even as the stock's valuation remains reasonable.

Economic slowdown in China. The threat of a breakaway/annexation of the Crimea, following this weekend's upcoming referendum. These are, ostensibly, the two big macro worries that hung over the equity markets this week (particularly during the past two days). After the benchmark S&P 500 erased the last of its gains for the year yesterday, it lost another 0.3% on Friday; the narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average also dropped 0.3%.

Conversely, the "fear trade" -- long gold -- was a winner: After breaking through $1,350 per ounce for the first time since October on Monday, the near-month gold futures price ended the week at $1,382.50. The CBOE Volatility Index , which is sometimes referred to as Wall Street's "fear gauge," hit its highest level since the beginning of February. (The VIX Index is a market measure of investor expectations for stock market volatility during the next 30 days.) Despite these jitters, however, there are two very good reasons not to pay the slightest attention to the macro factors cited above:

• Assuming you have an equity-appropriate investing time horizon, and you own a diversified portfolio of common shares, today's headlines will have zero impact on your long-term performance -- which is the only performance that ought to matter when it comes to a stock investing.

Or, as billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett put it on CNBC this morning:

Investor fears concerning China and the Ukraine] are not warranted in terms of the market... I would bet a lot of money that income from a diversified group of stocks will increase significantly over the next 20 years -- the headlines will not make any difference in that. Stocks can go up and down, they always will go up and down, but American business is going to move forward over time and dividends will move with it.

• Odds are, you shouldn't be a stock picker; but if you are, every market contains opportunities that will enable a talented investor to outperform the market.

Again, this holds over an appropriate time frame. Stock pickers have had a hard differentiating themselves in terms of performance during the past several years in a "risk on/risk off" market; however, that does not mean that the opportunities that would create future outperformance were not there.

In fact, despite the concerns about China, the Ukraine, and emerging markets more broadly, stock-specific factors appear to be returning to prominence, and we're beginning to witness a greater dispersion of returns between stocks:

Stock pickers market: $SPX off 0.39% YTD (up 0.09% w/dividends) but 23.8% of $SPX issues have moved at least 10% YTD (74 up & 45 down)

— Howard Silverblatt (@hsilverb) March 14, 2014

Put away your newspaper/laptop/tablet this weekend, and do something more enjoyable with your time - your investment performance-related stress will fall, but your (long-term) performance itself won't suffer a bit. (It may even improve if you avoid deciding to trade in or out of one of your positions.)

Friday's market action involved many of the same concerns that have plagued stock investors all week, including the planned referendum in Crimea on whether to break off from Ukraine and join Russia. Nervousness led to small declines for broad market measures, with the Dow posting its fifth straight loss. But some stocks suffered much more dramatic moves downward, with Plug Power , Aeropostale , and Raptor Pharmaceuticals among the worst performers of the day.

Plug Power fell 16% as the popular fuel-cell company suffered from analyst downgrades, reversing all of the stock's gains yesterday following Plug's positive earnings report. One analyst actually raised its price target along with its downgrade, arguing that at current prices, the stock's valuation is reasonable. Yet, the danger that another analyst identified was that it could take longer for potential customers to get the infrastructure in place to supply fuel-cell equipment with the hydrogen they need to operate. If that happens, then expected sales could end up getting deferred into future quarters or years, and that would slow Plug's growth rate and lead to a reversal of sentiment among growth-hungry momentum investors. The move also pulled down industry peers FuelCell Systems and Ballard Power Systems , which dropped 9% and 5% respectively.

Aeropostale plunged 20% in the wake of the teen retailer's poor results for its fourth quarter. Sales crashed 16%, producing an adjusted loss in what is always a key quarter for the retail industry. Guidance for those losses to double during the current quarter was much worse than investors had expected to see, and even though Aeropostale is taking steps to try to reinvigorate its brand and reawaken some of its growth from past years, shareholders have started to worry about whether the company has enough cash to make a true turnaround. On that score, Aeropostale's arrangement to obtain financing from hedge fund Sycamore Partners might have been more counterproductive than encouraging.

Raptor Pharmaceuticals plummeted 24% after the small biotech gave discouraging guidance for sales of its key drug Procysbi for the current fiscal year. With expectations of just $55 million to $65 million in sales for the treatment for nephropathic cystinosis, Raptor's impressive growth wasn't enough to keep investors happy, especially given that the stock has soared on hopes that Procysbi would become a blockbuster drug for the company. With some other potential indications for Procysbi in the company's pipeline, Raptor could pose an interesting value for those who believe that the prospects for its key drug are brighter than shareholders seem to think after today's plunge.

This morning, the preliminary Thomson Reuter/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index reading of 79.9 in March was released. That figure is lower than the 81.6 in February, and below the 81.8 that economists were expecting. That news, combined with increased uncertainty and rising tensions about the situation with Russia, was enough to push the major U.S. indexes lower today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 43 points, or 0.27%, the S&P 500 fell 0.28%, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.35% today.

One widely followed stock, Sirius XM , made news of its own this morning as the company announced it was reinstating its share buyback program after Liberty Media decided to drop its bid to acquire the remaining 47% of Sirius that it doesn't own already. Furthermore, Sirius's management said that it remains confident it will have net subscriber additions of 1.25 million in 2014, produce more than $4 billion in revenue, and have more than $1 billion in free cash flow. Shares of Sirius XM rose 2.08% today, while Liberty Media jumped 7.22%.  

In the world of retail, there were a number of interesting develops today. One that was quite shocking came from Target . Management warned this morning that the data breach the company experienced last year may have been more extensive than what was previously reported. The statement indicated that the information accessed or stolen may not have been limited to the 40 million customer credit card records, or the 70 million pieces of customer data. While at this time, the company is not hinting at what else may have been compromised, management warned that the company's losses may increase due to the ongoing situation, and the reputation of the business could further experience damage. Shares of the retailer fell 0.62% during the regular trading session.

Another retailer, GameStop , had a wonderful day, as shares rose 5.01%. The move came following a report from research firm NPD that found that video game sales came in much better than expected last month. Analysts were expecting sales to tumble 29% when compared to a year earlier, but they fell only 9%. Michael Olson from Piper Jaffray commented on the decline, saying that results were better than expected, and that he still has confidence in the industry. Olsen believes the industry will see improved results, and sales will grow heading into the next holiday shopping season as more gamers update consoles.

Come April 1, consumers won't be able to buy a Tesla Motors Model S sedan at Tesla retail stores in New Jersey, thanks to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission voting on Tuesday to enact rules that prohibit auto manufacturers from selling directly to consumers. New Jersey marks the third state banning Tesla's direct sales model, joining Texas and Arizona.

The premium electric vehicle maker won't lose any business because of the New Jersey ban, so investors need not concern themselves with this issue, in my opinion. It's the people of that state who will come out on the losing end of this protectionist-guised-as-consumer-protection policy. Consumers get a current right taken away, and taxpayers will suffer because New Jersey will lose sales tax on the Model S to the neighboring states of Pennsylvania and New York.

Let's leave the political muck to others, and focus our high beams on the business ramifications of this new regulation.

The exact meaning of a "ban"
These Tesla "bans" don't mean that Tesla can't operate within a given state. If the New Jersey law is enacted in a way similar to the one in Texas, than Tesla will just have to go with a workaround. If Tesla's New Jersey workaround is similar to the one in Texas, than Tesla's two retail stores in New Jersey -- which are in Short Hills and Paramus, both of which are in the northern part of the state and about 20 miles from New York City -- will be rechristened as "galleries." These will be showrooms where potential buyers can look at the Model S, but can't test drive it, nor can employees discuss costs or assist consumers with alternate ways to buy a vehicle.

Tesla's Short Hills, NJ store. Source: Tesla Motors

In today's connected world, the Internet makes the latter two factors non-issues. Anyone who is shopping for a vehicle -- most especially a high-end one -- surely has access to the Internet, where Tesla's website provides pricing, as well as the opportunity for consumers to order a vehicle online. The only small hitch in ordering online is that Tesla can't deliver to buyers in banned states, so these buyers have to use a third-party delivery service.

As to test driving, Tesla sets up periodic test-driving events open to the public in various parts of Texas. For instance, last Labor Day weekend, folks in the Austin area were able to take a Model S for a 15-minute spin. These events not only serve as a workaround for those who can't test drive a Model S at a "gallery" and don't want to travel to the nearest actual "store," but are good marketing tools, too. The Model S garners glowing praise for its performance and luxury, was named Motor Trend's Car of the Year in 2013, notched a top 99 score by Consumer Reports, and earned top NHSA safety ratings. Test driving such a car will likely turn some casual lookers into buyers, and result in others setting their sights on the more moderately priced "gen III" sedan once it's available. (Tesla's targeting a 2017 launch.)

Most importantly, these bans don't affect Tesla's Supercharger sites, which Tesla continues to aggressively build out, including in Texas. Tesla's goal is to have 90% of the U.S. population and parts of Canada covered by 2015. The company's been rolling out its second-generation Superchargers, which provide the 85kWh Model S (the model with a 265-mile range) with a half charge in 20 minutes, and provide juice for about 200 miles in 30 minutes.

Pennsylvania and New York are a stone's throw from the diminutive Garden State 
Test driving and/or buying a Model S at an out-of-state retail store will generally be much less of an issue for New Jersey residents than it is for those living in Texas and Arizona, given that New Jersey is a very small state geographically.

The vast majority of its residents live within 50-60 miles of either the Pennsylvania or New York state line, and many are considerably closer to one of these state lines, as New Jersey's population is very dense outside New York City and Philadelphia. Tesla already has one store in Pennsylvania -- in the Philadelphia suburbs -- which is easily accessible to New Jersey residents who live in much of the southern half of the state. The company has five New York state stores in the New York City area that are accessible to New Jersey residents who call the northern half of the state home. Additionally, Tesla surely will be building more locations in these states. (Auto dealers in New York are hoping for a direct sales model ban, too, but the political situation seems different, so I'm not sure how likely that is to happen.)

Foolish final thoughts
Tesla investors shouldn't be concerned about these direct sales model bans, as buyers who are spending big bucks for a vehicle are going to buy the exact car they want, even if a little extra effort is involved.

Things should eventually work out in Tesla's favor, as residents of states with these bans aren't likely to take well to having fewer consumer options than those in the vast majority of the other states. In the meantime, I'd imagine Tesla might set up some additional innovative workarounds that would appeal to consumers in states with these bans.

Tesla might actually benefit from these bans, as they could further increase public support for the upstart EV maker. Politicians banning Tesla's direct sales model are coming off as the "big bad guys" who are playing politics, yet again, based upon the many comments I've read on this issue. That, by contrast, puts Tesla in the "good guy" role, and might buy some additional goodwill for the company.

There's no reason that those invested in Tesla for the long term should not stay the course, as long as Tesla continues to deliver on its business plan and delights with its vehicles.

The Buckle  shares closed down on the day in the wake of the company's Q4 and fiscal 2013 results. For the quarter, net sales were $339 million, which was lower than the $361 million in the same period the previous year. Net income landed at $59 million ($1.23 per diluted share), comparing unfavorably to Q4 2012's $61 million ($1.28).

Analysts had been expecting net sales of $349 million and EPS of $1.20.

For the full year, top line was $1.13 billion, a slight improvement over the $1.12 billion of 2012. Net income dropped modestly, to $163 million, from the year-ago tally of $164 million.

In terms of operations, at the end of fiscal 2013, the firm operated 450 retail stores; that figure for end-2012 was 440.

Following the announcement of the results, the company's stock declined by 0.7%, or $0.33, to close the day at $45.19.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer are ending their work week on a high note. The latter announced that a Supplemental New Drug application for the medication they developed together, Eliquis, has been conditionally approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The regulator gave the nod to the drug for the preventive treatment of deep vein thrombosis in patients who have undergone hip or knee replacement surgery.

Deep vein thrombosis is a condition in which a blood clot forms in a large vein. If the clot breaks and travels through the blood system, the condition could lead to a potentially fatal blockage of the main artery of the lung.

According to data cited by Pfizer, roughly 719,000 knee replacement surgeries and 332,000 hip replacement procedures are performed each year.