General Electric is eager to begin a desert campaign.

On Tuesday, the industrial behemoth announced that it has signed a $700 million contract to supply the Saudi Electricity Company with additional F-class combined-cycle gas turbines, associated equipment, and related services.

GE turbines are already in place at Saudi Electricity's power plants Nos. 9 through 12. And indeed, GE boasts that "GE equipment assists in the generation of more than half of Saudi Arabia's power supply."

Now, GE says it expects its equipment to "provide significant fuel savings and lower emissions" at Saudi Electricity's large, combined-cycle power plants Nos. 13 and 14 as well, helping the customer to produced 3.8 gigawatts of electric power from natural gas. The new "PP13" and "PP14" will feature 12 GE 7F-5 gas turbines, four GE steam turbines, and 16 generators.

GE will begin delivering the turbines in early 2015. It will also provide maintenance services at both PP13 and PP14 for eight years, the cost of which is included in the overall quote of $700 million. 

It's been three weeks now since YRC Worldwide CEO James Welch made his case (link opens a PDF) for why YRC workers should approve a new union contract. Three weeks since YRC's boss warned his workers that "lenders will not refinance our debt unless we have a 5-year labor agreement" in place. He also said that without refinancing, the company cannot satisfy all of the $1 billion in debt payments coming due in the next 17 months. Welch stated, "Refinancing typically takes approximately 90 days to complete and it must be completed before the first of our debt repayments becomes due -- so we must start the refinancing process by November 15."

And yet, 11 days past that deadline, what progress has YRC made? Nada. Nothing. Zilch. No agreement.

Parked YRC trucks. How appropriate. Source: YRC Worldwide

What's the hurry?
The first in a long line of bond debts comes due Feb. 15 -- ($69 million and change). YRC only has $170 million in the bank, though, so paying just the first of these bills will leave it with only $100 million and change... and $1.3 billion in debt still to pay. The way I see it, YRC really has only three viable roads ahead of it, and the longer it takes to "pick a lane", the narrower its choices become. YRC essentially has three options before it.

Admit defeat, and declare bankruptcy
Hey! Don't shoot the messenger. YRC's own CEO raised the specter of bankruptcy earlier this month -- and not without reason. By its own admission, YRC needs 90 days to work out a deal to roll over its debt. But it's only got 80 days left to work with. Mathematically speaking, that's a bad situation to be in.

Recapitalize the debt
If YRC needs a deal with its workers to roll over its debt, but it can't get a deal, and so cannot roll over its debt, then the company's just going to have to pay the debt when it comes due. That sounds impossible, but it's not. YRC could raise the cash it needs by issuing new shares.

Granted, issuing enough shares to pay off $1.3 billion, at $8.80 a stub, would require that YRC flood the market with more than 147.7 million freshly minted stock certificates. That would dilute existing shareholders out of about 93.5% of their stake in the company. (And that's the good news. Chances are slim that anyone would pay $8.80 a share for a company that's about to issue such a massive dilution. My guess: In the event of a recap, we're looking at a near total wipeout of existing shareholders).

Cut wages
YRC may tell its workers that all it needs to survive is a new five-year contract guaranteeing "predictable future wage and benefit increases". But the truth is that that won't cut it.

YRC's compensation levels today are right in line with industry standards. Expressed as a percentage of revenues, YRC's sandwiched in between the lower cost of FedEx's and Old Dominion's non-union workers, and the slightly higher costs of UPS's and Arkansas Best's unionized labor forces.

Yet despite this, YRC can't seem to earn itself a profit. So what's the solution?

Assuming the company doesn't want to go bankrupt, or wipe out its investors (for the second time in two years!), it's going to be forced to demand significant wage and benefits cuts from its workers.

But if YRC were paying salaries, wages, and benefits (relative to revenues) closer to what rival Old Dominion pays out, for example, this would reduce its revenue outlay on this expense by about 12%, saving the company upwards of $330 million annually, and returning YRC to profitability -- even at current interest rates on its debt -- and permitting the company to repay that debt. Chances are, that's a prospect its bankers could get behind in less than 90 days.

No joy in Mudville
And there you have it, folks. There are the three roads that YRC must choose from. Each ends in tears for someone. The only question left is who will be crying in the end?

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

What: Shares of Nuance Communications plunged more than 18% Tuesday after the company reported solid quarterly results, but followed up with disappointing forward guidance.

So what: Adjusted quarterly sales rose to $490.4 million, which translated to adjusted net income of $95.2 million, or $0.30 per diluted share. Analysts, by contrast, were looking for adjusted earnings of just $0.29 per share on sales of $489.56 million.

However, Nuance also stated non-GAAP revenue for its fiscal first quarter 2014 to be between $477 million and $487 million, with non-GAAP earnings per share between $0.18 and $0.21. Analysts were modeling adjusted fiscal first-quarter earnings of $0.33 per share on sales of $494.74 million.

In addition, beginning with this report, Nuance is now including a bookings forecast to help investors more effectively track its transition away from perpetual license purchases and toward term-based and subscription pricing. In fiscal 2014, Nuance expects bookings to increase around 15% to between $2.15 billion and $2.25 billion.

Now what: It may serve as little consolation for shareholders who weathered today's plunge, but I agree with management's assertion this transition should serve to build for Nuance a more predictable, recurring revenue stream over the long-term. As it stands, though, the fickle market certainly doesn't appreciate the resulting near-term weakness.

That said, given today's drop, it looks like much of that pessimism is priced in. With shares now trading under 9 times next year's estimated earnings, I think shares of Nuance could turn out to be a bargain for patient long-term investors.

Barnes & Noble shocked the market today by posting a profitable second quarter. The business had been expected to continue its losing streak, but an increase in gross margin helped it bring in a profit, even as sales fell. The stock dropped in trading, though, as the third quarter is unlikely to have the same positive effects, while carrying over most of the negative ones. Here's what investors need to know and look out for in the future.

The Nook helped pull up gross margin
In the second quarter, the company's overall sales fell 8% compared to last year. That fall could have been horrible news -- it's still bad news -- for the business, but a few bright spots helped it through. The biggest surprise was that the Nook managed to increase its gross margin. The division also had a sales decrease, but lower costs and fewer markdowns helped it almost double its gross margin to 31%.

That cost success is just a part of solving the ongoing Nook problem. Now, management is heading into the third quarter focused on fixing the fall in digital content sales. That's where the Nook really shines, but as sales drop the division is simply going to flounder.

To get more devices in the hands of consumers, the company expects in the holiday season to see promotions back in rotation, which will impact gross margin. Luckily, the sales and administrative costs associated with the Nook are being well-managed, and that trend should continue.

Retail sales continue to struggle
While the Nook division found some hidden strengths, the company's retail segment proved itself less capable. Revenue and gross margin fell in the second quarter, and comparable sales excluding the Nook dropped 3.7% against 2012.

The company continues to make tough comparisons against last year's successful trilogies -- Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hunger Games. This year has proven to be less than stellar for core book sales, which is unfortunate as that is arguably the company's greatest asset. With Borders long gone, Amazon.com focusing less on books and more on digital sales, and Books-A-Million running itself into the ground, the physical store could offer Barnes & Noble some solace. So far, no luck.

The future
The company's holiday quarter is unlikely to be anything more than boring. With comparable sales dropping, the company needs to get customers through the door just to get the brand back into an acceptable place. That's going to mean discounting, which is going to push margins down. The Nook also needs to get a move on if Barnes & Noble wants a post-Christmas digital sales bump -- again, bad news for margins.

It's not a total loss yet, though. The company is still the only game in town at its size, and that puts it in charge of its own destiny. Cost management remains key, and stopping the sales bleeding wouldn't be a bad thing. I still like Barnes & Noble -- I worked there and own a little stock -- but there's a still a long road to walk before this company is anything like a winner.

This morning, the FDIC released its consolidated third-quarter results for all banks, and JPMorgan Chase was a silent standout. In this segment of The Motley Fool's financials-focused show, Where the Money Is, financial analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discuss the top news stories of the day. The big headlines also include one company scaring high-speed traders and common misconceptions about JPMorgan's record settlement.

Want a daily podcast dosage of everything Wall Street, Buffett, and more? Check out Where the Money Is! http://t.co/SdAGfmYCf3 #iTunes

— MotleyFoolFinancials (@TMFFinancials) October 5, 2013

A new offering from Merck is soon to hit pharmacy shelves. The company announced today that the Food and Drug Administration has granted approval for the company's Noxafil in the form of 100-milligram delayed-release tablets.

The treatment is used to combat certain fungal infections from spreading through the body, in patients who have a higher chance of contracting such ailments because of a weakened immune system. The total dosage is 600 milligrams on the first day of use, followed by a daily maintenance dose of 300 milligrams. The treatment is administered by delayed-release tablets or delivered in liquid form.

In 2012, Merck posted total sales of around $258 million for the other forms of Noxafil it produces. All told, the company brought in total sales of $47.3 billion that year.

Separately, the pharmaceutical giant announced an increase in its quarterly common stock dividend. It is to pay $0.44 per share on Jan. 8 of next year to stockholders of record as of this Dec. 16. This represents an increase of $0.01 per share over the company's most recent payout. 

Dry Shippers across the board have been predicting a fantastic 2014. Navios Maritime Holdings is the last among shippers to provide industry insight into next year and beyond. In such a fast-changing environment, paying attention to the most recent, up-to-date info can give you the best edge over the crowd.

Results
Navios Maritime Holdings generates revenue from both dry bulk shipping and logistics. It reported its third-quarter results on Nov. 25. Its revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or EBITDA, were strong as expected. Revenue was $122.3 million, and EBITDA came in at $40.6 million.

CEO Angeliki Frangou called it a "solid quarter" and declared a $0.06-per-share dividend for a 3.1% yield. This means she's putting the company's money where her mouth is, providing the company's first clue about its confidence in the future.

Conference call
The conference call echoed other dry shippers' strong optimistic sentiments. President Ted Petrone reminded everybody that rates are currently below their historical average. He predicted that rates will go up, in part due to slowing supply growth of ships and increased exporting of iron ore, coal, and grain, mostly to China and India. He also expects 2013 to prove to be one of the highest years on record for the scrapping of old ships, which will further reduce shipping supply.

Petrone is calling for demand growth to overtake supply for the first time in four years. If he's correct, this would be significant for all dry shippers. Four years ago, rates were double to triple what they were in the third quarter. When rates rise, that extra revenue tends to fall straight to the bottom line as net income and cash flow.

CFO George Achniotis toed the party line by stating, "We are in the low point in the cycle." This suggests he's calling for a bottom and expects rates to go up from here.

During the Q&A, Frangou continued to beam with confidence, saying, "The overall trend is upwards ... The fundamentals are good."

Comments from earlier calls
Navios Maritime Holdings owns 21.6% of Navios Maritime Partners . As such, Navios Maritime Partners is considered a subsidiary and has the same CEO. The company reported its results on Halloween, and it's interesting to note how the tone has changed, if at all, over the last three and a half weeks.

Frangou stated back then that the company is ready and willing to increase dividends as the market improves. As she noted, "The dry bulk environment has brightened significantly." Frangou pointed out the excessive amount of scrapping coupled with slower order growth in new ships will improve the rate environment in 2014 and beyond. Both calls were very consistent with each other in detail, though the most recent one had an aura of even greater confidence.

Diana Shipping also reported recently, on Nov. 19. Though the company took a slightly more cautious tone, it was also very bullish about 2014 and beyond. President Anastasios Margaronis said the just-concluded period was one of the most exciting quarters in four years.

While the company did warn that the industry is at the mercy of demand from China, it does feel the industry is in the "lower parts of the cycle." Diana Shipping expects iron ore shipments to China to increase by 9% in 2014.

Foolish final thoughts
As we get closer to 2014, keep a laser focus on shipping rates. No other metric even comes close to determining the fortunes - or lack thereof - for all of the major dry shippers. If shipping rates improve as much as these companies believe they will, you might see a lot of dry shipping companies making some big bucks.

The National Hockey League has signed the largest-ever media rights deal in its history, and the counter-party is Rogers Communications . In a press conference held by both entities this morning, it was announced that Rogers will pay C$5.232 billion ($4.96 billion) for the Canadian rights to broadcast all of the league's games, including the playoffs and the Stanley Cup final. The deal kicks off with the 2014-2015 season, and will run for 12 years.

Rogers will also hold multimedia rights to the games and will stream them live through the Internet and mobile devices, and over satellite radio.

The move is part of a broader strategic effort for the company. It quoted CEO Nadir Mohamed as saying that for Rogers ,"sports content is a key strategic asset, and we've been investing significantly to strengthen our sports offering to Canadians."

The company also announced that it had signed multi-year, sub-leasing agreements with national broadcasters CBC and TVA Sports for those networks to air selected regular- and post-season games. The financial terms of those arrangements were not disclosed.

The NHL-Rogers deal is subject to approval by the league's board of governors, which will next meet on Dec. 9 and 10.

The easily offended may be ill-suited to own Spirit Airlines stock, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.

Recently, the cut-rate carrier published in ad which claimed executives were "not smoking crack" by pitching $29.90 one-way fares to Toronto and the surrounding region. What makes the ad special, Tim says, is the accompanying silhouette resembling embattled Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who has come under fire for drug abuse allegations.

Seamy? No doubt. Clever? Absolutely. Spirit has no problem cashing in on the worst sort of news stories in order to sell seats. Heck, flight attendants wear ads. Nothing is off limits. "We are actively marketing other surfaces such as napkins, plane exteriors and overhead bins. The customer can benefit from this kind of brand advertising as it [offsets] costs and [keeps] airfares low," CEO Ben Baldanza said in a recent interview with the Orlando Sun-Sentinel newspaper.

The strategy works, too: Spirit's profit doubled as revenue increased more than 33% in the most recent quarter. Yet investors shouldn't rush into this this growth stock. Sure, there's plenty of opportunity to be had, but strong emotions have a way of clouding good investing judgment. Placing a real-money bet on a company whose marketing or sales tactics you fervently disagree with could cause you to act rashly. And acting rashly too often leads to losses, Tim says.

Now it's your turn to weigh in. Are you OK with Spirit's marketing and advertising strategy? Do you own the stock? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take and then leave a comment to let us know where you stand.

TiVo reported third-quarter earnings after the market closed today. Revenue increased 43% to $117.3 million on strong technology and hardware revenue as the company expanded into new markets. Subscriber growth was the strongest it's been since TiVo began mass distribution of technology and services in the cable DVR market, despite the cord-cutting that's taking place across the country.  

Despite the increased revenue, net income was down from $59.0 million a year ago to $12.5 million. But that's due in large part to $78.4 million in litigation proceeds.

TiVo is charging into streaming TV with TiVo Mini and Stream, opening up options for consumers. As TiVo expands partnerships around the world, it will be able to leverage these products and continue to grow.

The challenge for TiVo comes when cord-cutting becomes a more viable option, so innovation is key to staying relevant in the future. With progress like this and new products from TiVo, the foundation is being laid to become a long-term player in streaming media. This quarter was a big step in bringing that foundation to bottom-line profits.

In September, Nokia considered acquiring Alcatel-Lucent's wireless division as part of its strategic restructuring, in light of the acquisition of its devices and services unit by Microsoft . By acquiring Alcatel, the Finnish group would be in a better position to compete against Ericsson and Huawei Technologies, the leaders in the network infrastructure market. Additionally, given that Alcatel has a strong technical expertise in IP, cloud networking, and wireless gearing, Nokia could capitalize on new synergies, thus becoming more competitive. A possible merger between Nokia and Alcatel would generate the second-largest network infrastructure company, trailing Ericsson's 36% market share. Yet, on Nov. 19, Nokia backed off from the Alcatel-Lucent deal.

Nokia-Microsoft deal changes Nokia's priorities
The Nokia-Microsoft deal will be completed early 2014. The partnership is expected to allow Nokia to promote its Nokia Solutions and Networks, or NSN, business and directly compete with Ericsson. NSN offers mobile broadband, multimedia technology, and consultancy services. Nokia plans to further focus on R&D and explore innovative solutions in advanced technologies to build high-speed mobile data infrastructure, but more importantly, improve shareholder value.

NSN has been weak in the wireless division, which dominates the U.S. market. This weakness would be covered by Alcatel's fast-growing IP routing and optical business. Plus, NSN's market share in the wireless network infrastructure market would fly to 30% from its current 18%. However, according to a Wall Street Journal report, after having explored whether Alcatel's IP-router and wireless divisions could fit with NSN, the Finnish group has decided to delay formal talks.

Alcatel's "Shift Plan" may be costly for Nokia
Since 2006, when the ill-fated merger with Lucent Technologies took place, Alcatel has struggled to become profitable. Having been steadily unprofitable for almost seven years, in spite of restructuring attempts by former CEO, Ben Verwaayen, today Alcatel tallies more than $10 billion in losses. New CEO Michel Combes has introduced "The Shift Plan," which aims to reshape the company by focusing on core businesses like IP routing, cloud computing, and 4G infrastructure projects, plus cutting R&D investments in legacy telecoms infrastructure. To achieve this, Alcatel plans to dedicate 85% of its R&D investment in 2015 to next-generation technologies. The target is $1.35 billion in fixed-cost savings and asset sales of more than $1.35 billion from 2013-2015, and $2.7 billion in debt reprofiling over the same period. In addition, Combes plans to raise $2.7 billion through new share issuance and debt financing to fund the company's overhaul.

In October, the Franco-American company announced major layoffs for the next two years to reduce fixed costs by $1.4 billion, or 15%, by the end of 2015. The job cuts are a routine practice in the telecom industry, as most companies upgrade their data network infrastructure to remain competitive and improve their position in the market. Two years ago, Nokia cut 17,000 jobs as part of a similar restructuring plan.

Alcatel's major restructuring might mean extra costs for Nokia, ones that the Finnish group may not be willing to leverage at the moment.

French government a barrier to the merger
The French government own 3.6% of Alcatel and, therefore, has a say on Alcatel's restructuring plan, mostly on limiting job cuts. Within hours of Alcatel's announcement of slashing 10,000 jobs, François Hollande and members of the French government opposed to the plan suggested that the job cuts were excessive. The government threatened to use the applicable law, which took effect in August 2013, to block Alcatel's layoffs if no compromise was reached with unions. This move not only frustrated the French business environment, but has also sent a signal to Nokia that the French labor system is not flexible.

Alcatel's huge patent portfolio
IP routing is one of Alcatel's major assets, and as such it is highly unlikely that the company is ready to monetize its 30,000 plus patents in the context of a merger. Analysts estimate that Alcatel's patent portfolio of has a value of $5.4 billion-$12.2 billion. The portfolio is currently secured in part by the collateral of a $2.2 billion debt deal with Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. Although the loan terms are undisclosed, it is highly likely that Alcatel faces significant limitations on patent policy, particularly with respect to licensing. Simply put, in a possible Nokia-Alcatel merger, the Finns would have to pay a fortune to become the new licensees, provided this is permitted by the loan terms.

Bottom line
Fierce competition in the telecom sector, and the fact that slower European economies reduce the demand for telecom equipment, practically force Alcatel to employ the restructuring plan. And of course, restructuring comes with a cost. If Alcatel manages to effectively implement the "Shift Plan," it will survive and become profitable. If not, it will be sold to Nokia or some other telecom provider. For the time being, Nokia is holding formal talks. NSN chief executive, Rajeev Suri, stated that Nokia didn't have to "do deals for the sake of deals," and that he was in favor of a "just wait" strategy that would let market forces take out weaker rivals rather than doing a deal.

AMC Networks is taking yet another step to separate itself from its rivals by purchasing the North American broadcast rights to Preacher, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.

Badass Digest first reported rumors of a deal, which Bleeding Cool has since confirmed. Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Breaking Bad series writer Sam Catlin are developing the pilot for Sony , Bleeding Cool reports.

Investors should applaud the move, Tim says. Not only are Rogen and Goldberg comic book fans (a good indicator when it comes to handling genre properties) but Sony and AMC have a track record going back to Breaking Bad. The two networks are also developing a spinoff of the series based on Bob Odenkirk's delightfully odious criminal lawyer, Saul Goodman. Collaboration shouldn't be an issue here.

The bad news, if there is any, is that we've been down this path before. Preacher co-creator Garth Ennis first sold the film rights in the late '90s. HBO ordered a pilot in 2006, only to abandon the project two years later. History isn't on the series' side. Tim says AMC, with its penchant for adapting adult-themed comic books that others won't touch, may finally be the right partner.

Do you agree? Do you want to see Preacher come to AMC? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take, and then leave a comment to let us know what you think.

It's the most critical time of the year for Best Buy as the retailer enters the quarter, that, according to analysts' estimates, provides more than two-thirds of the company's annual profit (compared to less than half for competitors like Wal-Mart  and Target ).

Already at nearly four times where it was trading last December, Best Buy's stock has surged this year. This is especially noteworthy considering the low hopes from most analysts as the company continued shutting down stores and losing sales to its competitors, such as Amazon.com . Still, with major changes throughout the year, the retail giant defied the odds and finds itself at a multiyear high. Yet can investors look for the same success this holiday season?

Success in the fourth quarter is absolutely essential for Best Buy to prove itself worthy of its enormous stock jump. Despite the massive year for the stock, the numbers haven't really backed up such a move. Figures like the declines in same-store sales growth the last two quarters, while important, shy in comparison to fourth-quarter numbers, as this is what Best Buy relies on for so much of its annual revenue. That said, let's look at how Best Buy is poised for the fourth quarter.

Tech disadvantage
Best Buy's brick-and-mortar retail competitors like Wal-Mart and Target tend to use consumer electronics as a "loss leader" in the fourth quarter, meaning that they understand they will most likely take a loss on consumer electronics (they make very small margins on the most popular items, like Apple products). They hope, however, that the electronics can attract customers to the store to purchase other items that they expect to make a profit from.

Unfortunately, Best Buy does not have this luxury, as it deals exclusively in consumer electronics. And, while some have high hopes with the release of new consoles such as the new Xbox One and new Apple products, these items deliver very small profit margins for Best Buy.

Actually, it's possible that the releases could potentially even be bad news, given that the expensive consoles could cause a crowding-out effect, meaning that consumers could want to spend less on other consumer electronics at Best Buy after buying such an expensive device.

Help from Samsung and Microsoft?
While the announcement and rollout of Microsoft's "Windows Stores" and Samsung's "Samsung Experience Shops" have generated hype, their effect may not be as drastic as many assume. Yes, they may attract more people into the store, but do they really have the potential to increase Best Buy's earnings enough to the extent they can match share-price growth? Don't get your hopes up. And don't forget that the company is giving up its own floor space to make room for the shops, limiting the potential revenue increase as a result of the move.

Online sales and price-matching
Two of the saving graces for Best Buy in the competition with Amazon could be its price-matching and online sales. One of the biggest issues the retailer has faced in recent years is showrooming -- consumers coming to the store to inspect and compare products in person and then retreating home and buying them for much cheaper from websites like Amazon. With price-match, however, Best Buy has taken the first step to conquer the problem.

Plus, with a revamped website and the ability to order a product into the store for pickup in as little as a day and with no shipping costs, a feature both Wal-Mart and Target share, it is becoming easier and quicker in some instances to shop at Best Buy online than Amazon. Does all of this stack up enough to allow Best Buy to take over the online consumer-electronics business from Amazon completely? Obviously not. But it is definitely the right start.

Foolish bottom line
A blowout second quarter and a disappointing third quarter become nearly irrelevant in comparison to the importance of this fourth quarter for Best Buy. Can the company put up the numbers to back up its recent stock jump? If not, investors may feel that much of the hope for Best Buy was just hype.

It's shaping up to be an incredibly competitive season in the consumer-electronics industry, and while companies like Amazon seem to be a safe bet for the holiday season, don't count Best Buy out just yet. If it can make the most of the fourth quarter, it will make investors very happy.

Citadel LLC is among the 30 largest hedge funds in the United States. During 2012, when the average hedge fund returned just 5.5%, Citadel managed a 26% return, which was more than double what the S&P 500 returned.

Though we Fools like to see such returns spanning more than just a year, it's worth kicking the tires on Citadel's recent purchases to see if we can get any good ideas. During the third quarter, Citadel made purchases in more than 3,000 different stocks, but today I'm going to focus on three of the biggest positions.

Elan

Elan is a biotechnology outfit headquartered in Dublin. One of the company's drugs, multiple-sclerosis treatment Tysabri, has been a major success, while several other drugs for the treatment of mood disorders are currently in clinical trials.

During the third quarter, Citadel initiated a position in Elan by purchasing roughly 6.5 million shares, which are now worth about $100 million. Hopefully for Citadel, it purchased shares of the company before Perrigo formally announced it would be acquiring Elan in a stock-and-cash deal that is expected to close before the end of the year. Should Citadel choose to hold its shares of Perrigo after the deal closes, it would own approximately 500,000 shares of New Perrigo, the name of the combined entity.

Dow Chemical

Source: Brian Reading, via Wikimedia Commons.

This global company has its hand in several different industries, ranging from plastics to electronics to energy. But no segment has received as much attention lately as Dow AgroSciences, which manufactures pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified seeds.

During the third quarter, Citadel initiated a position in Dow by buying 1.7 million shares worth approximately $64 million. So far, that move looks like a solid investment, as the stock is up 21% since the start of July.

There are several reasons why Citadel was excited about Dow's prospects. With natural-gas prices still relatively low, Dow is hoping to take advantage by building petrochemical plants along the Gulf Coast. And the increasing prevalence of genetically modified seeds can't be ignored as a growth outlet, either.

Finisar Between July and September, Citadel purchased 2.7 million shares of Finisar worth about $61 million. With any luck, Citadel purchased the shares in early July, as Finisar has seen its stock appreciate 25% since then.

Finisar certainly fits into the "growth" category for Citadel. The company makes optical subsystems and components that allow large amounts of data to efficiently travel between electrical devices, like server storage devices. Currently, it trades for almost 71 times earnings.

Finisar has had an up-and-down year. Throughout the first half of the year, investors were excited by stronger-than-expected sales of its Ethernet transceivers. But more recently, weakness from Cisco, Finisar's single largest customer, has investors worried that demand could come in below expectations over the next few quarters.

Give it a few years, and retail may become a side project at Amazon.com , Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.

We know because Amazon says so. At a recent conference to roll out significant upgrades to Amazon Web Services, Senior Vice President Andy Jassy told the gathered crowd that CEO Jeff Bezos believes AWS could become Amazon's biggest business. That day is likely to be a few years off, Tim says, but the products and projections we're seeing in the meantime are astounding. Analysts at Evercore Partners figures AWS will generate $8 billion in revenue and be worth $50 billion in market value by 2015.

In the meantime, AWS is pushing boundaries with new products such as AppStream for real-time gaming in the cloud and Kinesis for collecting and analyzing Big Data in real time, all in a hosted environment that requires no upfront investment in infrastructure. Tim says the potential for these services is extraordinary and should push cloud rivals to innovate.

Do you agree? Are you using more Amazon Web Services now than last year at this time? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take, and then leave a comment to let us know where you stand.

The following article is exclusive content from The Motley Fool. While this is typically paid content, we are bringing it to you free because we think it is especially pertinent to your ability to invest wisely. CarMax is primarily known for its used-car sales service. Below you will hear from one of our newsletter analysts about how providing auto loans accounts for a huge amount of the company's profit and what needs to happen for that to continue.

You might think of CarMax purely as a used-car retailer. But the company actually gets more than a third of its operating profits from lending customers money to buy cars, selling some of the income from those loans to yield-hungry investors, and pocketing the rest of the interest. That's great business now -- but if investors wise up, CarMax's sweet free ride could come to a screeching halt.

Why car loans beat home loans
Most people in the U.S. depend on their cars for nearly every aspect of their daily lives, making a vehicle pretty hard to live without. But while it can take months or years of legal wrangling for a bank to foreclose on a lapsed mortgage, it's easy to send a tow truck around when someone misses a few car payments. These two factors mean that most people, even low-credit borrowers, are very responsible in making car payments.

Throughout the financial crisis, while people walked away from their houses, their credit cards, and any other type of loan, they rarely walked away from their cars. Investors in notes securitized by auto loans didn't get burned in the financial crisis, while their friends in mortgages took a bath.

Noticing this trend and behavior among consumers, and probably aided by models that are statistically sophisticated but totally backward-looking, yield-seeking investors have developed quite an appetite for auto loans. This has pushed up the price of auto notes, while reducing their yield. For CarMax, this trend has made it easy to sell auto loans to investors at great prices.

Turning Lincolns (and Fords, and Hondas, and...) into Benjamins
When it loans money to customers, CarMax Auto Finance, or CAF, charges them about 8%-9% interest. And CarMax is able to offload packages of car loans on investors at less than a 2% yield . So even after another 2% for expenses and loss provisions, CarMax is earning a net spread of 5%-6% on every loan . It's a really profitable business.

It's also a big business. Roughly 40% of CarMax's customers use CAF to finance their vehicle purchase. Last quarter, that resulted in more than $1 billion of net loans originated. And, based on the most recent quarter, CarMax is managing an average of more than $6.5 billion in managed receivables (i.e., car loans). As a result, the company is on pace to generate $350 million in CAF income this year.

You've got to admit that's a really sweet deal. So what could upset it?

Revenge of the well-informed investors
A 2% interest rate isn't much more than Treasuries offer. A five-year Treasury yields less than 1.4% these days. And the collateral for CAF loans -- the car -- is a rapidly depreciating asset. The longer the loan lasts, the less the car backing it is actually worth. Personally, I wouldn't loan people money to buy cars at less than 2% -- common sense says it's not prudent.

Eventually, investors will come to their senses, and they may demand a 4%-5% return on owning car loans. I don't know what will happen in that case, but it's not clear whether CAF can turn around and charge higher interest rates to its potential buyers to make up the difference.

If consumers won't budge, and CAF has to keep charging the same 8%-9%, its profits will get pummeled as CAF net interest margin compresses. Instead of earning $0.50 per $10 of loans, it will collect something closer to $0.20.

Obviously, that will still be a good business, but it will be worse than the current business. Halving CAF's profits would eliminate more than 15% of the company's total operating profits. Margins would shrink, and the company's net income would suffer even worse.

Why you shouldn't panic just yet
While this interest rate risk is real and major, I still wouldn't let it prevent you from investing in CarMax. The company offers a wonderful, well-run business with plenty of room to grow. Obviously, it will experience bumps on the road, and compressing auto loan spreads could be one. But neither that nor any other challenge I can see look likely to sink the company.

Regardless of the interest rate cycle -- which I refuse to predict -- I feel confident that CarMax will be bigger, better, and generating significantly more profits in 10 years than it does today. I own the stock myself, and I'm hoping to hold it for a decade or more.

Image source: Lionsgate

Last weekend, I was impressed when The Hunger Games: Catching Fire effectively propelled itself into the record books with the highest-ever November debut.

And though Lionsgate initially estimated total weekend sales for the big-budget sequel of more than $161 million, the film's actual gross was adjusted down to "only" $158.1 million when the final tickets were tallied. Even so, that easily trumped the previous November weekend record of $142.8 million held by 2009's The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

In addition, Catching Fire currently boasts the sixth-largest opening weekend of all time, just trailing the $158.4 million earned by The Dark Knight in 2008, and well ahead of the $152.5 million garnered by first Hunger Games film last year.

Here's what happened
So why, then, did Lionsgate stock plunge more than 10% Monday?

First, remember some estimates pegged Catching Fire's weekend debut at around $175 million. For reference, that would have secured for it the second-highest opening weekend of all time, right between two of Disney's comic book-inspired blockbusters in Iron Man 3 and Marvel's The Avengers. Of course, that would have also been great for Catching Fire, considering Iron Man 3 and The Avengers earned more than $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, during their own worldwide theatrical runs.

Instead, fickle profit-takers grabbed the reins Monday when Catching Fire fell short of Wall Street's unrealistic expectations, taking advantage of the fact shares of Lionsgate had already more than doubled year-to-date going into the release.

Here why the sky isn't falling
Taking a quick look at the stock, while shares of Lionsgate don't look particularly cheap at 21 times last year's earnings, they're also trading around 20 times next year's estimated earnings. In short, investors are left wondering where Lionsgate's growth will come from if Catching Fire can't deliver.

Putting aside the fact Lionsgate also has a burgeoning television business -- including massively popular shows such as Mad Men, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Nashville, and Orange is the New Black -- there are a number of reasons I think Catching Fire is being underestimated at this point.

Image source: Lionsgate

On the surface, though, I'll admit some of those worries seem legitimate. After all, Catching Fire only just beat The Hunger Games' domestic opening weekend number from last year. So, the thinking goes, there's little reason to believe it can significantly outperform the first film's $691 million total when all is said and done. What's more, Lionsgate did spend $130 million to produce the second film, compared with just $78 million for the first.

It stands to reason, then, the second film may not prove all that much more profitable for Lionsgate ... right?

Wrong.

In fact, I'm still standing by my previous assertion Catching Fire has a great chance of exceeding the $1 billion sales mark over its entire theatrical run. How can it get there?

First, note that Catching Fire already turned in roughly $146.6 million from international movie-goers in its first weekend, or a 147% increase over the $59.25 million The Hunger Games earned overseas in its own debut. Keeping in mind The Hunger Games earned a respectable $283.2 million internationally last year -- and assuming Catching Fire can maintain its current global momentum going forward -- that means Catching Fire could tally as much as $700 million from overseas audiences alone.

That may sound like a lot, but remember Disney's Iron Man 3 garnered more than $800 million overseas, compared with just $311 million for Iron Man 2.

Sure, it's an entirely different franchise, but I see no reason that can't happen, especially since Catching Fire is also benefiting from positive word of mouth thanks to receiving a rare "A" Cinemascore by polled audiences.

What's more, fans around the world are also increasingly enamored by the film's namesake books in Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy. In fact, last August, Amazon.com announced The Hunger Games had surpassed even J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series as its best-selling book series of all time -- no small feat, considering Harry Potter not only has seven books to The Hunger Games' three, but that it also happened only four years after the Hunger Games trilogy's release.

Finally, don't forget Lionsgate investors should also benefit from the studios' decision to split the third book of the trilogy into two parts, with the first slated to hit theaters this time next year, and the second in November 2015. Then there's merchandising, TV distribution, and physical and digital media sales down the road. 

All things considered, that's why Lionsgate shareholders can rest assured there exists no reason to panic. To the contrary, I think the recent pullback provides the perfect buying opportunity for patient, long-term investors.

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

China Ming Yang Wind Power Group clipped investors' hopes last week when its shares tanked 22%, as the company swung to losses in its third quarter. While one weak quarter may not say much about the company, the wind turbine maker's report revealed several yellow flags that should make investors cautious.

Losing wind
China Ming Yang reported a third-quarter loss of $11.7 million against a profit of $0.8 million a year ago, despite a 22% jump in revenue. It's clear that the company is having a tough time converting its incremental revenue into profits, which doesn't bode well for investors. China Ming Yang's costs shot up during the quarter, and it's critical to see what those cost components were. 

As a company, China Ming Yang is pretty much in an investment phase right now. But had higher spending on research and development been the only contributing factor to the company's rising costs, investors could have remained optimistic. Unfortunately, its research and development expenses climbed only 19% year over year during the third quarter. Instead, a staggering 85% jump in transportation and selling charges, and another 40% increase in administrative expenses, were the major factors that drove China Ming Yang's profits down.

If the company doesn't tighten its grip on these operational expenses soon, profits will be hard to come by, and higher revenue will not matter. China Ming Yang's third-quarter gross margin also dipped four percentage points to 13.2% during the quarter, indicating management's weak control over costs.  

A lost cause?
When China Ming Yang will break even and turn profitable is anyone's guess, but the biggest concern is that management, too, seems clueless. During the earnings call, when an analyst wanted to know when the company expects to turn profitable, CFO Calvin Lau replied, "as a company policy, we don't actually give financial forecasts." That sounds ridiculous for an answer to a question that determines whether the company is even worth investing in.

Management highlighted the growth opportunities that the company has, but lack of vision may prevent it from tapping its full potential. As a company that deals in a renewable energy product, China Ming Yang has a huge opportunity to address the alarming pollution levels in the nation. The company also recently tied up with one of India's leading companies, Reliance Capital, to sell its wind turbine. That opens the doors to another high-potential market.

But as I said, all those opportunities may go waste if management doesn't start taking things seriously. Controlling costs and maintaining, if not expanding, margins are the first critical steps that China Ming Yang needs to take care of. Until I see the first signs of hope, I'll keep my hands off the volatile shares.

Barnes & Noble has made valiant attempts at keeping its business relevant amid the shifting trends, but things continue to look bleak as the company reported its fiscal 2014 second-quarter earnings. To be fair, the company did post a sizable gain in its EBITDA, partially due to attractive textbook rental revenue -- a high-margin, high-demand line of business. Barnes & Noble management deserves commendation for its expense management. Cost management is crucial and can serve as a bridge between difficult times and better ones. The thing is, it's not a long-term strategy. Is there any way Barnes & Noble can pull things around?

Earnings recap
Consolidated revenue dropped 8% this quarter to $1.7 billion. Retail, college, and Nook sales were all lower but on point with the company's internal expectations. With store closures, lower online sales, and the brick-and-mortar drop, consolidated same-store sales dipped down 4.9%. With Nook sales excluded, the figure gets slightly less depressing, at 3.7%.

Management noted that the comparable quarter from last year included the release of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Broken down by segment, retail dropped 7.5%, college dropped 4.6%, and Nook plummeted more than 32%, with device sales leading the way in the sales drop at 41% year over year. More concerning to investors should be digital content sales -- which were down more than 21% this quarter.

Management absorbed much of the top-line decreases with smart cost management and better store productivity. Retail EBITDA grew an impressive 21.2%. College EBITDA declined by $3 million, but that is largely due to the fact that the company does not recognize rental revenue up front, but instead amortizes it over a period of several months (semesters, one would assume).

Looking ahead, Barnes & Noble management is sticking to its previous guidance with same-store sales down in the high single digits, and brick-and-mortar same-store sales down in the low to mid single digits.

Any hope?
The Nook was a great idea. It was priced better than the iPad and easily tied into the brick-and-mortar business (Nook cafe!). But Amazon ruined that with the Kindle. Fellow fool Rick Munarriz breaks down this thesis here.

So what does that leave the company with? The brick-and-mortar operations are not all that appealing. eBook sales in general are still growing at an impressive clip, and even hardback books are selling more than they have in previous periods -- but "not horrible demand" isn't much of a business plan for a $1 billion company. Barnes & Noble remains a private takeover candidate, but as I see it, not much more. Investors should tread very carefully.

Tiffany's 3rd-quarter earning destroyed analysts' expectations—but what are the implications for luxury going forward? In this segment from Motley Fool Investor Beat, analyst Jason Moser explains why luxury retailers like Tiffany and Williams-Sonoma will see strong holiday season sales without having to resort to Black Friday tactics like Wal-Mart and Target .