In order to keep more of its 38-million subscribers watching for longer, Netflix has rolled out individual profiles for user accounts. These will give users better recommendations of movies that they may like, which should, in turn, keep them away from competitors Outerwall and Amazon . In the video below, Motley Fool Blog Editor Mark Reeth will tell you all about what else Netflix is doing to stay one step ahead of the competition, including beefing up its content, pushing sales higher, and increasing the number of subscribers. 

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

After three straight losing days, the Dow Jones Industrial Average battled back today to finish up 28 points, or 0.2%. Oddly enough, in a week when the market has stepped back from record highs amid remarks from the Fed about the coming stimulus taper, today it gained in spite of them. This morning, Dallas Fed President said the central bank would probably begin the cutbacks next month as long as economic reports show improvement. The Dow was actually down by more than 50 points at one point, but climbed back over the course of the afternoon to finish in the green. The Initial unemployment claims report helped buoy markets, as the report showed new unemployment filings at just 333,000 last week, better than expectations of 340,000. That figure was actually above last week's five-year low of 328,000, but it still brought down the four-week moving average, which is the more closely watched unemployment gauge, to 335,500. That's the lowest the moving average has been since 2007.

On the Dow today, Microsoft was giving the blue chips the business, jumping 2.6% on an upgrade from Evercore, to overweight from equal weight. The investment research firm said Microsoft's enterprise business was a particularly strong asset, as it should contribute 80% of next year's profits. Still, Evercore acknowledged that the consumer side of the business needs attention as was evident in the software-maker's latest earnings report when shares tumbled by double digits. With the decline of the PC market, it's clear that Microsoft will need to find new growth avenues.

Caterpillar was another strong performer today, bumping up 1.9% after China released trade data that beat expectations. The world's most populous nation reported stronger-than-expected demand for its exports, news that comes after several months of data showing a slowdown. Caterpillar is hugely dependent on China and its voracious appetite for the commodities that have fueled its construction boom. Since China started spinning its wheels, shares of the machinery maker have lost nearly a third of its value, and its comeback will be key if Caterpillar shares are to rise again.

On the other end of the scorecard, JPMorgan Chase shares dropped 0.9% after reports emerged that the Justice Dept. was investigating the TBTF bank over mortgage-backed investments sold before the housing collapse. The allegations come after the Department sued Bank of America for $850 million for the sale of similar securities earlier this week. The legal action serves as a reminder both that the banks are still dealing with the mess left over from the financial crisis, but also that the Feds seem unwilling to dish out a punishment severe enough to deter the big banks from future shenanigans.

In the first quarter of this year, Microsoft's Windows Phone OS outpaced BlackBerry and nabbed the No. 3 spot OS market share. As 2013 has progressed, Windows Phone market share has only gotten stronger -- while BlackBerry continues to struggle.

While BlackBerry isn't out of the fight yet, there are two reasons BB10's chances are running thin: apps and ecosystem.

Good is good enough, for now
Let's get this out of the way first: Windows Phone has an app problem. Microsoft has about 160,000 apps in its Windows Phone Store -- while Apple has just shy of one million, and Google's Play Store has more than one million. Not only are there more apps in the two leaders' app stores, but Windows Phone users typically don't get an app until after iOS and Android get it first -- think Instagram and Google Maps.

Windows Phone App Studio screenshot. Source: Microsoft.

To help battle its app problem, Microsoft just launched the Windows Phone App Studio for non-programmers to create apps in a web-based WYSIWYG environment.

But even with its meager amount of apps -- compared to Android and iOS -- Windows Phones still have more options than BlackBerry's OS. Right now, BlackBerry has about 100,000 apps in its store and, as of the end of March, about 20% of them were apps ported over from Android. BlackBerry boosted its apps count by paying developers to port Android apps to its OS -- rather than build them from scratch -- but the company stopped the porting incentives at the end of June. While the program helped build BB10's app offerings, it still hasn't fixed the problem of developers not wanting to create native apps for the platform.

Windows on my mind
The other lingering issue for BB10 making any gains against Windows Phone is the fact that Microsoft's products - and essentially its ecosystem - is vastly more prevalent than BlackBerry's.

Microsoft may not have hit a home run with Windows 8, but at least the vast majority of the global PC users still boot up some version of the company's operating system everyday. On top of that, Microsoft has the Xbox and Surface tablets in its overall ecosystem.

As with the apps, Microsoft doesn't offer the best ecosystem or devices -- but it does offer more than BlackBerry. The combination of Microsoft's devices, software prevalence and ecosystem help keep it at the forefront of consumers' minds. The company may not be the first or second choice for mobile users, but it safely owns the third spot.

The challenge going forward for BlackBerry isn't just to sell lots of BB10 phones, but to create products that prove to consumers that BlackBerry is a strong tech brand worthy of consideration. As it stands right now, BlackBerry loyalists may still see it that way, but BB10's drop from 4.9% global market share in the second quarter of 2012 down to 2.9% year over year proves that it's clearly moving in the wrong direction.

Beverage maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.38 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 12% from $0.34 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on October 4 to holders of record at the close of business on September 16. The regular dividend payment equates to a $1.52-per-share annual dividend, yielding 3.2% based on the closing price today of Dr Pepper Snapple Group's stock.

DPS Dividend data by YCharts.

Hotel operator Wyndham Worldwide announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.29 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 26% from $0.23 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on September 6 to holders of record at the close of business on August 22. The regular dividend payment equates to a $1.16-per-share annual dividend, yielding 1.9% based on the closing price today of Wyndham Worldwide's stock.

WYN Dividend data by YCharts.

If Nelson Peltz is right, all PepsiCo needs to do to supercharge the growth of an investment in the beverage maker is remake itself into a snack foods company. Jettison the smaller and dwindling drinks business, and snatch up global snack maker Mondolez International .

Snacks, through its Frito Lay segment, already account for two thirds of Pepsi's revenues, and is enjoying volume growth across the board. Beverages, on the other hand, are suffering from years of volume declines, and while its Gatorade brand has been revitalized in recent periods, analysts still say the sports-drink market has probably peaked, while nutrition bars as a sub-segment of the snack food line is ascendant.

Where the recent results from Kellogg suggest Peltz has his finger on the pulse of what could make Pepsi a powerhouse investment again -- its Pringles snack foods business contributed 11% growth to sales last quarter -- the quarterly earnings of Snyder's-Lance might offer a different outlook, one more in keeping with the drink maker's go-slow decision.

While revenues jumped 10% over the year ago period, to $439 million, and per-share profits after adjustments of $0.24 were 9% higher, both were well below analyst expectations, and shares of the pretzels-and-chips maker have fallen more than 12% over the past two days. Of course, Snyder's still believes it's on track to witnessing 10% to 12% sales growth for 2013, and adjusted profits rising some 22% to 32% -- a fairly broad range that allows for all sorts of possibilities -- it does allow for the snack food company to still hit Wall Street's targets.

Yet, it also shows that it's not a simple straight-line ramp-up of growth should Pepsi undertake Peltz's plan, even without digesting Mondolez. Not that the billionaire investor suggests it is, instead being a prescription for growth that plays the averages and looks where the market is going; but with the money required to effect the change it would likely create a serious hiccup in operations.

Perhaps Pepsi could take a page from the playbook of both Peltz and management and snatch up a smaller prize like Snyder's-Lance, which could benefit from the drink maker's deep distribution bench. That would give Pepsi another opportunity to bolster its position in a growing market without necessitating the upheavals that full adoption would bring with it.

Without question, the real impetus behind Peltz's program is shedding the beverage business completely, regardless of whether there are smaller or larger snack food acquisitions to swallow. And an investment in Pepsi won't experience the growth necessary to make it worthwhile, unless and until it rids itself of the anchor weighing it down.

Heavy-duty engine maker Allison Transmission announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.12 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after doubling the payout to investors from $0.06 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on August 30 to holders of record at the close of business on August 19. The regular dividend payment equates to a $0.48-per-share annual dividend, yielding 2.1% based on the closing price today of Allison Transmission's stock.

ALSN Dividend data by YCharts.

Thompson Creek will have new men occupying its CEO's office, and chairing its board later this year. The company has appointed Jacques Perron to be its chief executive, expecting that he will take up his position by November 1. Perron replaces the retiring Kevin Loughrey, who is also the firm's chairman. Loughrey will be succeeded in that post by current lead director Timothy Haddon, who will advance to the position when Perron becomes CEO.

Perron is a veteran executive in the precious metals sector. He was previously president and CEO of Canada-based St Andrew Goldfields. He also served as senior vice president of IAMGOLD, and was vice president, Canada of a firm IAMGOLD acquired, Cambior.

According to an SEC filing made by Thompson Creek, Perron will earn an annual base salary "of not less than" $550,000, and will be eligible for performance-based bonuses. He will also receive a one-time signing bonus of $200,000 and stock options.

Furniture component manufacturer Leggett & Platt announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.30 per share, a 3% increase from the payout it made to investors last quarter of $0.29 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on October 15 to holders of record at the close of business on September 13. Dividends have increased for 42 consecutive years.

The regular dividend payment equates to a $1.20-per-share annual dividend, yielding 3.9% based on the closing price today of Leggett & Platt's stock.

LEG Dividend data by YCharts.

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Over the past year, we've witnessed quite a run in the stock market. The S&P 500  is up 21%, the Dow is up nearly 18%, and some individual stocks have just gone bananas -- witness Zillow's 133% run, for example.

For a number of years now, we have been in a remarkable bull market where valuation hasn't mattered. In fact, I believe that the more investors have focused on valuation in recent times, the worse their returns have been. But this hasn't been true over longer periods historically, and I certainly don't think it's sustainable. While the laws of economic gravity may have been temporarily suspended, I do not believe that they have been fundamentally altered.

 

Don't get me wrong -- I'm a big believer in the ways that the Internet (and other technologies), improved access to capital, better management techniques, etc., have positively and permanently affected the economy. Nor am I the type of value investor who thinks that anything trading above 20x trailing earnings is overvalued. I simply believe in the universal, fundamental truth that the value of a company (and therefore a fractional ownership stake in that company, which is, of course, a share of its stock) is worth no more and no less than the future cash that can be taken out of the business, discounted back to the present.

Thus, the importance of Tilson's message.

When done right, the how's of the valuation question aren't -- as Tilson noted -- simple, single-number pass/fail calculations. With that in mind, here's how he said he thought about valuation in practice:

The beauty of valuation -- and investing in general -- is that, to use Buffett's famous analogy, there are no called strikes. You can sit and wait until you're as certain as you can be that you've not only discovered a high-quality business, but also that it is significantly undervalued. Such opportunities are rare these days, so a great deal of patience is required. To discipline myself, I use what I call the "Pinch-Me-I-Must-Be-Dreaming Test." This means that before I'll invest, I have to be saying to myself, "I can't believe my incredible good fortune that the market has so misunderstood this company and mispriced its stock that I can buy it at today's low price."

Do these kinds of valuations exist today? I believe they do. AIG  has made an impressive amount of progress in repairing its business, and at a book-value multiple of 0.74, I don't think the market is giving the company nearly the credit it deserves. Likewise with JPMorgan . Its performance has set it apart as one of the premiere big banks in the world, but regulatory and backward-looking London Whale concerns have kept the valuation at an attractive level.

But investors have to be discriminating and keep valuation in mind. On the side of the spectrum, a stock like BofI Holdings  has absolutely taken off, and now carries a valuation that will provide a stiff headwind to shareholders' returns in the years ahead. That doesn't make it a bad company -- I believe very much in the impact that technology can have in the banking industry. It just makes BofI a stock better suited for your "watch list" than your "buy now" list for the time being.

Focusing on high-quality, well-run businesses, and investing for the long term are cornerstones of Foolish investing. But, as the market chugs along at a breakneck pace, it's important to remember that the price you pay is important, as well.

What's definitely going to be a buzzword for the next year, the "Internet of Things," is the idea that every object we own will be identifiable and inventoried by computers. Originally proposed in 1999, with the thought of barcodes and RFID, the concept can be extended even more today with GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, WiFi, and long-lasting battery technology. While enabling your toaster to tell you the weather may sound trivial, having your alarm clock push itself back five minutes because your morning meeting is delayed just might change your life.

What companies might benefit from talking toasters? It may be too many to count, and too many to earn any reasonable profit margins on such business. 

The future of things
There are plenty of small solutions currently available that can help you find your lost goods. One such product is Tile, which raised more than $2.6 million on Kickstarter. The small tiles that you can stick on objects or on a keychain have a range of 150 feet, but if in the range of another tile user's phone, the tiles location can be updated. Therefore, if enough users are in an area, the range becomes almost limitless. Through this type of mesh network, you never have to lose things again.

While such small conveniences may not vastly improve our lives, or add value to our economy, there are plenty of big ones that could help revolutionize our world.

Cisco Systems predicts that by 2020, over 50 billion things will be connected to the Internet. As an example, Cisco touts its partnership with Planetary Skin, which uses "billions of networked sensors on land and in sea, air, and space to detect and predict changes to the environment." Obviously, as a leader in networking, Cisco stands to benefit if its predictions are correct. Billions of things sending data means more servers and networking needed to deliver and store all this information.

There are no limits on where computers will be placed and hooked up. There are sensors on cows to let farmers know when they're sick or pregnant. Street lights can sense surrounding conditions and dim or brighten themselves to compensate. Smart energy meters can show the current price for electricity, allowing businesses to delay using electricity during peak energy use to save money. And, of course, self-driving cars will sense each other and be able to drive more efficiently than we humans could ever achieve.

So who wins?
Besides Cisco, who could benefit from a large number of connected doodads? It really is impossible to tell. And even though there will almost certainly be billions of connections, there are so many players and start-ups competing that none may truly reap any outsized reward. Many will mention Google , Apple , IBM, and Intel , along with a bevy of wireless technology companies and other chip makers.

The Internet of Things is a growing market, but investors already know this. That's one reason why Google is valued at a price-earnings of over 27. The thing is, this growing market steals share from many of the same companies' traditional markets. For example, as the PC market crashes like an overheated processor, Intel's revenue from PC client group fell 7.5% year over year in the last quarter. Intel must get a piece of the new trend to stay relevant. 

Apple, of course, has historically been the prime example of staying relevant through its revolutionary product releases that have created entire industries. As its computer and iPod lines wane, it can count on its iPhone and iPad to create revenue. And as these mobile devices become widespread, Apple can count on iTunes to help pad its revenue; in the latest quarter, iTunes revenue grew 25%. However, even Apple can't shake negative sentiment as it has yet to release anything crowned as groundbreaking since the iPad. Investors believed in a continuing machine of hit products when its stock sat at $700, but when they realized such a product might take longer than expected, Apple's stock price was cut nearly in half.

Like Apple's fight to stay relevant, the Internet of Things may be more of a weeding process than windfall for many companies.

Restaurant operator Tim Horton's  announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.26 Canadian per share, the same rate it's paid for the past three quarters after raising the payout 24% from $0.21 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on September 4 to the holders of record at the close of business on August 19. Dividends are paid in Canadian dollars to all shareholders with Canadian resident addresses. For U.S. shareholders, dividends paid will be converted to U.S. dollars based on prevailing exchange rates at the time of conversion.

The regular dividend payment equates to a $1.04 Canadian-per-share annual dividend, yielding 1.8% based on the closing price today of Tim Horton's stock.

THI Dividend data by YCharts.

Hotel operator Marriott International  announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.17 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the quarterly payout 31%, from $0.13 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on Sept. 27 to the holders of record at the close of business on Aug. 22. The regular dividend payment equates to a $0.68-per-share annual dividend, yielding 1.6% based on the closing price today of Marriott International's stock.

MAR Dividend data by YCharts

Oil and gas producer Penn West Exploration announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.14 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after slashing the quarterly payout 48%, from $0.27 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on Oct. 15 to the holders of record at the close of business on Sept. 30. The regular dividend payment equates to a $0.56-per-share annual dividend, yielding 4.7% based on the closing price today of Penn West Exploration's stock.

PWE Dividend data by YCharts

Blyth is electing to keep its dividend steady. The company has declared a semi-annual payout for the six-month period ended on June 30. This will be $0.10 per share paid on October 15 to shareholders of record as of October 1. That amount matches both of the firm's previous two distributions, the most recent of which was paid in April. Prior to that, Blyth handed out $0.15 per share, although this was in advance of a two-for-one stock split effected in June 2012.

The just-declared dividend annualizes to $0.20 per share. That yields 1.8% at Blyth's most recent closing stock price of $11.02.

AmerisourceBergen has loaded a double dose of share price-boosting measures. The company declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.21 per share, to be paid on September 3 to shareholders of record as of August 19. That amount is in line with AmerisourceBergen's previous three distributions, the most recent of which was paid in early June. Prior to that, the firm handed out $0.13 per share.

The just-declared dividend annualizes to $0.84 per share. That yields 1.4% at the company's most recent closing stock price of $59.61.

AmerisourceBergen's board also authorized a buyback program for up to $750 million worth of common stock. This, combined with the $446.1 million remaining on the firm's existing program, brings the total authorization to nearly $1.2 billion.

Currently, the company has 231 million shares outstanding.

DCT Industrial Trust is attempting to build on its foundation of share capital. The company is floating an underwritten public issue of 20 million shares of common stock at a price of $7.20 apiece. Additionally, the company's underwriters have been granted a 30-day purchase option for up to an additional 3 million shares.

DCT Industrial Trust said it plans to use the offering's estimated net proceeds of $137.5 million for future acquisitions, development, debt retirement, "general corporate purposes, or a combination of the foregoing."

Bank of America's Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase division J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Leucadia's Jefferies are the joint book-running managers of the issue, which is expected to close "on or about" August 13.

At the moment, DCT Industrial Trust has more than 292 million shares outstanding, and its stock most recently closed at $7.48 per share.

Military armored truck-maker Oshkosh won a new truck contract from the Pentagon Thursday -- one of the largest contracts the Pentagon awarded on the day.

Valued at $76.8 million, this was technically a modification of a pre-existing firm-fixed-price contract originally issued in August 2009. Back then, the Pentagon awarded Oshkosh the contract to build a "family of medium tactical vehicles," or FMTV -- which the Army describes as "a series of vehicles based on a common chassis, which vary by payload and mission requirements." FMTV vehicle types include materiel handlers, tractors, vans, wrecking trucks, and dump trucks.

To date, Oshkosh has won FMTV contracts amounting to $4.7 billion over four years, despite the contract originally being estimated as being worth $2.5 billion over five years.

Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does Panera Bread fit the bill? Let's take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.

What we're looking for
The graphs you're about to see tell Panera's story, and we'll be grading the quality of that story in several ways:

• Growth: Are profits, margins, and free cash flow all increasing?
• Valuation: Is share price growing in line with earnings per share?
• Opportunities: Is return on equity increasing while debt to equity declines?
• Dividends: Are dividends consistently growing in a sustainable way?

What the numbers tell you
Now, let's take a look at Panera's key statistics:

PNRA Total Return Price data by YCharts

Source: YCharts. * Period begins at end of Q2 2010.

PNRA Return on Equity data by YCharts

Source: YCharts. * Period begins at end of Q2 2010.

How we got here and where we're going
Panera Bread comes through with flying colors, as it's earned five out of seven possible passing grades. One source of potential weakness: Panera's free cash flow has been falling continuously since 2010. However, Panera's shares have staged an impressive comeback over the past three years. Investors seem to be fine with dwindling free cash flow, which is certainly being plowed back into the company's expansion strategy. But does that mean Panera will keep outperforming in the future? Let's dig a little deeper to find out.

Panera recently whiffed on Wall Street's expectations for its latest quarter, which didn't sit too well with investors, who sent shares plunging almost 6% lower. Same-store sales also looked a little weak, with a 3.7% growth rate against the 4.4% projection. Panera's management blamed slowing breakfast sales, which suffered from delayed service, as front-line employees struggled to prepare larger orders.

However, Panera's growth continues -- the company opened 37 new outlets during the second quarter, which brings its total number of restaurants to 1,708. Fool contributor Demitrios Kalogeropoulos points out that the company is aggressively expanding its national footprint, and it has plans to open around 115 to 125 new restaurants by the end of this year. Panera, though catering to a different taste than rival Chipotle , might find value in emulating the latter's buffet-line concept. Chipotle's unique business model enables it to process 350 orders during the lunch hour, serving one customer every 11 seconds. Its proven strength in the quick-service food area lifted same-store sales to 5.5% in the recent quarter, which must make Panera's management a little jealous.

Colorado-based fast-food chain Noodles & Co. also seems set to take market share from both Panera and Chipotle. Since 2004, its total number of restaurants increased from 100 to 327, growing at an impressive rate of 16% per year, and it has ambitious plans to launch another 2,500 restaurants over the next 15-20 years. This might be more a direct threat to Panera, as its fast-casual carb-heavy offerings would appear to overlap more directly with the preferences of indecisive diners.

Putting the pieces together
Today, Panera has many of the qualities that make up a great stock; but no stock is truly perfect. Digging deeper can help you uncover the answers you need to make a great buy -- or to stay away from a stock that's going nowhere.

Midstream operator Pembina Pipeline announced today its monthly dividend for August of $0.14 per share, a 3.7% increase from the payout it had paid investors last month of $0.135 per share. The dividend is designated an "eligible dividend" for Canadian income tax purposes. For non-resident shareholders, Pembina's dividends are considered "qualified dividends," subject to Canada's withholding tax.

The July dividend for U.S. shareholders will be $0.136 per share, based on a currency exchange rate of 0.9706.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on Sept. 13 to the holders of record at the close of business on Aug. 25. The regular dividend payment equates to a $1.63-per-share annual dividend, yielding 5.3% based on the closing price today of Pembina Pipeline's stock.

PBA Dividend data by YCharts