The announcement of a possible deal to lift sanctions on Iran sent Brent crude prices down by $2 on Monday. Many experts believe that supply risks in Libya and Iraq, coupled with refineries already operating at full capacity, will put a floor under Brent crude. Nevertheless, investors have read the events of this weekend as a sign to broadly make for the exits.

This has created a set of opportunities in oil names that operate in conventional basins and employ enhanced oil recovery techniques such as water flooding and CO2 injection. These names have a very low cost of production and will therefore not be threatened even if oil prices drop substantially.

Courtesy of Denbury Investor Relations

Take a look at this chart above from a Denbury Resources presentation, which compares the profitability of CO2 injection to some of the hotter shale plays. To be reasonably profitable, the better Bakken wells require $68 oil, Eagle Ford wells require $76 oil and wells in the Mississipian require $87 oil. Amazingly, CO2 injection names are profitable with oil prices as low as $50. This article will look at 2 enhanced recovery names which operate in the lowest cost environment and whose prices have pulled back. 

Prime acreage MLP
In the U.S., locations with the lowest production cost tend to be in mature basins. Perhaps the most prolific of these geographies are West Texas and Southern California, both of which have been producing oil since before the Second World War. California is particularly attractive because oil there fetches Brent Crude pricing, while mid-continent oil sells for West Texas Intermediate, the latter of which is significantly lower in price.

Linn Energy (NASDAQ: LINE) is a great way to play both basins while collecting a substantial income. Linn currently has over 100,000 acres in the core of the Permian Basin, and will have 160,000 when its acquisition of Berry Petroleum is complete. In California, Linn will also be adding substantially to its acreage thanks to the Berry transaction. In fact, after the transaction, Linn will be the fifth biggest producer in California. In both states Linn drills from very established basins, such as Sunset-Midway in California and Wolfberry in Texas, which carry among the lowest production costs in the country. Linn will be profitable even with lower oil prices. Best of all, shares of Linn currently yield 9.66%, and the company hedges its production out for five years, making Linn a great way to build income. 

The waterboys
Water flooding, where the producer injects water into a reservoir to push out the oil, has kept America's oil producing basins active for much longer than originally expected. Mid-Con Energy Partners (NASDAQ: MCEP) is a pure water flood, pure oil production play. Operating in Oklahoma, Mid-Con enjoys high margins from conventional production in a mature geography. 

Courtesy of MCEP Investor Relations

This chart above, more than anything else, illustrates the margin advantage Mid-Con enjoys over its gassier peers. Like Linn, Mid-Con only produces from mature, well-developed acreage. With an EBITDA margin of $68 per BOE, Mid-Con's business will not be disrupted by anything the Iran agreement may lead to. Mid-Con has come down in price by over 15% in the last 30 days on the company's decision to focus capital expenditure on water injecting equipment, which has delayed production increases. A general sell-off in oil stocks is also to blame for Mid-Con's pullback. Like Linn, Mid-Con is a high-yielding MLP. Mid-Con now yields 9.15%. This is another solid income opportunity.

Bottom line
Whether the Iran deal will significantly affect oil prices remains to be seen. If oil comes down significantly, deep-water production and the more marginal shale plays will be affected first. But by focusing on enhanced recovery operators, we can lessen the risk of falling oil while still picking up companies whose stocks have been beaten down. That is a win-win.

Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Just as consumers begin targeting items they'd like for their holiday wish lists, investors can take this time to pinpoint the great stocks they've been hoping for all year long. With the S&P 500 index up more than 20% this year, investors' attention now turns to whether 2014 can be just as strong.

Here are three highly profitable businesses that have something to offer for both growth and income investors. These three companies are dedicated to providing shareholders with great returns, and should definitely be on your holiday shopping list.

Find growth under the tree
Consumers are still holding their purse strings tight. And as we head into the holiday shopping season, consumer confidence appears to be waning. The monthly consumer confidence index has declined for two months in a row due to the continued sluggish labor-market recovery.

As a result, consumers are feeling less confident in their financial outlook, which means dollar stores such as Dollar Tree stand to benefit. This is evident in Dollar Tree's results this year, which are quite strong. Year to date, sales are up 9.5%, and same-store sales, which measures sales at locations open at least one year, are up 3.1% in the same period. Going forward, Dollar Tree expects momentum to continue. Full-year 2013 sales are expected to clock in around $7.9 billion, which would represent a 7% growth rate over 2012.

Dividends are a great stocking-stuffer
For the investor who prefers the volatility-reducing quality of steady dividend payments, health care giant Johnson & Johnson can be a core holding. Johnson & Johnson is organized into three main operating segments: medical devices and diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and consumer health care. And as you probably already know, each segment is hugely profitable.

With $27.4 billion in revenue last year, J&J's medical-devices and diagnostics segment is the largest medical-technology business in the world. Meanwhile, the consumer segment contains several world-class brands that will be found in nearly every household, including Band-Aids, Listerine, and Tylenol. In all, J&J maintains the world's sixth-largest consumer health care business. Finally, J&J's pharmaceutical segment performed strongly last year as well, increasing revenue by 4%.

Consider that J&J generates approximately 70% of its revenue from products that hold the No. 1 or No. 2 global market positions. J&J has delivered 29 consecutive years of adjusted earnings increases and uses its profits to fund its 2.8% dividend. Even better, J&J has increased its dividend for 50 years in a row.

In the pursuit of strong dividends, consider consumer products giant Procter & Gamble , which is also a dividend-paying colossus that holds a slew of strong brands. Just a few of P&G's world-class brands include Pampers, Tide, Gillette, and Crest. Half of these 50 "Leadership Brands" generate more than $1 billion in annual sales each, which means P&G has a well-diversified portfolio.

P&G's underlying results speak for themselves. The company generated $84 billion in fiscal 2013 net sales, and grew diluted earnings per share by 5%. P&G had a solid first quarter as well, growing EPS by 8%. Not surprisingly, P&G uses its profits to reward shareholders with rising dividends. This year marks the 123rd quarter in a row of consecutive dividend payments from P&G. Furthermore, P&G has increased its dividend for 57 years in a row and yields 2.8%.

These three stocks are great gifts for any investor
As we enter the holiday shopping season, it's a good time for investors to think about which stocks are on their wish lists. No matter if you're a growth investor, an income investor, or somewhere in between, there are great stocks out there. Dollar Tree, Johnson & Johnson, and Procter & Gamble are strong businesses that reward their shareholders with solid growth and capital appreciation. 

Get those caffeine pills ready because in just a couple of hours retailers will be breaking tradition and opening their doors to the public earlier than at any time in their history.

Challenged by a rough back-to-school season that ravaged apparel retailers and cautioned merchants that it wasn't going to be a typical robust Christmas, retailers are pushing the envelope by trying new things, including offering deep-discount deals on brand-name products and opening their doors, in some cases, as early as 6 p.m. Opening during what's supposed to be "family time" could be viewed negatively by consumers and certainly doesn't sit well with my Foolish colleague Alyce Lomax, but the longer hours and deep discounts will nonetheless still attract a number of cost-conscious consumers.

Yesterday, I shared five deals, both technology-based and non-tech, that I felt consumers would be foolish to pass up this Black Friday. Today, I'm flipping the page, and rather than pointing out all of the supposed deals that consumers would be better off passing on, I'm going to just lump three categories together that shoppers would be wise to avoid on Black Friday.

Here are three products you should almost certainly pass over on Black Friday and some of the companies that could suffer if consumers choose to heed this warning:

Source: epSos.de, Flickr.

Jewelry
Having personally worked in the jewelry industry for one year shy of a decade, I shake my head in disgust every year when I see jewelry stores trot out their Black Friday deals like they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. The truth of the matter is that jewelry deals on Black Friday are rarely a better offer than at Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or any number of other special events throughout the year. Jewelry stores are simply pulling on shoppers' emotional strings and understand that consumers woke up with the intent of purchasing something, so why should they offer too tantalizing of a discount? Ultimately, jewelry margins are inverted, meaning the lower-priced items often deliver the highest-margin boost, so a discount on already-marked-up lower price point items really isn't a great deal for the consumer.

This year, I would anticipate online diamond e-tailer Blue Nile and Zale could be two names that struggle mightily.

Blue Nile, I would suggest, has already lost much of its competitive advantages with diamond prices falling off their February 2012 highs. Even though gold prices are down, which allows it to offer competitive mounting prices compared to bricks-and-mortar stores, Blue Nile still doesn't offer a good shot at consistent success since jewelry buying is more often than not an emotional experience that just can't be achieved online.

For Zale, my concern would be that its recent rally has come too far, too fast given the difficult expected retail sales environment this holiday season. Like Blue Nile, purchasing expenses have fallen a bit, but Zale is still struggling to recover from its deeply indebted position that required it to seek financing from Golden Gate Capital in May 2010. With nearly $400 million in net debt and still pedestrian profits, all things considered, investors may want to tone down their expectations for Zale this holiday season.

Television
More often than not, you'll be told to avoid brand-name television discounts on Black Friday, but I'm taking that a step further and suggesting you avoid all television deals, period.

While numerous Black Friday websites would point to deals at select retailers as solid, most of these deep discounts are limited in number or only last for an hour leaving the remaining deals on brand-name and even lower-tier brand TVs as wholly unimpressive.

Furthermore, televisions are depreciating assets that continue to drop over time with the best deals often had right after the Super Bowl in February. We appear to be smack-dab in the middle when it comes to the development of the next-generation TV, so it's not like there's any major impetus to go out and buy a new set, even with the introduction of 90"-plus screens. In other words, if you pay $1,299 for a 65" TV this year, you'll just be kicking yourself when it's $999 at this time next year!

This continues to be bad news for Sony , whose television division has lost money a staggering eight consecutive years and has been painstakingly cutting costs in order to try to return to profitability. Sony has a boatload of problems well beyond just its TV operations as it's lost its core brand identity with consumers and is being undercut in labor pricing by neighboring China. With another tepid holiday season expected, Sony's days as a premium retailer look to be numbered.

Cars
This might come as a surprise to you, but car dealerships around the country are getting in on the Black Friday action as well by offering "discounts" on previous- and current-year models in an effort to meet their dealership quotas for the year. Obviously, the worse a dealership has performed during the year, the better the deal is likely to be.

However, I would suggest that, similar to televisions, you keep your nose clean of purchasing a car until well after the New Year. Dealerships fully intend to pull on the heartstrings of consumers by getting them to splurge on what looks like a deal too good to pass up only to see the same deal minus a few percentage points in mid-January. New-year models aren't typically set to be released until August, leaving few dealerships a big incentive to push their prices to what I'd consider extremely attractive levels. In other words, if it can wait, you're likely to get a much more attractive deal in a few months.

Luckily for most automobile manufacturers, sales of new vehicles have remained strong. However, new- and used-car retailer Lithia Motors , which carries about $800 million in net debt and operates 87 retail auto franchisee locations, could be a name I'd single out to struggle this holiday season. Lithia shares have taken off in 2013 -- and with good reason as sales have soared better than 20%. However, its earnings beat potential is slowing. It would take a monstrous end of year for Lithia to motor higher from its current valuation, which I simply don't see happening with consumers expected to be tighter with their wallet this year.

Halliburton has plans to diversify away from its North American reliance while still being top dog in the North American unconventional market.

Look at the numbers
Year over year, Halliburton posted a 1.5% revenue drop from its North America operations, even as total revenue grew by 5%. Halliburton's Latin American, Europe/Africa/CIS, and Middle East divisions all saw revenue growth.

On the plus side, Halliburton's North American division posted 18% growth in its operating income versus 16.1% overall. While Halliburton's margins are improving, it still needs increasing revenue to grow in the long term.

Down south
In Latin America Halliburton increased revenue by 5.3% as adjusted operating income climbed 6.2% year over year. Sequentially Halliburton grew adjusted income by 57%. Halliburton's management had this to say about Latin America and Mexico:

"(W)e maintain our positive outlook for the region, and we expect Mexico will be a strong contributor to increasing revenue and profitability going forward."

Part of that will come from an increase in stimulation vessel usage, and part will come from more drilling in Mexico following energy reforms. It should be noted that management expects Mexican production curtails in the forth quarter, but after that it will be a strong source of growth.

Halliburton is partnered with Pemex (the Mexican Oil Monopoly), and Pemex is ramping down one of its projects until 2014 in preparation for the mega tenders. Once Pemex ramps up production, Halliburton's southern alliance will greatly benefit.

An even bigger catalyst is the high possibility of energy reform in Mexico. Pemex's output fell by 5% in the first six months of 2013, on top of a continuous decline over the past nine years of 25%.

If Mexico reforms its energy sector then private capital can finally enter Mexico's untapped oil reserves. Mexico is estimated to have 13.87 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, but if private capital comes into the picture that number could triple.

What's even more exciting is that Mexico is home to the sixth largest shale reserves, which could add significantly to drilling activity. The U.S. Energy Information Agency sees Mexico's shale housing 555 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas and 13 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

If Pemex lets in private expertise to tap into the shale, Halliburton will have a whole new drilling bonanza to cater to. Halliburton is already experienced in shale oilfield services, so it can easily offer Pemex the chance to frack for itself.

Latin America, particularly Mexico, offers Halliburton a good chance at both revenue and income growth. Improving North American margins are a major factor in bottom-line growth, but top-line growth is coming from elsewhere. As Halliburton is able to squeeze more cash out of its North American operations, it can invest more into new technologies.

"Frac of the Future"
Launched back in 2011, Halliburton's Battle Red initiative was aimed toward streamlining Halliburton's operations and integrating each operating segment. This will reduce overlapping costs, increase transparency and increase efficiency, all of which add to Halliburton's bottom line.

On the other side of things, Halliburton has launched its "Frac of the Future" program to stay on top of the fracking industry, particularly in North America. Part of its "Frac of the Future" program is to convert its pumps to the Q10, a new pump it designed to significantly outperform legacy pumps.

The idea is that previous pumps are close to reaching their limit, so Halliburton came up with a better, more effective model. Some aspects that make the Q10 superior are that it can provide up to 14 times the fluid end life of a legacy pump and that it has less downtime.

While this is catered toward the North American market, if Halliburton can reign supreme in the shale capitol then when international players want to start fracking (as some already have) they are more likely to turn to Halliburton.

Final thoughts
There is a lot more going on at Halliburton with the emergence of unconventional plays, but a few things are for certain.

First, Halliburton needs to keep winning international contracts to boost revenue. Second, Halliburton needs to keep its lead in the U.S. shale oilfield services market. And third, Halliburton can leverage its success in shale in the U.S. with the rest of the world.

Halliburton needs to be firing on all cylinders as it ramps up its North American frac fleet and attempts to move into Mexico's possible energy bonanza.

Big banks like Bank of America and Citigroup took extensive bailout packages during the financial crisis, but that hasn't stopped them from trying to boost their income at their customers' expense. Now, big banks have found a new way to profit from the bank accounts they offer, and they're threatening to hit customers with it.

In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, looks at the threat of big banks charging interest on their customers' deposit accounts. Dan explains that if the Federal Reserve stops paying as much interest on the deposits that JPMorgan Chase , Wells Fargo , and other big banks have at the Fed, they in turn will have to start charging customers just for the right to keep money in deposit accounts at those banks. Dan points out that this has resulted from the increased emphasis on loan securitization, which has encouraged JPMorgan, Wells, B of A, and Citi to make loans that they then repackage and sell to investors rather than keep on their books. As a result, the banks don't directly loan out all of their money, leaving them with reserves that they count on receiving Fed interest on in order to help finance their operations.

Dan discusses the implications of the move and concludes that while the banks might be justified from a business perspective, it's uncertain whether customers will accept any new fees. Until the Fed acts, the entire controversy might remain moot.

In the 1990s, worked hard to undermine Java, Sun Microsystem's programming language. Back then, it was believed that Java would allow programmers to write applications that could effectively run on any operating system, whether it was Windows or anything else. Although it never really materialized, the promise of Java's "write once, run anywhere" design philosophy held the potential to destroy Microsoft's Windows operating system monopoly.

Well, the threat is back, and this time, it's for real. Cloud computing and web-based applications are slowly eroding users' dependency on local applications, in effect, rendering Microsoft's Windows operating system completely irrelevant. Google's cheap Chromebooks could conquer the market for traditional PCs, as Microsoft's hardware partners like Hewlett-Packard have begun to support Google aggressively.

Microsoft shows its hand in new ad
Microsoft's new ad has drawn a bit of attention in the tech media -- writers are puzzled by Microsoft's assault on Google's Chromebooks. Business Insider's Jay Yarrow writes:

But, the weird thing about this ad is that it's aimed at the Chromebook, which seems like a nothing business so far. Microsoft actually has to explain Chromebooks in the ad since most people don't know what they are.

That's true -- Google's Chromebooks remain a paltry percentage of the overall PC market today. However, Microsoft's desire to undermine them is justified -- the Chromebook's potential is practically limitless. Although they remain hobbled by their inability to run local software, Google's Chromebooks are incredibly cheap, boot almost instantly, and are more or less impervious to traditional viruses.

Chromebooks are becoming more capable every day
Moreover, the limitations of Chromebooks are being diminished every day. Google's Chromebooks can't run any local software, but nearly anything cloud-based runs just fine. As more software developers offer cloud-based versions of their applications, Chromebooks are becoming ever more capable.

Chromebooks can even run AutoCAD, traditionally known as one of the most demanding pieces of software, because AutoDesk has begun to offer a cloud version. Although Microsoft claims that a Chromebook can't run Office, that's not really true -- owners of Google's Chromebooks can use Office WebApps, a slightly dumbed-down version of Microsoft's full Office software suite.

When Asus announced its Chromebook earlier this year, the company's CEO said that, while he didn't believe Google's laptops would ever catch on among consumers, he thought they had a bright future among businesses, governments, and schools.

That makes sense -- business software, like Salesforce's applications, are increasingly being offered in cloud form. Further, enterprise users can set up virtual desktop servers, streaming local applications to a fleet of cheap Chromebooks.

Microsoft has alienated its hardware partners
Asus isn't the only company to support Google's Chromebooks -- HP has also begun to shift its support toward Google. Earlier this year, HP's CEO Meg Whitman identified Microsoft as a "competitor." For years, Microsoft and HP had been the closest of allies, but with Microsoft taking the unprecedented step of offering its own tablets and PCs, HP feels threatened.

Every time Microsoft sells a Surface Pro, that's potentially a lost sale for HP. And when HP does sell a Windows device, it has to pay Microsoft money for the privilege. That said, HP still sells mostly Windows machines, and likely will for many quarters to come.

But so far this year, HP has rolled out three new Chromebooks, and I wouldn't be surprised if more are in the works. As Microsoft pushes its "devices and services" strategy, HP becomes ever more incentivized to offer alternatives to Windows.

Will Windows survive?
Perhaps the most ironic thing about the rise of the Chromebook is that Microsoft is slowly transforming Windows into a copy of Chrome OS. Windows 8.1, Microsoft's recent update to the Windows operating system, merges Microsoft's online services -- SkyDrive and Bing -- with Microsoft's local operating system.

Windows PCs can still run local software, but with Windows 8.1, they're more connected than ever before. In the way that Chromebook users store their files on Google and become reliant on Google search, SkyDrive integration means that more local files are being stored on Microsoft's servers, while Bing search becomes integrated into the overall experience of using a Windows PC.

Microsoft's Windows has tons of inertia behind it, and it certainly isn't going to go away anytime soon. Yet, although Google's Chromebooks remain just a tiny part of the larger PC market for the time being, unlike the broader PC market, the demand for Chromebooks is actually growing.

With the support of Microsoft's spurned hardware partners like HP and the growth of cloud computing, Google's Chromebooks are a very real threat to Windows and shouldn't be taken lightly.

Happy Black Friday, Fool! Good luck shopping tomorrow. And know that if you have a newer iPhone, you won't be alone. Apple will be stalking you throughout, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.

Why, you ask? iBeacon, an Apple technology that went live with iOS and which uses Bluetooth technology to pinpoint your location indoors. Macy's is among those planning to use the feature to present customers with coupons and other other forms of digitized service. The Mac maker is also using iBeacon to track your movements once you enter an Apple Store.

Creepy? Tim thinks so, but he's also mindful that Google has been tracking users for years. Virtually all smartphone services are location-based now. On-the-spot digital shopping assistance is hardly surprising considering how far the industry has come.

Is Apple going too far with iBeacon? Or is it a value-added service that could make the company's high-tech stores more efficient and profitable? Tim answers these questions and more in the video. Please watch now and then leave a comment to let us know what you think.

When you sit down to have Thanksgiving dinner with your family this evening, make sure you are ready to discuss your favorite companies! In the following video from The Motley Fool's everything-financial show, Where the Money Is, analysts David Hanson, Matt Koppenheffer, and Morgan Housel tell viewers which  "family members" are best suited for Health Care REIT, Wells Fargo, Berkshire Hathaway, Goldman Sachs, BofI Holding, and of course, Bitcoin.

It's Thanksgiving and the markets are closed for the day, which gives us at The Motley Fool an opportunity to reflect on companies and stocks that have made a big impact on our lives and our portfolios this year.

Overall, it's been a great year for the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has returned 25.7% this year and each day seems to bring a new market high. That rising tide has lifted a lot of stocks, but some are up more than others, some of which are helping make our world a better place. Here are three stocks I'm thankful for this year.

Tesla Motors
In my opinion, Tesla Motors has done more to impact the auto business in the last five years than anyone in nearly a century. It has taken the crazy concept of an electric car, made it a reality, and, most importantly, made it a desirable vehicle to own. That's something giant carmakers Nissan and General Motors failed to do in their electric-car attempts.

What may be more important long term is that Tesla has pushed big, slow-moving automakers to rethink the automobile. In the past year, we've seen BMW introduce high-performance electric vehicles, Ford and Toyota sell electric vehicles, and new technology from three new hydrogen vehicles have been introduced. Tesla proved that a well-made electric vehicle could sell and now the game is on to make the next great EV or introduce technology that's even better.

The Tesla Model S battery and chassis.

I don't know if Tesla will be the dominant EV company in 20 years, but it's gotten a great start. For investors, just Tesla's turn to profitability resulted in most of the 275% returns the stock has given this year. It's nice to get such great returns from a company making a positive impact on a once-stagnant industry.

Without Tesla pushing the auto industry in that direction I don't know if it would have happened. For that, I'm thankful.

Solar stocks
A year ago, it seemed like the solar industry was dying before our eyes, but today it's thriving in the U.S. and around the world. Two companies have emerged with products and business plans that make that possible: SunPower and SolarCity .

SunPower has long been my personal solar pick and a big part of my portfolio for years, so this year's 445% gain has me especially thankful. But its operational improvements that have me thankful for what SunPower is doing in the energy industry.

SunPower is a leader in efficiency, making panels that convert 21.5% of the sun's light into energy. They've also cut costs to the point where they can build utility projects and sell power into the grid on the spot market (Chile) and put solar panels on roofs that provide cost-effective energy on a net-metered basis. Just a few years ago, the thought of grid parity seemed impossible, but now it's driving growth for the industry. SunPower's efficiency and cost improvements have helped make this possible and will drive growth in solar installations.

SolarCity residential installations. Image courtesy of SolarCity.

On the residential side, the bigger installer is actually SolarCity, which installed more than three times the residential solar projects SunPower did last quarter. Depending on where you live, you may see SolarCity's work down the street, on roofs of retail stores you visit, and may even consider it for your own house. SolarCity has made solar accessible to the average homeowner around the country and investors have gobbled up in 2013. SolarCity is up 312% since the start of the year and it's expecting big-time growth again next year.

SunPower is improving the back-end technology and cost of solar while SolarCity is improving the efficiency of installing solar on rooftops around the country. I'm thankful for the innovations at both companies that make for not only great investments but also a revolutionary and clean energy source.

Apple
2013 hasn't been the best year for Apple on the stock market, but it has been an incredible decade. In 2003, the iPod was just getting started, the iPhone was barely on the horizon, and the iPad wasn't even conceivable. Today, you likely have one of these devices, or a device inspired by them, within arm's reach.

Few companies have ever had such a fast and lasting impact on how we live our daily lives. Apple hasn't just changed the way consumers live; it's changed the way commerce is done. I've ordered food on an iPad, paid for fireworks on an iPhone, and beamed home videos from these devices straight to my TV. Apple made a lot of that possible.

The sheer size of Apple's ecosystem can't be forgotten at this time, either. The App Store now has more than 1 million apps, opening up innovation to millions of developers, who once had to navigate a maze just to find distribution for software. With iTunes and the App Store, Apple has brought consumers closer to developers, musicians, and filmmakers, something we take for granted today.

I'm thankful for all of technology brought to us by Apple and inspired by the company as well.

What are you thankful for?
What companies or stocks are you thankful for this year? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

The third quarter was a rough one for the fertilizer industry, but CF Industries stood out for a number of reasons. It not only delivered a better set of numbers than peers PotashCorp and Mosaic , but also decided to put more money into its shareholders' pockets at a time when business conditions aren't at best. That's not all. CF Industries also unveiled a plan that will change its business dynamics significantly in the years to come. With so much going on at the company, is it time to consider CF stock seriously? Let's dig deeper to find out.

Why CF Industries outperformed peers
While CF's third-quarter revenue fell 19% year over year, PotashCorp and Mosaic reported 29% and 28% lower revenue, respectively, in the last quarter. Since CF doesn't deal in potash nutrient, it escaped much of the volatility and uncertainty that the other two companies faced after the recent fallout of one the world's largest potash cartels. Hence, CF's sales weren't hit as much as those of PotashCorp and Mosaic.

But CF's end markets haven't been in their best shape, either. Nitrogen prices have eased this year, and the threat from Chinese substitutes look bigger than ever. That said, CF is still in better stead since nitrogen is the most important and widely applied nutrient for crops.

But investors should note that there's more than a sluggish nitrogen market behind CF's lower third-quarter revenue. Otherwise, how did the nitrogen-centric company CVR Partners' revenue fall only 8% in the last quarter? CVR Partners is just about 10% the size of CF, so it doesn't even enjoy the economies of scale that CF does. So what gives?

Well, CF's numbers would have looked better if it didn't deal in phosphate nutrient. Phosphate sales have dwindled significantly since key market India deferred purchases, leaving PotashCorp, Mosaic, and CF in the lurch. CF reported a 16% drop in its third-quarter phosphate sales. The nutrient has been a drag on the company's top and bottom lines for several quarters, but things are about to change.

The game-changing move
CF doesn't find the phosphate business profitable anymore, which is why it has decided to exit the business completely next year by selling it to Mosaic for a cash consideration of $1.4 billion. It's a major move, because phosphate currently accounts for nearly 17% of CF's total sales.

CF will become a pure-nitrogen play once the deal is through. Substituting a less profitable nutrient with the most demanded fertilizer sounds wise. At the same time, having a diverse product portfolio helps mitigate business risks in the longer run. By giving up on phosphate, CF will become a one-nutrient company, which may give close rivals that sell a variety of fertilizers an edge. For instance, Mosaic has two nutrients, potash and phosphate, to bank on, while PotashCorp and Agrium sell all three essential nutrients. That certainly acts as an advantage in situations where weakness in one nutrient market can be offset by strength in another.

Why investors can expect more
For now, investors can be happy with CF's decision to exit phosphate, because the cash proceeds from the sale could mean greater rewards. How CF will use the cash will perhaps not be known until the deal receives regulatory approvals. But last year, CF had revealed plansPresentation titled Credit Suisse Chemical & Ag Science Conference Presentation to spend $3.8 billion through 2016 to expand its nitrogen production capacity by 25%. Whether CF had already decided to offload its phosphate business when it announced the expansion program is anyone's guess, but the company must have had other avenues in mind to fund its expansions.

In fact, CF is a financially strong company, with $2.3 billion cash balance as at the end of the third quarter and free cash flow of nearly $1 billion over the past 12 months. A comfortable debt-to-equity ratio of 61% and a healthy interest coverage ratio of 17 also mean that CF has leeway to take on additional debt if it wants. That means funding for expansion shouldn't be a problem at all. So chances are that CF may want to share a part of the proceeds from the phosphate sale with its shareholders in the form of greater dividends or share repurchases. Even the 150% quarterly dividend increase that CF announced last month leaves scope for more, because the company still sports an annualized dividend yield of only 1.9%, which is lower than that of every company mentioned above.

Foolish takeaway
CF already dominates the North American nitrogen market, and its growth plans will further widen its moat. A solid financial standing acts as cherry on the cake. CF has consistently outperformed peers, with its stock putting on massive gains of 383% over the past five years. PotashCorp and Mosaic have comparatively returned 66% and 86%, respectively, over the period. With dividends about to get bigger, investors couldn't ask for more. For all this, CF stock currently trades at a paltry eight times earnings. That looks like a sure long-term winning bet to me. 

As the end of the year approaches, smart taxpayers start thinking about ways to reduce their tax bill. One way is to take advantage of the many types of tax-free income that are available to investors. But how can you find those investments and make the most of them?

In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, answers that question by giving three easy ways that investors can take advantage of tax-law provisions to boost their tax-free income. He discusses municipal bonds, which are available both individually and in ETFs like the iShares National AMT-Free Muni ETF , the Pimco Intermediate Muni ETF , and SPDR Nuveen Barclays Muni ETF .

Dan goes on to talk about two other opportunities. One involves taking advantage of the 0% tax on capital gains and dividend income for those in the 10% and 15% tax brackets. The other comes from using special retirement, education, and health-care accounts to get tax-free growth on your investments. By making the most of tax-free opportunities, you can reduce the amount you pay to the IRS next April.

Credit card companies such as Discover Financial Services , American Express , and Capital One Financial have a big problem: Americans don't want to carry balances.

Just look at this chart, which shows revolving credit card balances since the Great Recession:
 

It turns out consumers just aren't interested at borrowing at rates as high as 20% per year. Can you blame them? After all, paying interest on a credit card is one of the worst financial mistakes you could ever make. For the credit card companies, though, lower balances cut into profits.

How the industry is coping with lower balances
This year, credit card companies are upping the ante to put their cards in your wallet. Discover offers its customers 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in online purchases from October to Dec. 1. American Express is working with Amazon.com to give away free Amazon Prime accounts to customers who sign up for its cards.

JPMorgan Chase  promised its Chase Freedom customers 5% cash back at Amazon and "select department stores."

The credit card companies of the world know that the fourth quarter is their time to shine -- their time to grab balances on which they can earn returns topping 20% per year.

How their marketing pays off
Anyone who collects 5% cash back or a free Amazon Prime account this year will benefit at the card company's expense, provided they pay off their balances on the next due date. Those who carry balances will help make the businesses -- and their shareholders -- even wealthier.

But these marketing plans aren't a one-off opportunity to grab balances. These promotions can pay dividends for years to come.

Let's use Discover as an example. The company reported that it paid a rewards rate of 0.98% in the third quarter, or about $273 million to customers who use its credit cards.

However, it generated revenue of $550 million on total transaction volume of $77.4 billion across its network in the same period. That amounts to an average take of about 0.7% on all transactions. It also earned about $1.5 billion in interest on $50 billion in credit card balances.

Discover would love to give away $273 million to generate more than $2 billion in fee and interest revenue over and over again. It's an investment the company would love to make hundreds of times per year.

Creating a perpetual revenue stream
There's an obvious reason credit card companies want you to use their cards online. Once used, retailers save credit card information for future use. At Amazon, for instance, I have three different cards plugged in to my account. When I make a purchase and pick a card to use, the credit card company gets a balance. If it's a Discover or American Express card, they also get the transaction fees.

So, for a small upfront investment, credit card companies can earn processing fees and gather balances in perpetuity. While Discover, American Express, and JPMorgan may lose money initially on heavy promotional activity, they secure their place in your account at department-store sites scattered around the Internet.

Each time you shop, your trusty credit card will be preloaded, ready to use. And for the credit card companies, that's a huge advantage in growing their market share. The more places they can encourage you to spend, the more likely you are to use their cards in the future.

Sure, all these promotions come at a cost, but it's hard to see how aggressive promotions today won't lead to big balances -- and big profits -- for years and years. American Express and Discover have an advantage on most credit card issuers, as they get paid twice when their cards are used: first on the transaction fees, and again when interest accrues on carried balances. The others just collect interest on the balances.

For millions, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has been extremely difficult to understand. Now, Medicare recipients run the risk of missing out on making an important choice about their coverage if they don't act soon, in large part because of confusion about how Obamacare affects them.

In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, discusses how, unlike the later deadline for Obamacare enrollment, open enrollment for Medicare actually closes on December 7. As Dan notes, that leaves only a short time before Medicare recipients have to make decisions about Plan D prescription drug coverage plans for 2014. He points out that making the right choice can cut your overall medical expenses, as sometimes choosing a higher-premium plan provides enough savings on prescription drugs and other services to offset the extra cost.

Dan goes through some of the companies that provide Medicare prescription-drug plan coverage. In addition to traditional insurers UnitedHealth and Humana , he notes that Express Scripts and Rite Aid are also involved in the Plan D marketplace as well.

Chemical giant and Dow component DuPont has had an excellent 2013, posting gains of more than 41% so far this year. Not only is that better than the 23% gain that the Dow Jones Industrials have seen year to date, it also stands well above what chemical industry peer Dow Chemical has managed to achieve. Given the stock's outperformance, DuPont investors want to know what's behind the company's strength and whether it's likely to persist into 2014 and beyond.

DuPont has worked hard to reinvent itself, going beyond its roots as an industrial chemical company to identify the huge opportunity in agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, and seed products that help the farming industry boost crop yields and feed an increasingly hungry world. Seizing on Monsanto's success, DuPont has taken big steps forward in realigning itself as an ag-focused company, and investors have supported that long-term strategy and its promise. Yet some investors remain uncertain about how much more growth DuPont can squeeze from seeds and other agricultural products. Let's take a closer look at what moved shares of DuPont in 2013.

Stats on DuPont

Source: S&P Capital IQ. * Includes impact on earnings from discontinued operations involved in sale of DuPont's performance-coatings business.

DuPont Total Return Price data by YCharts.

Why has DuPont stock done so well in 2013?
As you can see above, DuPont started breaking away from the Dow's returns early in the year, with a big jump in late April and early May starting the chemical giant on its path toward outperformance. Fundamentally, investors have applauded the company's many moves toward transforming itself into a higher-margin company with better growth prospects.

DuPont started reaping the benefits of its transformation early on in the year. The company's first-quarter results showed the disparity between the company's two main businesses, as agricultural revenue rose 14% even as performance chemicals saw sales plunge 17%. Those results were consistent both with the success that Monsanto saw and the relatively lackluster performance of Dow Chemical, which has been far slower about jumping onto the agricultural bandwagon.

DuPont took a major step forward in growing its agricultural business in late July, when it completed its acquisition of an 80% stake in Pannar Seed, a South African seed company with key connections to markets on the African continent. Africa is a largely untapped market when it comes to enhancing crop yields, and products like DuPont's could help revolutionize farming there, representing not just a huge profit opportunity for the company but also making possible big gains in standards of living in Africa.

Competition is fierce in agriculture, but the companies involved also work together in certain cases. Early this year, DuPont and Monsanto resolved patent lawsuits by agreeing to cross-license some of their intellectual property related to agriculture. That's something Monsanto has also done with Dow Chemical, but it also shows how important it is to come up with new innovations in order to have something valuable to trade when patent infringement litigation arises.

DuPont's strong share-price gains reflect the heavy-lifting that it has already done in moving toward a stronger focus on agriculture. As long as the farming industry remains healthy, that move will likely pay dividends for DuPont shareholders. Yet even amid the long boom in agriculture, long-term investors have to remember that even farming is cyclical, and the next downturn could make DuPont's decision seem ill-advised in hindsight.

Click here to add DuPont to My Watchlist, which can find all of our Foolish analysis on it and all your other stocks.

We're getting closer to the day when your smartphone replaces your wallet, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.

How do we know? Earlier this month, mobile payments processor Isis went live for those who have an Android smartphone with built-in support for near-field communications. Three of the nation's largest carriers support the technology: AT&T, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon. So does Google . It offers the Isis app at its Google Play store.

To get started, shoppers download the app to a compatible NFC phone and load banking and credit card information. Checking out is a two-step process: Select the account to use and then tap the phone to a specialized point-of-sale module.  

Black Friday is likely to be the same mess it always is, so don't expect to see too many sharp-elbowed consumers shopping with Isis this weekend. Yet next holiday season could be a different story. Juniper Research estimates that we'll spend some $1.3 trillion in mobile payments annually by 2017.

Do you believe Juniper's estimates? Are you signed up for Isis? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take and then now and then leave a comment to let us know where you stand.

D. Sharon Pruitt, Source: Flickr.

There a few holidays quite like Thanksgiving. I mean when else do we regularly get a day off toward the middle of the work week, surround ourselves with family and friends, and gorge ourselves with a dozen different types of food until our pants no longer fit? And for me, as a sports lover, I get to watch my Detroit Lions play, which has become a Thanksgiving Day tradition.

But Thanksgiving also has its negative connotation for being the holiday, or the start of the holiday season, that tends to pack on unwanted pounds for millions of Americans. It's no surprise that New Year's resolutions commonly entail losing the weight put on during the roughly five- or six-week holiday season, which begins on Thanksgiving.

With 35.7% of the nation considered obese already according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two-thirds of the nation considered overweight or obese according to standard Body Mass Index calculations, and the obesity officially classified as a disease by the American Medical Association, obesity awareness is growing right along with our waistlines. Thankfully, the number of companies creating product lines, services, or drugs to help us battle the bulge this holiday season is also increasing.

Here are five companies that could help us battle the bulge this holiday season.

Whole Foods Market
Staying in shape this holiday season starts with eating more nutritious foods. That doesn't mean we can't indulge in that slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream or add a little extra gravy to our mashed potatoes, but it does mean a growing focus on locally growing and organic products, especially meats, this season.

Make no mistake about it, Whole Foods isn't going to win any awards for being the low-price leader in any categories, but the assumption from consumers entering its stores is that they'll find a far better organic and locally grown selection of produce and meats than they will at any other major chain store. This lends Whole Foods some incredible pricing power and a very stable customer base, and it also sets up the expectation from the consumer that they're getting better quality food for that premium price.

Walgreen
After eating the right foods, you might assume that a nutrition plan-based company or gym chain was up next, but you'll find none of that from me as exercise is assumed and consumer loyalty to nutritional plans is often horrendously low.

Instead, I would point to a drugstore like Walgreen, which is essentially a one-stop shop for health advice. In addition to doling out pharmaceutical products that can help people lose weight, Walgreen has also been one of the primary supporters of Obamacare. By helping to promote this new health reform law, the thinking would be that more people being insured would drive preventative doctors' visits, and would ultimately help curb some of the factors that lead to obesity, such as high cholesterol and diabetes.

Arena Pharmaceuticals and VIVUS
When it comes to a pharmacological solution to trimming the fat, nothing can surpass the only two FDA-approved weight control management drugs, Belviq from Arena and Qsymia from VIVUS.

Now, understand that these drugs are prescribed in cases where there are chronic weight management issues, not just a pair of tight pants after a big meal. However, with no anti-obesity drugs approved in more than a decade and suddenly two reaching pharmacy shelves within the past year and change, the hope for slimming waistlines is high.

As it stands now both Belviq and Qsymia offer their own unique advantages. Qsymia, for example, delivered a higher percentage of weight-loss in trials, which you would think might give it a natural advantage over Belviq. However, Belviq's safety profile is preferred by physicians, and it also has a global marketing partner in Eisai compared to VIVUS, which is marketing Qsymia on its own. Neither drug has really lived up to its potential yet, but the reachable market for each drug is certainly big enough to accommodate both therapies.

Zeltiq Aesthetics
Last, but certainly not least, we have Zeltiq Aesthetics, which utilizes its proprietary medical devices for the selective reduction of fat in patients. Understandably, we're not talking about a pharmacological solution here or even a long-term one necessarily. This is more of an aesthetic solution in cases where diet and exercise aren't meeting the patients' goal, but it should be noted that people will pay top dollar to look healthier and thinner, so Zeltiq's target audience is actually very large.

Zeltiq's primary product is its CoolSculpting System, which is used to freeze fat cells under the skin. The product is designed not to harm healthy cells and allows frozen fat cells to die off below the skin and be removed from the body naturally over time. This lack of surgery creates no downtime for the patient and is about as pain-free as it gets!

It's pretty evident that demand in Zeltiq's CoolSculpting device is increasing dramatically because in just the past two quarters, it's doubled its full-year sales growth projections twice, first from 10% to 20% and more recently from 20% to 40%. It's an under-the-radar fat-busting name you should definitely know moving forward.

The market has risen sharply so far in 2013, with the S&P 500 up more than 25% since January. But there's one thing that truly sets this market apart from other high-return years in the past.

In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, examines how broad the stock market's rally is. As of late November, 458 of the S&P's 500 stocks were up, something that hasn't happened since 2003, according to figures from S&P Dow Jones Indices. Dan notes that that's a big departure from the late 1990s, when tech stocks soared but many old-economy stocks lagged behind.

Dan notes that by contrast, in today's market, most of the losing stocks are due to company- or industry-specific problems. He discusses why Mosaic , Cliffs Natural Resources , and Exelon have struggled in 2013, and concludes with some views on whether the overall market's positive performance is likely to continue.

After years of declining sales, the much-maligned video-game industry is eying a turnaround of sorts coming into the holiday season.

Several noteworthy game launches from names such as Activision Blizzard and Take-Two Interactive have gone a long way toward capturing consumers' attention. However, more recently, both Sony and Microsoft made their own waves by launching the latest versions of their leading consoles.

Source: Microsoft.

Launching a week apart, Sony and Microsoft each sold more than 1 million of their respective PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles in their first 24 hours of availability. Although possibly only a short-term driver, the renewed interest in this sector is certainly a net positive for those looking to invest in the gaming space.

However, for Microsoft, the payoff from a premier console launch is less obvious. As the dust settles surrounding the Xbox One launch, it's still unclear just how much a winner this next-gen device is for Microsoft's shareholders.

A moneymaker for Microsoft?
Investors need to understand the economics of a device like this. To that end, over the past several years, many teardown services and research analysts have estimated how much companies like Microsoft make on their flagship devices.

There have been plenty of estimates of how profitable Microsoft's newest Xbox is, but a recent note from Nomura Equity Research's Rick Sherlund paints an especially depressing picture for the device.

In a recent note to clients, as detailed by Barron's, Sherlund notes the differences in the margin profile between Microsoft's recently released Xbox One and the previous-generation Xbox 360. According to his research, Sherlund believes Microsoft is currently selling the Xbox One for a negative gross margin of 5%-10%. For context, Microsoft sold the Xbox 360 for a slightly positive gross margin. 

That's not the end of the world for a company as cash rich as Microsoft, but in this case the margin profile does matter, because Microsoft will incur additional significant selling, general, and administrative expenses around the Xbox One, such as the massive market campaigns for the rollout.

In all, Sherlund estimates that Microsoft will lose a total of $1 billion this year alone on the Xbox. Not exactly encouraging.

The long game
There are a few factors at work that make a possible $1 billion loss worth taking from Microsoft's point of view, the first of which is the natural production cycle that companies such as Microsoft incur in rolling out these marquee video-game devices. As we've seen with other devices -- such as Apple's iPhones -- prices for components tend to fall fairly dramatically over time. Microsoft, too, should see the overall input cost for the Xbox One fall beyond breakeven further into the Xbox One's product life cycle. The company's losing money today to hopefully make money later.

However, even beyond specific margins, the Xbox One carries a special strategic importance to Microsoft, which could also make the short-term unprofitability more palatable. Although many debate whether Microsoft will even remain focused on the consumer market, the Xbox One represents perhaps Microsoft's best opportunity to gain an early ecosystem advantage in an area that many expect consumer-electronics companies to focus on next -- the "smart" living room.

Meandering Microsoft
Gaining an early lead in the smart living room makes sense. Especially as Microsoft's other mobile environments slowly gain traction in the smartphone and tablet market, the Xbox One can help extend Windows and Microsoft's other software to create a seamless experience between PCs, smart devices, and televisions that will (in theory) drive consumers toward Microsoft's software ecosystem.

However, it's still unclear how Microsoft could monetize this market opportunity. Most believe Apple would focus on selling an all-in-one television that would probably carry a margin profile similar to its other very profitable iDevices. If Google moves Android in that direction, Android on TV would funnel users back to Google's rain-making search business.

Microsoft has lots of services it could provide to round out the ecosystem, such as Skype and Bing. However, it's traditionally offered Skype for free, and Bing's still firmly in the red. Although the company doesn't break it out, it's likely that Microsoft isn't making much money from licensing Windows to mobile devices. So especially with the prospect of not making considerable money off the sales of the actual hardware with the Xbox One, it's just not clear where the significant moneymaking opportunity lies for Microsoft with the Xbox over the long term.

Foolish bottom line
For all the glowing press surrounding the Xbox One launch, or the tailwinds in the gaming sectors more broadly, it still isn't clear how Xbox One fits into Microsoft's long-term strategy.

This is a dynamic situation for Microsoft. None of this is happening in a vacuum. However, as Microsoft's Xbox One launch makes headlines in the coming weeks and months, investors should also be aware that this big-ticket product launch might not be all it's cracked up to be for Microsoft's bottom line today.

Tiffany proved it was a diamond in the rough this earnings season, after delivering third-quarter results that trounced analyst expectations and left rivals in the dust. As a result, investors pushed the stock higher by more than 8% on Tuesday. For the quarter ended October 31, Tiffany delivered earnings per share of $0.73 or a profit of roughly $95 million. That represents a 50% spike in quarterly profit from the same period a year ago. Third-quarter revenue clocked in at $911.5 million. For comparison, Wall Street was looking for earnings of $0.58 on revenue of $888.4 million, according to FactSet.

Not only did Tiffany post strong earnings growth, but the jeweler also raised its full-year earnings outlook. With the company's fiscal 2013 set to end on January 31, Tiffany now expects net profits in the range of $3.65 to $3.75 per diluted share. That's a $0.15 improvement over its previous forecast. Shares of Tiffany are trading near a 52-week high around $88 apiece, which may compel some investors to steer clear of the stock heading into the New Year. After all, doesn't the axiom go, "Buy low, sell high"?

While this is generally true, there could be much more upside for Tiffany in the year ahead. Let's dig a little deeper to uncover why Tiffany should continue to outperform in 2014.

Hidden treasure and fresh talent
Brand identity is one of the key things Tiffany has going for it, yet it's not something you can quantify on a balance sheet. It's hard to find a stronger brand than Tiffany & Co., which has been around for 176 years. It is because of this brand equity that Tiffany is able to command premium pricing, despite the fragile economy. This, together with new talent at the executive level, should carry Tiffany to new highs in the quarters to come.

The jewelry chain recently appointed British jewelry designer, Francesca Amfitheatrof as its new lead design director. The hire is an important one for Tiffany because it finally fills the void that was left when John Loring retired from the position more than four years ago. On top of this, Amfitheatrof's background, not only as a celebrated jewelry designer but also a silversmith, is well matched to Tiffany's growing silver business.

In addition to a new creative director, Tiffany also welcomed Anthony Ledru earlier this year as its new head of retail for North America. Ledru brings valuable experience from other luxury retailers including Harry Winston and Cartier with him to Tiffany. Looking ahead, his presence should be instrumental in reviving Tiffany's U.S. business, which has fallen behind in recent years.

Another dazzling stock pick for 2014
Coming off a solid third quarter, the New York-based jeweler should shine even brighter in 2014 thanks to ongoing brand strength and its new team of top talent. But there is another stock that investors will want to own heading into the New Year. The Motley Fool got its best analysts together to find the No. 1 stock for 2014. Find out what company made the cut in our new free report "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2014." To find out which stock it is and read our in-depth report, simply click here. It's free!