The events in Captain America: The Winter Soldier will shape the future direction of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Credit: Disney/Marvel.

Are you ready, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans? Because thanks to the record-breaking box office debut of Disney Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, tonight's new episode should be one to remember.

And no, not like the halfhearted Thor: The Dark World crossover we got back in November, when the episode literally involved the team cleaning up Thor's mess and later tracking down an Asgardian we'd never heard of. Of course, that did provide a temporary boost to ABC's ratings and arguably validated Disney's crossover business strategy, but admittedly left many viewers underwhelmed.

Then there's Lady Sif's appearance a few weeks ago, which also boosted ratings and proved significantly more more fun to watch. But in the end, Sif's appearance felt like more of an afterthought en route to something bigger.

Lady Sif appeared on the March 11 episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Credit: Disney/ABC.

That's exactly where Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes into play; If you've seen the film, you know the infamous Hydra just effectively caused everybody's favorite fictional government agency to implode from within. Then again, I suppose it now makes sense why last week's shocking episode ended with Agent Victoria Hand ordering the execution of everyone on the plane -- that is, except for Agent Coulson, whom she wanted to personally kill.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is stronger than you think
But whatever happens, from an investors' standpoint it seems reasonable to expect a big-screen crossover of this magnitude to result in yet another ratings increase.

That would go a long way toward appeasing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s skeptics, especially after ratings for last week's episode fell by a tenth from the previous original telecast to a 2.0 in the core 18-49 demographic. However, that result was especially impressive as it came with the help of "just" 5.71 million live viewers. By contrast, a new episode of CBS'  NCIS simultaneously achieved a 2.4 rating with 17.16 million viewers.

In short, while ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is still working from a much smaller base than CBS' NCIS enjoys, its viewership is still comprised of individuals who, on average, are significantly more valuable to the show's advertisers. 

Better yet, ABC also chimed in with a press release this morning to confirm that, thanks largely to delayed DVR viewers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is still Tuesday's No. 1 scripted show this season with Adults 18-49. In fact, each of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s episodes have averaged a 4.2 Live + 7 Day rating so far, or just ahead of NCIS' solid 4.1.

Is this sustainable? 
It would be irresponsible, however, not to point out the one big caveat to Disney's novel television business model: Namely, that setting this kind of crossover precedent for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. carries with it a certain degree of risk. 

We've seen how this can play out in the comics world, where entering an uninhibited crossover craze might help sales jump for a short while before readers get exhausted and leave. 

To their credit, it appears this is a risk of which Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s producers are well aware, and they seem to be taking a more methodical approach to developing their story lines to keep viewers hooked over the long term. At the same time, when they do employ crossovers with Marvel many future cinematic properties, they simply can't leave viewers wanting when the credits roll. In the end, if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can continue intelligently tying in to its big-screen counterparts while at the same time maintaining its independence from them, there's no reason the show won't be able to thrive for years to come.

This should be a big week for economic data, with minutes from the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting due tomorrow, weekly initial jobless claims and the Treasury budget to be released on Thursday, and the March Producer Price Index and University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading out on Friday. Today, however, the broad-based S&P 500 wandered around like a lost puppy.

The past three days have been absolutely abysmal for the S&P 500, which sustained its worst losing streak in nearly three months. On the minds of investors is whether companies can continue to grow at a sufficiently strong rate to counter the impact of reduced quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve. Earnings guidance early in the second quarter could tell the tale, but the past couple days of trading made it clear investors aren't convinced that everything is peachy.

Today's trading appears to have highlighted nothing more than a modest rebound after multiple days of selling, with the S&P 500 advancing 6.92 points (0.38%) to close at 1,851.96, ending its three-day losing streak.

Leading the charge to the upside is the so-called "Craigslist of China," 58.com , which rose 14.9% after a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that Tiger Global Management had increased its stake in the company. According to its latest filing, Tiger Global Management now owns 2.52 million shares, equating to 6.5% of all outstanding stock, a 300,000-share increase from its last holdings update. The China-based online marketplace is already profitable and set to grow by 65% in 2014 and 45% in 2015, so it's showing little signs of lost momentum. Despite a forward P/E of 42, I suspect there could be additional upside to this stock.

Source: LoboStudioHamburg, Pixabay.

Cloud-based security and storage solutions provider Barracuda Networks jumped 11.4% after saying in a press release this morning that it had "ranked number one in integrated purpose built backup appliance units shipped worldwide with 53.5% market share for 2013." The press release also noted that the company finished the fourth quarter with a 53.7% market share, implying that its momentum is only growing. As data centers expand and storage security becomes a primary concern of businesses, it's quite possible Barracuda's top line could maintain low double-digit growth for the foreseeable future. However, with the company only marginally profitable, I would consider passing it up for more lucrative investment opportunities.

Lastly, and returning to China-based retailers, online retailing giant Vipshop Holdings rose 11.1% after receiving an upgrade from Credit Suisse. Before the opening bell, Credit Suisse upgraded Vipshop to outperform from neutral and bumped up its price target by more than 20%, from $145 to $178. The financial services company said it expects cosmetics and baby products to drive growth at Vipshop. Similar to 58.com, there's a lot of growth potential here with China's middle-class looking to spend, but we also have to consider that Vipshop has more than quintupled over the past year, so its hypergrowth may already be baked into the share price.

Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you'd like to add some IT stocks to your portfolio but don't have the time or expertise to hand-pick a few, the Vanguard Information Technology ETF could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which IT stocks will perform best, you can use this ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.

The basics
ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. This ETF, focused on IT stocks, sports a very low expense ratio -- an annual fee -- of 0.14%. It yields about 1%, though some of its components sport significantly higher payouts.

This IT stock ETF has outperformed the world market over the past three, five, and 10 years. As with most investments, of course, we can't expect outstanding performances in every quarter or year. Investors with conviction need to wait for their holdings to deliver.

Why IT stocks?
The information technology field is especially promising, given the ongoing spread of technology and its continuous innovation. The IT stocks in this ETF are varied, focusing on computing hardware, software, and services, and ranging from chips to fiber to selling platforms and business analysis. Some of them offer attractive dividend yields, as well as likely stock-price appreciation.

More than a handful of IT stocks had strong performances over the past year. Micron Technology, , for example, surged 131%. It hasn't paid a dividend since the 1990s, but with its current strength and growing profit margins, some expect a dividend reinstatement. Micron Technology recently reported its second-quarter results, which topped expectations although higher volumes were somewhat offset by lower prices. With demand growing for solid-state drives, bulls like the company's investments in NAND memory technology, and see demand for 3D NAND technology driving growth at Micron and elsewhere. Given the stock's forward P/E below nine, my colleague Anders Bylund has dubbed Micron "a high-octane growth stock, but priced like a sleepy value play."

Hewlett-Packard Company jumped 52.5%. It yields 1.8%, with some arguing that the payout doesn't sufficiently compensate for underperforming operations. The printing giant has been hurt by the weak PC market, but its last quarter featured estimate-topping revenue and earnings, with earnings rising 10% over year-ago levels and revenue dropping by 1%. The company has been cutting costs aggressively as it aims to expand in areas such as 3-D printing and health care analytics. (It's such a big company, though, that some initiatives may not make a meaningful difference, even if successful.) It has been racking up some significant contracts, too, such as one worth up to $32 million from the Department of Homeland Security and one worth up to $548 million with the Department of Defense. The company's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 8.5 is appealing, but Hewlett-Packard's future is rather uncertain.

Intel Corporation gained 30% and offers a solid 3.4% dividend yield. It recently got the boot from Samsung tablets and has lost some 64-bit ground to competitors, but all is not lost. It retains its dominant market position, its data centers hold much promise, and it's making inroads in areas such as health care, too. Bulls have high hopes for its enterprise server platform and its Broxton chip, which serves both tablets and phones.

Other IT stocks didn't do quite so well over the last year but could see their fortunes change in the coming years. Cisco Systems advanced 14.5% and offers a sizable 3.3% dividend yield. It has been buying back lots of stock, too. Gross margins have been shrinking, while cash flow has not been growing very briskly, but the company still produces a lot of cash. Bulls see it as undervalued and like its growth in data centers and security, as well as its potential in cloud computing and data analytics.

The Big Picture
If you're interested in adding some IT stocks to your portfolio, consider doing so via an ETF. A well-chosen ETF can grant you instant diversification across any industry or group of companies -- and make investing in and profiting from it that much easier.

baskinrobbins.com

Baskin-Robbins is owned by Dunkin' Brands , the same company that owns Dunkin' Donuts. Currently, Dunkin' Donuts plays a much larger role for Dunkin' Brands, representing $7.4 billion of $9.3 billion in sales for fiscal-year 2013. However, Baskin-Robbins will play a significant role in the company's success going forward.

Baskin-Robbins must contend with other ice cream stores, such as Cold Stone Creamery. Cold Stone Creamery offers differentiation thanks to its presentation (preparing ice cream on marble slab) and because of the inclusion of snacks and candies within the ice cream, not on top of it. 

While Cold Stone Creamery as well as many other ice cream shops present a threat to Baskin-Robbins in the United States, this is no longer the biggest threat. That title would belong to recent consumer demand for frozen yogurt and gelato.  But Baskin-Robbins has an ace up its sleeve to combat this threat, which we'll get too soon. Most importantly, Baskin-Robbins has significant growth potential abroad.

Domestic growth
Due to current headwinds -- primarily changing consumer trends -- you might not expect Baskin-Robbins to be performing well in the United States. Though not overly impressive Baskin-Robbins delivered a 0.8% in the United States in 2013. The primary reasons for the positive comps number as stated on the company's 10-k: "new product news and signature Flavors of the Month, custom cake sales, and take-home ice cream quarts"

Dunkin' Brands also slightly increased its domestic Baskin-Robbins store count to 2,467 in 2013 from 2,463 in 2012. Increased store counts often indicate that upper management is confident in the brand's future prospects.

Additionally, Baskin-Robbins will be fighting back. Not many people are aware of a recent initiative due to a small advertising fund for Baskin-Robbins franchisees ($25 million versus $350 million for Dunkin' Donuts), but Baskin-Robbins will be adding Greek yogurt to its menu in May.

The above numbers and news aren't necessarily reason for celebration. However, they are reason not to panic. Baskin-Robbins offers more growth potential on the international scene. 

International growth 
Baskin-Robbins delivered a more impressive 1.9% comps gain in 2013. The primary growth catalysts: increased demand in South Korea and the Middle East. Japan hurt Baskin-Robbins in 2013, but this was due to an unfavorable foreign curreny impact, not reduced demand. It should also be noted that an Basin-Robbins has increased distribution costs billed to customers. 

Most importantly, international demand for American brands is high, and most international consumers outside or Europe aren't as health-conscious as Americans. Therefore, this headwind won't be a big factor at any point in the near future. Furthermore, Baskin-Robbins increased its international store count to 4,833 in 2013 from 4,556 in 2012. This signifies a lot of optimism. 

All of this is impressive. But to invest in Baskin-Robbins, you must invest in Dunkin' Brands. Therefore, let's see how efficient Dunkin' Brands is compared to its peers. 

Efficient or not?
One of the best ways to determine a company's efficiency is to see if its revenue is outpacing its selling, general, and administrative expenses. Fortunately, this is the case for Dunkin' Brands:

Dunkin' revenue (trailing-12 months) data by YCharts

However, Dunkin' Brands hasn't been growing as quickly as Tim Hortons on the top line over the past five years. Tim Hortons has also managed to grow its revenue faster than its SG&A expenses:

Tim Hortons revenue (trailing-12 months) data by YCharts

On the other hand, Tim Hortons' top-line growth has slowed to 0.2% over the past year, while Dunkin' Brands has delivered 5.3% top-line growth.

Additionally, Dunkin' Brands delivered fiscal-year 2013 comps growth in its Dunkin' Donuts U.S., Baskin-Robbins U.S., and Baskin-Robbins international segments of 3.4%, 0.8%, and 1.9%, respectively. The only segment that suffered a comps decline was Dunkin' Donuts international (0.4%). Tim Hortons delivered fiscal-year 2013 comps growth of 1.1% in its Canadian segment and 1.8% in its U.S. business. Though decent, not as impressive as Dunkin' Brands overall.

Now let's examine the biggest competitor for Dunkin' Brands -- none other than Starbucks . As you can see from the chart below, Starbucks doesn't have as much separation between revenue performance and SG&A expense growth, but it's by far the most consistent:

Starbucks revenue (trailing-12 months) data by YCharts

In fiscal-year 2013, Starbucks also delivered domestic comps growth of 7% and global comps growth of 6%. This is more impressive than Dunkin' Brands. But don't get the wrong idea. Both Starbucks and Dunkin' Brands are exceptional companies. It's simply that Starbucks is in its prime. Dunkin' Brands might be lagging regarding growth, but it's earlier in the process.

The Foolish bottom line
Baskin-Robbins is far from a dead brand. In addition to significant international growth potential, it will be entering the Greek yogurt market in the U.S. soon. Internationally, if Baskin-Robbins increases its store count where demand is high, then there should be prosperous times ahead. This is combined with Dunkin' Donuts U.S. operations seeing similar growth opportunities.

In light of the weakness in Italian restaurants from Sbarro filing bankruptcy to Olive Garden of Darden Restaurants' bad news regarding the harsh winter weather, it is thrilling to see Noodles & Company doing so well. Last quarter's results marked No. 18 of a nice track record for the fast-casual restaurant chain,  but will it continue?  Its expensive valuation may need a correction before it becomes a buy, and an upcoming catalyst may indeed give it that badly needed correction.

Source:  Noodles & Company

The high-carb results
On Feb. 26, Noodles & Company reported fiscal fourth-quarter results. Revenue jumped 17.4% to $91.5 million. Systemwide same-store sales popped 3.9%, which was even higher than the 2.1% third-quarter gain. Adjusted net income soared 65.9% to $3.5 million, or $0.11 per share. It was the 18^th straight quarter of positive same-store sales increases.

In the earnings report, CEO Kevin Reddy said: 

"Our ongoing success is a testament to the hard work of our entire team to deliver our globally inspired menu with an elevated level of service at an exceptional value, which we believe has distinguished Noodles as a 'Category of One' in the restaurant industry."

Going forward in 2014, Noodles & Company plans to expand its systemwide restaurant count by as much as 20%. Same-store sales are expected to generate gains of between 2.5% and 3%. Adjusted earnings per share are forecast to leap 25%.

Source: Noodles & Company

All of this is despite the "severe winter weather" negatively affecting the first quarter. This means 2014 is expected to be another fantastic year, but it calls into question whether the first quarter will be part of that. In the earnings release, Reddy warns, 

Nearly 80% of our restaurants are located in areas severely affected by atypical weather, including the Mid-Atlantic, Upper Midwest and Rocky Mountain West. In fact, [more than] 30% of our operating days thus far have seen either measurable precipitation or temperatures at least [20] degrees below normal.

Midwestern blizzards
Bob Evans Farms quickly comes to mind and serves as a possible warning for restaurants located in the Midwest. Bob Evans Farms has its core market located in this region. The chain saw its most severe drop in same-store sales in January and February. In fact, Bob Evans Farms estimates February was affected negatively by 9% as a result of the weather, which means what would have been a 2.3% same-store sales gain actually was a 6.7% loss for the month.

The Chipotle temptation
It can be rather tempting to search for the next Chipotle Mexican Grill or at least restaurant chains in the fast-casual space that hold promise. After all, Chipotle's stock has made a dizzy return since its IPO and continues to impress every quarter. Last quarter alone, revenue climbed 21%, same-store sales rose 9%, and diluted earnings per share were lifted by 30%.

Noodles & Company trades with a nosebleed valuation. Based on analyst estimates for 2014, it has a P/E ratio of 76; and based on 2015 estimates it has a P/E of 60. This compares to Chipotle Mexican Grill's P/E in the 40s for 2014 and 30s for 2015 despite overall stronger growth expectations.

Foolish final thoughts
Noodles & Company appears to be an excellent, small chain (300-plus restaurants) with a bright future, but it may be too pricey here. Consider waiting for the first-quarter report; results should be on the weak side and possibly even break its 18 quarter-long winning streak.  This in turn may cause some panic and a needed correction in the stock price. At that point, it may represent a good value because the weak first quarter would be due to the storms and not anything to do with the brand itself. Fools who wait may get an opportunity to get a much cheaper price in a fantastic growth story.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

April 10 is bound to be a big day for shareholders of Rite Aid . In anticipation of the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, shares of the drugstore chain have done anything but well. Even though the company's closing price on April 4 marked a nearly 23% jump in share price year to date, Rite Aid's stock has plummeted 6% since the beginning of March.

With this short-term concern over the business' prospects impacting the stock, is now an attractive time to go all-in, or is Mr. Market signaling that the company's outlook is anything but bright?

Analysts have low but mixed expectations for Rite Aid
For the quarter, analysts expect Rite Aid to report revenue of $6.54 billion. If this forecast is correct, it would signify a 1% increase in sales compared to the $6.46 billion the company reported in the year-ago quarter. According to the company's monthly sales release, Rite Aid's main growth driver for the quarter will probably be its higher comparable-store sales, partially offset by fewer locations in operation.

While Mr. Market seems positive about Rite Aid's top-line growth, the same cannot be said about profitability. For the quarter, analysts expect the company's earnings per share to come in around $0.04. This represents a 69% drop compared to the $0.13 per share the company reported in the same quarter last year; it would likely be attributed to a greater share count but could also be chalked up to higher costs.

Source: Yahoo! Finance and Rite Aid

Between the 2013 and 2014 third quarters, Rite Aid increased its share count by roughly 7%. If this trend continues into its fourth quarter, it could be one of the main contributors to the company's lower profits.

Is Rite Aid a strong buy heading into earnings?
In spite of the expected earnings shortfall, Rite Aid could still prove to be an excellent prospect heading into earnings. However, to know if this is the case, we should delve a little into the recent performances of some of the business' competitors: CVS Caremark and Walgreen .

Source: CVS

In its most recent quarter, CVS reported a nearly 5% gain in revenue from $31.4 billion to $32.8 billion. The main driver behind the company's attractive growth was its comparable-store sales, which increased 4% compared to the same quarter a year earlier. This stemmed from a 6.8% improvement in the company's comparable-pharmacy sales and higher prescriptions but was partially offset by lower front-end sales.

Source: CVS

Looking at profitability, CVS did even better. For the quarter, the company saw its earnings per share rise 17% from $0.90 to $1.05. In part, this was due to a 4% reduction in shares outstanding. But it was also attributed to depressed income in 2012 that management chalked up to a loss from the early extinguishment of debt.

Source: Walgreen

During its most recent quarter, Walgreen did just as well in terms of revenue but came up shy on earnings. For the quarter, management reported a 5% improvement in the company's revenue from $18.6 billion to $19.6 billion. Just as in the case of CVS, Walgreen's top-line improvement was attributed to a 4.3% jump in comparable-store sales.

Source: Walgreen

Profits, on the other hand, did not quite measure up. For the quarter, earnings per share came in at $0.78, $0.01 below last year's results. Despite seeing higher revenue, the company saw its costs increase. This was largely driven by its cost of goods sold rising from 69.9% of sales to 71.2% because of a lower last in, first out provision compared to last year. Another contributor to the company's lackluster earnings was a 1% increase in shares outstanding.

Foolish takeaway
Based on the data provided, it looks like analysts are fairly pessimistic about Rite Aid's prospects heading into its fourth quarter. Taking this into consideration, combined with the strong performance generated by CVS and Walgreen in their most recent quarters, Rite Aid might not be the best prospect in the drugstore industry. Among these, the data suggests that CVS might be the best performer, having trounced both revenue and earnings from the prior year.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

On April 10, before the market opens, Family Dollar Stores  will release its revenue and earnings metrics for the second quarter of its 2014 fiscal year. Heading into earnings, some investors are probably wondering what to do about the company's shares, especially in light of a dour forecast by analysts. Given this information, is now a prime time to consider buying shares of the discount retailer, or should investors go shopping elsewhere?

Mr. Market's low expectations
For the quarter, analysts expect Family Dollar to report revenue of $2.78 billion. If this forecast proves accurate, it will represent a 4% drop compared to the $2.89 billion the company reported in the year-ago quarter. Excluding the extra week of sales Family Dollar reported during the second quarter of 2013, revenue should rise about 3%.

This lackluster revenue estimate follows the company's performance in the first quarter of its 2014 fiscal year, when comparable-store sales fell 2.8%. In addition to being negatively affected by severe winter weather, Family Dollar admitted to overdoing promotional activity for the quarter, which hurt the business slightly.

Source: Yahoo! Finance and Family Dollar

In terms of profits, the picture looks even grimmer. For the quarter, management believes Family Dollar will report earnings per share of $0.91. This represents a 25% drop from the $1.21 the company reported in the year-ago quarter and a 20% decline if investors exclude the $0.07 attributed to last year's extra week of operations.

Could Mr. Market be low-balling the company?
Looking at the data, it's clear that Mr. Market doesn't think much about Family Dollar's prospects for the upcoming quarter. However, investors should think very carefully about taking analysts' opinions too seriously. More often than not, analysts tend to be wrong about where a company is headed. Take, for example, Five Below and Dollar General .

In its most recent earnings release, Five Below reported revenue of $212 million. This represented a 22% jump in sales compared to the same quarter last year and was above the $207.8 million investors wanted to see. In addition to beating on the top line, Five Below reported strong earnings.

Source: Yahoo! Finance and Five Below

For the quarter, earnings per share came in at $0.47. This was 34% greater than the $0.35 the company reported a year earlier and beat analyst estimates by $0.02. In response to the company's strong quarter, shares rallied 14%.

While the case of Five Below is an example of analysts erring in a good way, Dollar General showed what happens when they err in a bad way. For its most recent quarter, the discount giant reported revenue of $4.5 billion. Even though this was 6% higher than the $4.2 billion the company earned a year ago, it fell shy of the $4.6 billion investors desired.

Source: Yahoo! Finance and Dollar General

Earnings, however, fell in-line with analysts' expectations. For the quarter, Dollar General reported earnings per share of $1.01, 4% above the $0.97 the company reported in the year-ago quarter. However, much to investors' chagrin, the rise in earnings did not come from a rise in profitability. Rather, it was attributed to a 3% drop in the business' number of shares outstanding. In response to these poor results, shares of the retailer contracted 3%.

Foolish takeaway
Based on the data provided, it's not hard to tell that Mr. Market isn't as optimistic about Family Dollar's prospects as investors would like him to be. But it's also important to keep in mind that Mr. Market does, in fact, err when it comes to forecasting how well a given company will do.

In response to this, the smart thing for the Foolish investor to base his or her thesis on would be the company's long-term performance. Using this as a proxy, investors can see that buying into shares of Family Dollar is buying into a company that has had excellent performance over the past few years. Between 2009 and 2013, the company's revenue soared 40% from $7.4 billion to $10.4 billion, while net income jumped an even more impressive 52% from $291.3 million to $443.6 million.

I don't know about you, but buying an unloved, fast-growing business at the 15 times earnings it's currently trading for (compared to Dollar General's 18 times and Five Below's 72 times) looks like an interesting prospect.

Industry watchdog Wohlers Associates recently issued a note saying that it believes that increased competition and the expiration of patents will eventually cause 3-D printing material prices to fall. This scenario would put 3-D printing giants Stratasys and 3D Systems  at risk, because selling consumable materials at lush profit margins is key to their businesses. For investors in these companies, declining material prices would certainly put profitability in jeopardy and pose a threat to the long-term investment thesis.

However, 3-D printing expert Rich Stump of FATHOM, a highly experienced Stratasys reseller and 3-D printing service center, believes that while Wohlers Associates' theory may be true in the lower-end, much smaller consumer segment, the higher-end professional market is likely to experience the opposite effect. Stratasys and 3D Systems are constantly developing new materials with advanced properties and will likely keep prices high for the foreseeable future, Stump argues. And unless professional customers want to void their warranties, they're going to use consumable materials sold from the 3-D printing manufacturer -- at a price that the manufacturer sets.

Of course, if 3-D printing material prices rise in the future, as Stump believes is likely, the prospects for profitability for Stratasys and 3D Systems could be greatly improved. In the following video, 3-D printing analyst Steve Heller sits down with Rich Stump to get an insider perspective on material prices.

UPS  ratified its new master labor contract last June, but the company has yet to be able to implement this contract because several local unions have voted against their individual supplement and rider contracts. This story hasn't garnered much attention from the financial media outlets or during UPS earnings releases. For example, in the fourth-quarter conference call UPS management mentioned this very important detail exactly zero times. Don't let the lack of attention fool you, though -- this issue is one UPS investors should pay very close attention to.

The company's unionized workforce is broken down into different voting districts, and those districts vote on the master contract, and certain locales also vote on riders and supplements that need to be approved before the master contract can go into effect. The company has yet to come to an agreement with its Philadelphia, western Pennsylvania, and Louisville locales, but of the three, Louisville is the most crucial to the company.

Louisville, known as UPS's Worldport, serves as the main distribution hub for all of the company's air package delivery. The facility is immensely important to UPS's business, but Local 89, the union in Louisville, has already voted down its contract twice. The union has now voted a third time, and the votes are to be tallied by April 10. If the contract is voted down a third time, which Local 89 has recommended its members to do, the union can then move to vote for a strike.

In this video, Motley Fool industrial analyst Blake Bos takes a close look at labor relations at UPS. He gives investors key information for what to watch for as this story unfolds, and discusses just how big of an impact a strike in Louisville would have on the company.

Historically, Southwest Airlines Co. differentiated itself from the legacy carriers through a combination of lower fares and better service. With these two big advantages, it was hardly surprising that Southwest consistently took market share from larger competitors like Delta Air Lines and American Airlines .

Today, Southwest still offers free checked bags (a rarity in the airline industry), and a very liberal ticket-change policy. However, it has given up some of its traditional advantages. Its average fare rose to $154.72 last year, compared to $126.12 in 2008. Part of this rise has been driven by longer passenger trips, but cost creep has also been a major factor.

Southwest's advantage over legacy carriers like Delta and American is disappearing. Source: The Motley Fool

Meanwhile, as Southwest has become more like the legacy carriers, it has given up its edge in operational performance. While Southwest Airlines still positions itself as a disruptive innovator in the airline industry, its superiority over competitors is much less certain now.

Reverting to the mean
Southwest has traditionally been one of the better airlines in terms of service quality, as measured by the annual Airline Quality Rating report. As recently as 2007, Southwest was in third place in the study, but for the last two years, it has posted a decidedly middle of the pack eighth-place performance.

The interesting thing is that most of the movement has happened around Southwest -- other airlines have gotten better and leapfrogged Southwest. In fact, Southwest's 2013 score of -1.06 was a big improvement over its 2007 score of -1.59 (smaller negative numbers are better).

However, US Airways raised its score from -2.94 to -0.88 in the same time period, jumping ahead of Southwest. American Airlines raised its score from -2.19 to -1.10, putting it on the verge of passing Southwest. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines, which posted a score of -1.22 in 2010, the first year after it completed its merger integration, has since improved that to -0.59, putting it in the upper echelon.

Delta Air Lines has surpassed Southwest by a wide margin in the Airline Quality Rating rankings. Source: The Motley Fool

In other words, while other airlines have made great strides in avoiding late arrivals and handling baggage properly, Southwest Airlines has seen mixed results. For example, Southwest continues to receive the fewest complaints per passenger of any airline, but its on-time performance has suffered as it has begun serving busier airports, and its planes have become fuller.

Merger integration hits performance
For the most part, Southwest's problem has been that it hasn't improved as fast as other airlines. However, in 2013 Southwest actually saw a significant decline in its AQR score for the first time since 2007. Southwest's score dropped from -0.81 to -1.06 last year, while merger partner AirTran's score plummeted from -0.51 to -1.20.

Both Southwest units experienced significant declines in on-time performance, "bumped" more passengers due to overbooking, and mishandled more bags. Southwest also saw a slight uptick in customer complaints, although it remained the industry leader on that metric -- AirTran's customer complaints declined.

Southwest Airlines may be feeling some merger pains. Source: The Motley Fool

This deterioration in customer service metrics is a likely sign of merger integration problems. Southwest and AirTran began code-sharing last year, thereby connecting the two route networks, which had been operating separately before. It's now possible to buy tickets on Southwest's website for AirTran flights, and vice versa.

Connecting the two route networks opened up a big new revenue opportunity by creating more flight options for customers. However, it also increased the complexity of operating Southwest and AirTran -- and customers suffered.

Foolish final thoughts
Customer-friendly policies, like free checked bags and no change fees, still differentiate Southwest from the pack. However, the carrier's advantage over legacy carriers like Delta Air Lines and American Airlines is narrowing.

As Southwest finishes integrating AirTran and moves back to operating under a single brand, it will be critical for the company to improve its operational performance to make up ground on the legacy carriers. Otherwise, it risks becoming "just another big airline."

Microsoft's Skype is getting a big upgrade amid threats to both Windows and Office. Fool contributor Tim Beyers explains the implications in the following video.  

Earlier this week, Microsoft unveiled Skype TX for professional broadcasters. The idea is to appeal to those in the production business by offering a more robust version of the VoiP platform that Mr. Softy acquired for $8.5 billion in 2011.

How robust? TX is designed for high-quality remote broadcast, and as such, supports HD-SDI video input and output, eliminates ads and notifications, and autocorrects aspect ratios for cleaner streaming. Microsoft plans to sell TX as part of the Skype in Media bundle, though pricing is unknown at this point.

What we do know is that voice, video, and messaging software is becoming more strategic to Microsoft's business. Specifically, Skype pairs with the company's "Lync" platform to form a unified communications offering for businesses. Sales of Lync products grew 25% in the fiscal second quarter.

For now, that's still a small part of the business. And yet the governing segment -- Server and Tools -- is growing in importance with each passing year. Tim says a heavy focus on Skype and related big-ticket, transformative products could push the division to new highs.

Do you agree? Are you using Microsoft's Skype? Please watch the video to get the full story and then leave a comment to let us know your take, including whether you would buy, sell, or short Microsoft stock at current prices.

Editor's Note: In the video below, Michael Douglass indicates that only a subset of patients in the phase 1 trial for bemaciclib had breast cancer. All of the patients in the phase 1 trial had breast cancer, but subsets had different types of breast cancer. The Motley Fool and the analyst regret the error.

The American Association for Cancer Research's meeting last weekend yielded some big news from Pfizer's and Amgen's palbociclib and Eli Lilly's bemaciclib. These drugs, which are part of the new CDK 4/6 inhibitor class, have generated a lot of excitement, particularly given the recent data releases.

Palbociclib generated a statistically significant, 10-month increase in progression-free survival (PFS) in a phase 2 trial, while bemaciclib reported about a 9 month median increase in PFS for hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients in its phase 1 trial.

Some analysts have speculated that Pfizer might seek an early submission to the FDA based on the palbociclib trial data so far, and investors are going to want to watch these companies and drugs very closely for the next release of data.

In this video from Tuesday's Market Checkup, Motley Fool health care analysts David Williamson and Michael Douglass discuss the recent drug data and what that means for investors moving forward.

How would you like to have surgery performed in a way that's been shown to reduce bleeding, speed up recovery time, and generally produce the same results as conventional methods? For most people, that's a no-brainer, and it helps explain why Intuitive Surgical  has performed so well as both a company and a stock.

But recently, shares are under a lot of pressure, as Intuitive announced preliminary first-quarter results that are well below what investors were expecting. Does this mean you can buy shares of the company -- which could rewrite how surgery is performed in America and across the globe -- for cheap?

Let's dig into why Mr. Market has soured on the company.

The new da Vinci Xi. Photo: Intuitive Surgical 

No one likes a high growth stock with shrinking revenue
Intuitive won favor with the medical community by showing that procedures could be performed quicker, with less blood loss, and with speedier recovery times. The company likewise impressed investors with its consistently strong growth rates, and the fact that it had no competition in the world of robotic surgery.

But those trends came to a screeching halt last year. First, many in the medical community began to question whether or not it was really worth the additional cost to perform hysterectomies with the da Vinci as opposed to traditional surgical methods.

The negative mojo continued to pile up in the second-half of the year as -- for the first time as a public entity -- sales of the company's da Vinci systems showed serious signs of weakness. The primary culprit was believed to be the onset of the Affordable Care Act, and the economic uncertainties it created. Hospitals, it was reasoned, were far less likely to pay for a multimillion dollar machine in tight times.

And then yesterday, Intuitive came out with preliminary earnings numbers that were well below what many believed the company would report. Looking at the chart below, it's clear that the primary culprit was a drastic slowdown in sales of da Vinci systems (red section).

A shifting landscape in surgery
As it stands, the vast majority of procedures performed using the da Vinci fall under gynecology and urology. There's nothing wrong with that, but for an investor to believe that Intuitive is worth 27 times its earnings, there has to be more to the story. There are only so many of these operations to be performed, and there's a growing backlash in the medical community for their overuse.

In fact, Intuitive announced that there was "a low, single-digit decline in U.S. gynecologic procedures" during the first quarter of 2014. Though this trend could reverse itself, I believe investors would be wise to assume that doctors won't be overwhelmingly encouraging their patients -- especially hysterectomy patients -- to use of the da Vinci.

Is there a silver lining here?
What we have ignored thus far is the fact that just one week ago, Intuitive announced that it had come out with its newest surgical robot, the Xi. The robot is leaps and bounds above what was previously offered, as it allows for four-quadrant and unobstructed physical and visual access to the patient.

Source: Intuitive Surgical, via Engadget

Ever since I personally began investing in Intuitive, I've made it clear that I was doing so not because I thought the company would change and improve surgeries in just the gynecological and urological fields, but far more fields of surgery.

In 2010, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there were a total of 51.4 million surgical operations performed in America alone. Hysterectomies -- where the da Vinci is most often used -- accounted for less than 1% of all these procedures.

By no means do I believe all surgeries will be performed with the da Vinci, but certain areas where Intuitive is focusing for future procedures have much larger volumes. For instance, thoracic surgery -- just one of six areas where Intuitive believes its robot can make surgery easier -- accounted for roughly 9 million procedures in 2010. That's a whopping 20 times the size of hysterectomy procedures!

Though there isn't a system-wide consensus on whether or not the da Vinci improves the medical outcomes from the procedures it performs, this usually doesn't take into account blood loss and recovery times. When patients learn that using the da Vinci can significantly reduce both of these, I see the value that Intuitive adds as being a bet worth taking in the future.

But its important to note that it may take years for these advancements to take place, and between now and then the company's stock price could go down even further. Because I'm a long-term, buy-to-hold investor, that really doesn't bother me.

Intuitive currently makes up just under 5% of my real-life holdings, but after getting time to digest what the company has to say during its conference call on April 22, I may strongly consider adding even more shares.

Everyone has to evaluate their own comfort with owning shares of Intuitive, but for me it's a long-term bet worth taking.

You have until 11:59 p.m. on April 15, 2014, to file your 2013 taxes. That's less than a week away. Time is running out, but there are still a handful of things you may be able to do now, in April 2014, to reduce your 2013 taxes. If you qualify, the easiest thing to do would be to fund a deductible traditional IRA for 2013. You have until that April 15 deadline to fund your IRA for 2013, and that deadline holds firm even if you apply for an extension to file your overall tax return.

Do you qualify?
To contribute to a traditional IRA, you must:

• Not have reached age 70-1/2 (or older) by the end of the year for which you are contributing
• Have taxable compensation of at least as much as you are contributing. Alternatively, you may also contribute if you're married and filing jointly and your spouse has sufficient taxable compensation to cover the total of both your contributions.

If you're eligible to contribute, the maximum you can invest in your IRA for 2013 is $5,500 -- or $6,500 if you reached age 50 or better in 2013. The rules on whether you can deduct your contribution are a bit more complicated. The two charts from the IRS below can help you make that determination for your 2013 contribution. The first chart shows the deductibility rules for your traditional IRA if you are not covered by a retirement plan at work, and the second shows the deductibility rules if you are covered by a retirement plan at work.

If you are not covered by a retirement plan at work:

Source: Internal Revenue Service.

 If you are covered by a retirement plan at work:

Source: Internal Revenue Service.

Are there other ways to save on your 2013 taxes?
If you happen to be self-employed, you have an even longer window to save on your 2013 taxes. The IRS will let you set up and fund a simplified employee pension, or SEP, as late as the due date of your taxes, including extensions. An SEP will let you contribute and deduct up to 25% of your net earnings from self-employment (excluding the value of the contribution itself), up to a maximum of $51,000 for 2013.

Either way, while the IRS offers you some flexibility in funding your retirement accounts for 2013, to take advantage of the tax savings now, your time is running out. If you want the tax savings for 2013, get moving before it's too late.

In the high growth biotechnology industry, up-and-coming companies pump profit back into R&D rather than into investor wallets. That means there are few investment options for dividend investors hoping to gain exposure to the industry.

So, dividend investors often turn to large pharmaceutical and medical device companies instead. But those companies are an imperfect way to gain biotech exposure given their diversified business models and exposure to patent expiration. Additionally, a rally in dividend stocks has pushed yields in these health care stocks to anemic levels over the past couple years.

As a result, dividend investors may be better served getting their biotech exposure by turning to health care real estate investment companies, or REITs, like BioMed Realty .

BioMed makes its money as a life sciences landlord, acquiring high-demand properties in research hotbeds like Cambridge, Massachusetts. Demand for this type of specialty space is on the rise thanks to surging R&D activity, offering significant support to BioMed's already enticing 4.9% dividend yield. 

BMR data by YCharts.

Piping hot demand
Boston is the nerve center for the life sciences industry, with Cambridge housing some of the biggest biotech outfits, including Biogen and Roche's Genzyme, as well as some of the most promising emerging biotech companies, including six members of the biotech IPO class of 2013.

Thanks to willing equity markets, venture capitalists, and large drug developers eager to reinvent the R&D cycle, these young biotech companies are enjoying a wave of financing that's spawning a land rush for Cambridge real estate. In turn, that demand is boosting occupancy and rents -- promising news for BioMed given more than a third of its life sciences real estate is in the Boston market.

Source: BioMed Investor Presentation

In the first quarter, commercial vacancy rates in the Greater Boston area fell to 13.4% in the fourth quarter, marking a five-year low. That handily outpaced the national average vacancy rate of 16.8%, according to real estate research firm REIS.

While demand in the Greater Boston region is impressive, it doesn't come close to reflecting how strong real estate markets are in the biotech-heavy Cambridge market. Cambridge's 5.7% commercial vacancy rate in the fourth quarter was the lowest since 2001. For comparison, that rate was 6.5% last fall. That jump in occupancy helped drive prices for Class A space in Cambridge up 7% to $57.85 per square foot last quarter, according to Cassidy Turley. 

Although the Cambridge market accounts for more than a third of BioMed's footprint, Boston isn't the only area the company serves.

BioMed's life sciences real estate portfolio includes more than 70 properties totaling over 100 buildings, comprising more than 16 million rentable square feet.A lot of those properties are located in San Francisco and San Diego, which represent roughly a quarter of BioMed's annualized base rents.

And while early and emerging life sciences companies are taking up a lot of vacant space -- its properties were 91.4% leased exiting Q4 -- BioMed has a stable of large, well-heeled tenants providing it with solid cash flow. More than three quarters of its tenants are at least mid-stage companies, and that suggests that even if many of these young start-ups fail, BioMed is still well-positioned.

Source: Biomed

Translating demand into profit
BioMed's rental revenue hit a record $118 million in the fourth quarter, driving net operating income up 6.1% year over year. As a result, core funds from operations reached $1.49 in 2013, up from $1.31 in 2012. That growth came in part thanks to expanding relationships with biotechnology companies launching top-selling new drugs, including Regeneron, the company that sells the blockbuster vision drug Eylea and is working on a transformative cholesterol fighting compound with its partner Sanofi. 

That strong financial performance is likely to continue thanks to another 694,000 square feet currently under development, of which roughly 69% has already been leased. Combine that in-process development with currently vacant space and rent growth, and you have a recipe for additional shareholder friendly dividends. In the fourth quarter, for example, the dividend payout grew 6.4% to $0.25 per share. That brought BioMed's dividend payout to $0.95 per share last year, up 8.5% from 2012.

Since BioMed's tenants require sophisticated space that isn't easily duplicated, it doesn't compete directly with many other commercial REITs. However, it does face off against Alexandria Real Estate , and to a lesser extent with the larger, more diversified HCP .

Alexandria is a larger life sciences landlord, boasting a footprint of 17.5 million rentable square feet. Alexandria has another 13.4 million worth of square feet in development and similarly benefits from the same industry trends supporting BioMed.

As a result, Alexandria boosted its dividend 17% year over year to $0.70 for the first quarter of this year thanks to occupancy growing by nearly four percentage points last year, to 96%. That translates into a forward annual dividend yield of 3.9%.

In addition to serving life sciences tenants, HCP's tenants cut across the broader health care sector. Of its $21.8 billion in assets, only about 16% targets the life sciences industry, while two-thirds target senior housing or skilled nursing. Those markets have also been strong performers, helping lift HCP's funds from operations by 8% to $2.95 last year. That resulted in HCP upping its dividend 3.8% last year, its 29th straight annual increase, giving it a forward dividend yield of 5.5%.

BMR Dividend Yield (TTM) data by YCharts.

Fool-worthy final thoughts
While BioMed's forward annual dividend yield is attractive at just shy of 5%, owning the company's shares does come with risk. Funding for research will need to stay friendly if demand for such rentable space is going to remain high. Also, since these buildings are specially built and located in expensive real estate markets, funding costs can present headwinds.

After all, REITs are heavily indebted, and that can weigh down profitability during periods of peak interest rates. It's likely we're still a long time from hitting those peak rates, but it's certainly something investors should be aware of given future financing may not come at nearly as favorable terms as it's been coming since the recession.

Google   is making a name for itself in the fast-growing market for wearable technology, with the consumer rollout of its Google Glass. However, the search giant faces increased competition in the space as more deep-pocketed rivals pile into the market. With the wearable-tech space set to become a $10 billion industry by 2016, according to research from Gartner, it's no wonder everyone from Google to Nike wants a piece of the action. Here are some promising developments that could play an important role in the wearable category going forward.

Source: Google Glass.

From FuelBands to footwear
Fitness trackers are one of the largest categories of wearable devices available on the market today. It's not surprising, then, that Nike is a dominant player in this space. The athletic gear company launched its Nike FuelBand in 2012 to great fanfare, and has since moved into more advanced wearable tech for your feet with new shoe technology that could hit the market as soon as next year.

These high-tech products include Nike sneakers with "self-tightening power laces" and Nike's Hypervenom soccer cleat that features a split-toe plate to maximize agility for sudden changes in direction. While Nike's power laces should be consumer-ready in 2015, the company's FuelBand and Nike+ sensors already let users track their fitness progress and sync that data with a smartphone.

Nike's Vaport HyperAgility football cleat. Source: Nike.

Moreover, at the end of last year Nike released the Nike+ FuelBand SE, an updated version of its original FuelBand product. This iteration of the technology includes Bluetooth 4.0 for faster syncing and an upgraded water-resistance feature that lets wearers keep it on in the shower. In addition to Nike's lead in wearables, these developments help position the company as one of the most innovative in fitness today.

Google is also making new inroads in the wearable tech sector, not only with its Google Glass product but also through a new collaboration with Fossil Group to create a smartwatch.

When fashion gets smart
While Fossil is known for its fashion and accessories, teaming up with a tech giant such as Google gives the company an entry point into the budding wearables market. Fossil's chief strategy officer recently said in a statement, "Although still very much in the formative research and development stage, we are committed to playing an active role in the push toward wearable technology and helping to shape the fusion of fashion and technology." We should see more partnerships like this in the future because it gives a primarily tech-focused company such as Google a window into the fashion side of wearables.

Google says its Android Wear smartwatches will be available later this year. Moreover, a recent Connected Life report from Nielsen showed that consumers want wearable devices that double as jewelry. Therefore, there's clearly demand for devices that combine fashion and functionality. And don't overlook Google's latest push to make its Google Glass a hit with style-obsessed consumers through its recent tie-up with Ray-Ban and Oakley.

Source: Google.

Last month, Google said it was working with Luxottica Group to bring Ray-Ban and Oakley frames to its Google Glass devices. This partnership should also help Google down the road when it releases Glass to the public, because it will be able to leverage Luxottica's vast retail and wholesale distribution network.

These are just some of the new developments on the horizon in wearable tech. Other companies are cooking up concepts that are even more outrageous, such as solar-powered dresses that could power your smartphone and wristbands that track your exposure to pollutants in the environment. However you slice it, wearable technology promises to be an exciting market for years to come.

On Wednesday, precious metals initially gave back some of their sizable gains from yesterday before recovering after the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its latest meeting. Despite the bounce, silver continued to underperform the rest of the precious-metals complex. The iShares Silver Trust , down more than 0.5% today, has badly lagged the SPDR Gold Trust and the gold market. Let's take a look at what's behind the iShares Silver Trust's underperformance and why it didn't stop Hecla Mining from posting big gains.

Why is silver lagging gold?
Today isn't the first time that silver has fallen more than gold. Over the past six weeks, the iShares Silver Trust has performed horribly even as SPDR Gold Trust has mostly held its own:

iShares Silver data by YCharts.

One reason for the disparity in performance stems from the fact that gold and silver have different sources of demand. For the most part, gold's biggest uses are for investment and jewelry, with the metal also filling a specific need as a monetary reserve asset. Silver, on the other hand, has considerable value as an industrial asset, so signs of reduced demand from industrial users can push the iShares Silver Trust and other silver-tracking investments down even when other factors are positively helping gold.

Another thing weighing in gold's favor lately has been that lower prices make the yellow metal more affordable. When the SPDR Gold Trust was hitting its peaks, many would-be buyers started to shift demand toward cheaper silver, and jewelry retailers offered more silver-made items in order to sustain their margins. As gold has fallen in price, though, it's become more attractive to buyers, which in some cases has come at silver's expense.

Hecla's San Juan Silver project. Photo: Hecla Mining.

Hecla beats its peers
In the mining arena, Hecla Mining soared almost 5% after the company reported preliminary production numbers for the first quarter. Silver production rose 32% from the year-ago quarter with Hecla Mining seeing gold production soar 238% from the first quarter of 2013. The reopening of the Lucky Friday mine was a huge boost for Hecla Mining, as its production reached almost 700,000 silver ounces compared to just 120,000 ounces last year. Most of the boost in gold production came from its Casa Berardi property, which produced more than 31,000 gold ounces in the quarter.

Hecla Mining also has further growth in its pipeline, with its No. 4 Shaft at Lucky Friday expected to open by mid-to-late 2016. Meanwhile, Hecla continues to deepen its West Mine Shaft at Casa Berardi, which could reduce operating costs and set the stage for further exploration. If those moves pan out, today's gain could be just the beginning for Hecla Mining.

How metals moved today
May silver futures settled down $0.29 per ounce to $19.77, with futures markets settling before the Fed's minutes release. June gold futures settled down $3.20 per ounce to $1,305.90, but spot gold pushed into positive territory after the central bank's announcement.

Source: Kitco. As of 4:30 p.m. EDT.

Looking forward, it'll be interesting to see if the Federal Reserve has any lasting effect on the market. In all likelihood, geopolitical and sector-fundamental issues will have more of an impact. But if the economy starts to press forward more strongly, silver could finally reverse course and start outperforming gold again.

Business development companies, or BDCs, are an important part of the market, investing in small and middle-market companies that are often overlooked by banks. For dividend investors, there are great opportunities in this space, as these companies can avoid corporate taxes, allowing income to flow to shareholders. Of course, some BDCs are better than others. Let's look at some of the best choices and strategies available for investors looking to gain exposure to this section of the market.

Prospect Capital
One of the most popular choices in this space is Prospect Capital, a BDC that has made an entrance into new market sectors in recent quarters. Key examples here include new investments in auto lending and rental properties, but recent moves suggest that Prospect is looking to start focusing once again on its core strategies, such as senior unsecured debt. The most obvious advantage of owning the stock is its massive dividend, which is paid annually and currently yields 12.2%.

But there are tremendous opportunities for growth as well. Let's delve into the gains made in Prospect's reported assets over the last three years.

During the first quarter of 2014, Prospect closed more than $1.3 billion in loan originations. This Q1 increase was a record for the company and more than double the $607 million posted during the fourth quarter of last year. Prospect should start to see the benefits of this increased loan activity during the second quarter, and its added access to small-business lending is now poised to generate even greater returns for shareholders. The company has recently announced plans to support the recapitalization of Harbortouch Payments and to aid in IWCO Direct's refinancing deals, giving Prospect strong positioning in merchant lending. This is a highly competitive sector where it can be difficult to establish a foothold, given the complications of developing sustainable relationships with a stable borrower. Prospect Capital has not seen a loan enter into non-accrual status in more than five years, and all of these factors support the outlook for the stock in 2014.

Market Vectors BDC Income ETF
While Prospect Capital offers some of the most stable (and highest-paying) exposure to the BDC space, the Market Vectors BDC Income ETF has positions in Prospect Capital and 27 other BDCs, offering diversified exposure to the industry. Other notable holdings include Ares Capital , which is one of the biggest names in the sector with more than $8 billion in reported assets. Ares Capital focuses on a wide variety of industry segments in an investment portfolio that includes roughly 200 companies. Diversified exposure of this type can come in handy if one of the invested companies finds itself in default, as the overall impact on Ares' income stream would be limited.

Ares Capital's dividend doesn't compare to Prospect Capital's: Ares' stock yields 8.7%, so that's part of the price you pay for the greater diversification. For those looking to gain high-yield exposure in the BDC space, Prospect Capital is the best choice.

If your stance is more conservative, Market Vectors BDC Income ETF is still a suitable option for broad exposure. And its dividend yield, at nearly 7.9%, is still high compared to what is seen in other market sectors. This ETF is often knocked for its expenses, which at first glance might appear high at nearly 9.4%. But most of this number comes from the acquired fees that are not paid by investors, so the dent on total returns is not as extreme. This is because any ETF that buys into other funds (essentially a fund of funds) is required to include the underlying funds' fees as well.

In any case, the BDC space has options for nearly all investors. There are many options available for dividend investors who are looking to add some exposure to business development companies. Prospect Capital remains at the top of the heap -- but it is important to remember that that is more than one way to invest in the company.

A transcript of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting lifted the stock market today, as central bankers all but confirmed that interest rates will remain low into the foreseeable future. While it's true that borrowing can't get much cheaper -- the fed funds target rate has held at 0%-0.25% since December 2008 -- some investors fear that interest rates might start rising sooner rather than later, stunting economic growth. The minutes from the Fed's March policy meeting shrugged off that possibility, prompting Wall Street to send the Dow Jones Industrial Average 181 points, or 1.1.%, higher; the index ended at 16,437, as Walt Disney and 25 other components advanced. 

Disney shares tacked on 1.1% Wednesday; fewer than one in four stocks fell today, meaning in a nutshell that unless there was breaking, horrific, company-specific news about stock X, stock X was destined to advance. But Disney deserves a bit more credit than stock X. Captain America: The Winter Soldier broke April box office records over the weekend, boasting $95 million in U.S. box-office sales. Fresh off the record launch, Disney's Marvel has already given the green light to a third installment in the Captain America series this week. There's nothing Disney investors love more than a wildly successful franchise, and Disney's got a veritable franchise factory in Marvel. 

The Hunger Games franchise put Lions Gate on Wall Street's map. Source: Fool flickr

While Lions Gate Entertainment might not be able to compete with Disney's portfolio of franchises, its stock has some major advantages over Disney's. Lions Gate shares, even after surging 6.3% today, trade at just 15 times earnings, a sizable discount to Disney's 22 P/E. On top of that, Lions Gate's long-term growth prospects are arguably more exciting; the company is less than 3% Disney's size. In other words, a $1 billion box office hit like Frozen is great for Disney, but truly it's just a drop in the bucket. For the $3.8 billion Lions Gate, $1 billion in the box office would constitute a significant chunk of its annual revenue.

Remember stock X, the stock that passively advanced with the rest of the market on Wednesday merely because it was utterly average and unremarkable? Well, Sears Holdings is no stock X. Sears officially spun off one of its few successful divisions, Lands' End, which began trading on Monday. Both stocks have been dropping like rocks since then, and Sears shareholders are right to be peeved. The stock lost ground for a third straight day, shedding 2.8% on Wednesday, as Wall Street continued punishing the department store for ridding itself of the popular clothing brand.