[Editor's note: This article has been revised since original publication, as the author erred in the patent description and subsequent analysis. Apologies for any confusion this may have caused.]

Yahoo. (YHOO) What is it about them? Why did they become a tech joke punchline? Is it the outdated exclamation point? Was it their failure to purchase Facebook (FB)? The CEO's fake resume? Or their naiveté when Google (GOOG) first came to town?

Yahoo is still a major website, ranked 4th in the world. And I do give them credit for remaking themselves into a global hub of news, blogs and entertainment. And if it's any consolation, the finance section is still eons ahead of Google's.

But as any Internet user knows, Yahoo would trade all of that for Google's search market share in a heartbeat. I reckon that Yahoo co-creator and former CEO Jerry Yang regrets not

Apples have a storied history. Eve allegedly ate an apple from the Tree of Knowledge, giving her great insight into the world. On a sleepy Sunday afternoon, an apple dropped onto Isaac Newton's head, causing him to discover gravity. And during the Great Depression, former stock traders began selling apples as a means to get by. Remarkable, really. For such a relatively benign fruit to have such a history is impressive. But more impressive than the history of Apple (AAPL) the computer company?

I'm not so sure.

Down, out and near bankruptcy in 1997, Apple brought back Steve Jobs to replace CEO Gil Amelio. Thanks to a $150 million investment from Microsoft (MSFT), Jobs successfully steered Apple toward success, as it came roaring back with iPods, iPhones, Macbooks, etc. Impressive.

Yet now, all of a sudden, hungry wolves and hyenas are circling a company with $100

For anyone wondering why, when, or if Apple (AAPL) will ever make an attempt on the search market currently dominated by Google (GOOG), they already have. As you probably know, the name of their search engine is Siri.

The conspiracy theorist in me didn't view Siri as the flop that many did. I believe that the genius behind Siri was that behind all of the fireworks of the classy female speaking robot and her iffy-beta voice recognition was a search device that was immediately placed on every new iPhone.

Don't underestimate the subtle difference between a high stakes rollout a la Microsoft (MSFT) with Bing versus Apple rolling out their own search engine, albeit in a much more subtle and probably effective manner. Microsoft has already lost $9 billion on Bing, and most of the increase in their search engine market share came at the expense of Yahoo! (YHOO).

More often than not, I am interested in hearing the thoughts of a short seller of a stock that I own, than those of one who is long. I know why I'm long. What I want to know is, why are you short?

Vringo (VRNG) is a stock that everyone and their grandmother has an opinion on. As a shareholder, I am constantly trying to understand why there exists a strong pocket of naysayers and short sellers. And should the day come that I agree with them, well, I'll sell my shares and look into buying puts just a minute later. There's no love lost and no loyalty in the stock market. As solo investors, we have to look out for ourselves, because the big boys sure aren't.

In the past few months, I have attempted to read every professional article, blog post, message board post, Twitter post, and news

Geographically speaking, the recent clashes between Israel and Gaza should not have affected oil prices. This is because neither Israel nor Gaza possess proper land which sits on oil.

Regardless, oil prices went up. That is because of reasons we know all too well by now. Any conflict in the Middle East scares investors, as they worry about the safety and whims of nearby oil producers. It was therefore no surprise that the price of oil climbed during the recent skirmish between Israel and Gaza, and came back down soon after the ceasefire was signed.

When Operation Pillar of Defense began (with the killing of Hamas Military Commander Ahmed Jabari), Forbes pointed out that oil ticked up, but only a small amount. The ensuing chaos and tit for tat resulted in a significant rise, and only after a ceasefire was signed and seemed to hold up did oil

I sense impatience. Not the waiting-in-line-at-the-supermarket-behind-the-mother-who-is-buying-groceries-for-her-10-member-household impatience. I'm talking about a different strain of impatience. The type of impatience that one gets while waiting for the results of a CT scan. Nervous impatience.

In connection to Vringo (VRNG), there are two nervous and impatient groups of people right now. Vringo investors, and the folks over at ZTE (ZTCOY.PK). Let's first talk about the ZTE folks. After watching Vringo's courtroom thrashing of Google (GOOG), it would make sense for the ZTE team to be nervous. With the Google verdict in its pocket, Vringo is now armed and dangerous and eyeing ZTE.

Vringo filed suit on October 8, 2012, against the UK subsidiary of ZTE Corp. Check out the actual claim, and the initial warning letter. Today, Vringo filed in Germany. With close to $14 billion in annual revenue and an inventory filled with telecommunications equipment and handsets

Let's cut through all of the noise and get to the question that has flooded the investment world: In their decision for Vringo (VRNG) vs. Google (GOOG), did the jury miscalculate the royalty rate for last year's damages in regard to Google?

My understanding of this increasingly murky math is as follows: The rate of 35% was assigned to profits for AOL, IAC, Gannet, and Target. Since AOL's ad-related profits were $22 million, Vringo will receive approximately $8 million based on a 35% royalty rate. This rate was used for the other defendants as well, except for Google.

In regard to Google, a 3.5% rate was used. Since Google's ad-related profits were about $450 million, a 3.5% rate brought Vringo approximately $15.8 million. Add that to the $8 million from AOL, $6.6 million from IAC, a whopping $4.3k from Gannet, and $100k from Target, Vringo is scheduled to receive an

There is a general rule when speculating on trial outcomes: it is virtually impossible for anyone to know what is truly going on in the backroom of a jury deliberation.

However, with each verdict-less day that goes by, this rule is becoming weaker and weaker.

Welcome to the case of I/P Engine vs. AOL et al, more popularly known as Vringo (VRNG) vs. Google (GOOG). The irony of writing the stock symbol after each company's name is not lost on me. This case will decide millions of dollars that investors are essentially betting with, either for or against Vringo.

When jurors first began their deliberations on the morning of November 2nd, I was a nervous long. While I certainly didn't feel like the bagholder that many shorts were making me out to be, I feared a quick jury. That is why with each minute that went by on Friday, I

When Judge Jackson dropped the hammer on Vringo (VRNG) and limited their potential damages to when they filed suit in 2011, as opposed to in 2005, the stock crashed. And that makes complete sense. Losing six years of damages will mathematically lower any payment that Vringo would receive from Google (GOOG). And regardless of the effect of the allegedly egregious typo committed against Vringo by PilotOnline (claiming they can receive $500,000 instead of $500 million), the stock did warrant a drop after the ruling.

Looking past the obvious math, think about what Judge Jackson is trying to convey. Before the trial began, Judge Jackson forced the two parties to sit down for settlement talks. Clearly, he didn't want Google's search business model to be sacked by Vringo's legal rights. And because the two sides could not reach a settlement, the trial went through. By all accounts, most of the trial

Logic dictates that when a hurricane is coming, survival is key. This means that sensible people will haul their pickup trucks down to the nearest Walmart (WMT) and load it up with water, duct tape, canned food, flashlights, and batteries.

That's good for Joe Citizen and Joe the Plumber. But what about Joe the Finance guy? The right answer isn't to buy actual survival supplies. It is to buy theoretical survival supplies, a la Walmart stock. Assuming a hurricane is coming and will wreak havoc on real businesses, infrastructure, homes, shops, streets, and lives, then it will wreak havoc on the stock market as well. No, not the actual New York Stock Exchange located on 11 Wall Street in downtown Manhattan. The theoretical stock exchange, located on each of our computers, brokerage servers, and Jim Cramer's Mad Money, where important people make important decisions, causing effects that seem to

I have no patience for blue chip stocks. The rewards that they offer: little risk, steady dividend, relatively consistent growth, possibly recession proof-- these things don't do it for me. I can buy Kellogg (K) right now at $52 a share, receive a solid 3.5% dividend, and expect that it won't get drowned in the next stock market crash. Essentially, it is a stock that lets me sleep well at night. Which is why I don't invest in them. The reward isn't appealing. I want a stock that can double within a week. Call me a gambler, but I enjoy the thrill of taking a high-risk stock and watching it explode, as the blue chips look on in astonishment.

Of course, the high risk stocks can pull the rug out from under me in a heartbeat. My last two investments which I profiled on SA were Vestin Reality (VRTA) and

Digital Domain Media Group (DDMG) has been the source of a tense battle between two longstanding camps: speculators and value-seekers.

My advice to value-seekers: It's okay to speculate. It's even good to speculate. Even when a stock has a poor P/E and EPS, it's necessary to think outside the box and predict what will happen a year or two ahead.

Better yet, don't think outside the box. At least connect the dots: Hologram Technology > Revive Dead Musicians > Live Concert > More Live Concerts > Unlimited Live Concerts + CGI Technology + James Cameron and Michael Bay + Self-Produced Films = Future profits.

I really do believe it's as simple as that. Wall Street, however, has been on pins and needles lately, and is nervous to endorse a stock that isn't churning out a profit at this very moment. It refuses to succumb to hype, even when it

Predicting mergers is a tricky business. And as everyone knows, most merger rumors never happen. Too often, people recklessly speculate as to merger possibilities, and get laden with shares that depreciate because the merger never happens. That is why the ideal stock to purchase in anticipation of a merger is an undervalued stock. This way, in case the merger never happens, the investor still has something of value.

Vestin Realty Mortgage (VRTA), however, is both undervalued and in the process of merging with Vestin Realty Mortgage II Inc (VRTB). The best of both worlds. Fortunately for anyone in it, most people haven't heard of VRTA, making it the quietest merger on Wall Street.

VRTA, pre-merger, is undervalued on its own two feet. The underlying value of the business, in that it has significant cash which it is going to put to work, gives it a true value of between $2.30