It was an ominous start after Wall Street fell overnight, following news that the US Federal Reserve could taper-off its bond buying. The Dow Jones dropped 0.5%, while the S&P 500 saw a loss of 0.8% on that news. On top of that, we saw some weak Chinese manufacturing data, with growth slowing for the first time in seven months. Markets were also hit by news that Ford is exiting the car manufacturing industry in Australia in 2016.

Here’s why these three stocks are hot right now.

Telstra Corporation (ASX: TLS) saw more than 65 million shares change hands today as the telco slid 19 cents, or 3.7% to close at $4.95. The company says it expects significant job cuts after announcing a major shakeup of its operational structure. Telstra plans to divert its resources towards high-growth areas such as mobile, wireless, NBN and network services, while cutting back on loss making ventures like the Sensis directory business. About half of the 30,000 employees will be affected by the changes (not all will be losing their jobs though).

Fairfax Media (ASX: FXJ) slipped 2.5% to close at 58.5 cents, despite broker CIMB putting an “outperform” rating on the newspaper publisher. CIMB expects improved disclosure, with real estate classifieds site Domain to be a key feature of the company’s investor day in June. Domain is being pushed into its own division, and could be a significant share price catalyst. CIMB says Domain is about 60% of the size of REA Group, which the market values at over $4 billion.

Ten Network Holdings (ASX: TEN) went against the trend and rose 3.9% to 27 cents. The Australian Financial Review reported this morning that two US-based hedge funds, that are key shareholders in Nine Entertainment, have indicated that they do not want Nine to match Ten’s $500 million bid for Australian cricket broadcast rights. Ten needs to turn around its fortunes, and winning the cricket coverage could be a big boost to regaining viewers, winning market share from its rivals, and increasing its ad revenues.

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All about Credit Corp

Credit Corp is headquartered in Sydney and has a market cap of about $445 million. Its primary business is in acquiring debt (whether consumer or small business debt) and then collecting on that debt. In a nutshell, it makes money by purchasing the debt for less than it’s able to collect.

This is known as in the industry as “receivables management”. And while it may not be the happiest vision to contemplate, whatever term you use, the results for Credit Corp have been lovely indeed in recent years. The company has grown earnings per share from 12 cents in 2008 to 58 cents in 2012.

Other ASX-listed companies in this space include Collection House (ASX: CLH).

Growth prospects and valuation

While its core business is centered in Australia and New Zealand, Credit Corp is also looking to expand in the U.S. market. In June 2012, the company acquired a small U.S. collection agency. It’s also introduced a new business unit locally, with a consumer lending operation known as MoneyStart, which targets customers with less than perfect credit — something the company should know all about, given its prowess in the debt collection space.

Despite the strength of its business and these growth initiatives, Credit Corp shares are trading for just 14 times earnings, or an EV to EBITDA basis of less than 10. The shares pay a dividend in the 4% range, fully franked.

A ten bagger in the last five years

Over the last five years, Credit Corp shares have risen over 1,000%, outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) by a staggering amount. Thus an initial investment five years ago would have made you 10 times your money by now.

And there may still be plenty of gas left in the tank. You’ll want to do your own due diligence, of course — and Credit Corp is most definitely worth a closer look.

Want all the details on a few more small, promising ASX companies? Discover two stellar small-cap opportunities now, in our brand-new research report, “2 Small Cap Superstars” — simply click here to download your FREE copy.

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Motley Fool contributor Catherine Baab-Muguira has no financial interest in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Take Stock is The Motley Fool’s free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

DuluxGroup (ASX: DLX) reported that it was withdrawing its premium paint and woodcare products, including Dulux and Cabot’s, from Woolies’ Masters and Danks corporate stores. The company said that it was in response to competitors increasing their alignment with particular resellers and obtaining greater support from those aligned resellers. In other words, Dulux wasn’t receiving the same deals as its mainly US-based paint competitors, so has canned its paint deal with Woolworths.

Dulux will instead follow the example set and align itself with its key retail paint channel partners, like Bunnings – owned by Wesfarmers Limited (ASX: WES) and Mitre 10 – owned by Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS).

DuluxGroup says the decision is not expected to have a material impact on its performance, with total paint sales to Masters and Danks representing around 1% of total revenues. Managing director Patrick Houlihan said, “Masters and Danks corporate stores remain a valued partner for DuluxGroup’s broader retail hardware business. They will continue to be offered our market leading Selleys and Yates brands, among others.”

In 2011, Bunnings stopped stocking paint from US giant Valspar, including leading Australian brand Wattyl, instead giving over more shelf space to products from rivals Dulux and Taubmans. Valspar is the major supplier of paint to Lowe’s hardware chain in the US, and also supplies paint to Masters in Australia.

For Woolworths, the decision is a blow to its hardware ambitions, with Dulux paints being the market leader.

Foolish takeaway

Woolworths may have snubbed one supplier too many, and Dulux wasn’t going to wear it. Consumers will be hoping the two can brush aside the issue and finish with Dulux paints back in Masters’ stores.

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The deal, which has not yet been finalised and may still fall through, is thought to be worth over US$1 billion. Certainly, there is ample precedent: Just last year, Westfield sold controlling interests in seven U.S. shopping centres to Starwood for slightly over US$1 billion.

Ongoing strategy to downsize and maximize returns

It’s part of an ongoing strategy for the shopping centre giant. As The Australian Financial Review reported today, “Westfield has made no secret of its intention to downsize, sell non-core malls and focus on the management and development of prime flagship malls in global cities… The ultimate aim is to increase the return on capital invested”.

Westfield Group also recently exited its joint venture in Brazil, though Westfield co-chief Steven Lowy said, “We will continue to independently review opportunities in the region in line with our global operating strategy”.

While the Brazil deal was not expected to impact Westfield’s earnings, the divestments of U.S. assets could, at least in the near term.

Earlier this month, Westfield reconfirmed its 2013 forecast for funds from operations (FFO) of 66.5 cents per security and a distribution of 51 cents per security.

Beating the index — but is it a buy?

Year to date, Westfield Group shares have risen 14.5%, versus a 9% rise in the S&P/ASX 200 index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO), while shares of other ASX-listed property plays, such as GPT Group (ASX: GPT) and Stockland Group (ASX: SGP) have risen around 7% each.

Should the market start to cool on Westfield Group, opportunistic investors could get the chance to buy up shares of this blue chip on the cheap — or at least at a better price than today’s. Watch this space.

In the market for high yielding ASX shares now? Get “3 Stocks for the Great Dividend Boom” in our special FREE report. Click here now to find out the names, stock symbols, and full research for our three favourite income ideas, all completely free!

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Motley Fool contributor Catherine Baab-Muguira has no financial interest in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Take Stock is The Motley Fool’s free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

In the study, investors were asked to identify more than one method of trading they have used in the last two years. Online brokers dominated the market at 65% whereas full-service stockbrokers only 2% to 31%.

Perhaps investors are realising that trading shares can be made more convenient with the safety of familiar names like Commonwealth Bank’s (ASX: CBA) Commsec, NAB’s (ASX: NAB) Nabtrade and ANZ’s (ASX: ANZ) E*Trade. All are much cheaper than a full service broker. It’s now easier than ever to get into the market and take advantage of some great investments.

The Australian Financial Review says “good quality Australian shares that have a long history of paying dividends are a real alternative to a term deposit.” Get “3 Stocks for the Great Dividend Boom” in our special FREE report. Click here now to find out the names, stock symbols, and full research for our three favourite income ideas, all completely free!

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Of course, earlier this week Yahoo! stock touched the highest levels investors have seen in nearly five years, so apparently she’s been doing something right. In fact, since Mayer was named CEO on July 16, 2011, shares of Yahoo! have nearly doubled, trouncing the otherwise respectable performance of the S&P 500:

YHOO Total Return Price data by YCharts.

So what, exactly, has happened since Mayer took the helm?

In short, she has worked tirelessly to secure Yahoo!’s place as a permanent fixture in the lives of millions of netizens, primarily through the company’s involvement in roughly a dozen of its users’ “daily habits.” Those habits include (among others) performing web searches, checking email, watching videos, and viewing daily news, sports, and finance feeds.

Bold moves
Of course, Mayer hasn’t shied away from controversy along the way, most notably taking flack for her much-publicised decision to ban telecommuting at Yahoo! in February.

Naturally, many employees and outsiders alike were angered by the decision, especially as Mayer reportedly constructed a nursery next to her office — at her own expense, mind you — to be nearer to her own infant son while at the same time enabling her to work longer hours.

What fewer people have realised is that Mayer also recently doubled the paid maternity leave for her employees to 16 weeks, while at the same time introducing a policy to allow new fathers to take up to eight weeks of paid leave. In addition, parents who adopt are now allowed to take eight paid weeks off from work, and new parents are given US$500 to spend on baby items and related services.

Mayer explained her telecommuting ban in April by simply saying, “People are more productive when they’re alone, but they’re more collaborative and innovative when they’re together. Some of the best ideas come from pulling two different ideas together.”

And Mayer would know, especially after more than 13 years at Google  (NASDAQ: GOOG)  which just so happens to have topped Fortune‘s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in both 2012 and 2013. In fact, at the time she instituted the ban, Google was generating almost US$932,000 in revenue per employee, compared to just under US$345,000 per employee at Yahoo!. Curiously enough, that gap has narrowed since then to about US$993,000 and US$419,000 in revenue per employee for Google and Yahoo!, respectively.

Then again, while I still think it’s naive to believe Yahoo! (or any other company, for that matter) will ever be able to surpass Google’s more than 80% market share in search, their supplementary efforts could very well morph the company into an equally thriving long-term business.

To its credit, Yahoo! is finally being perceived as a better place to work. Last month, for instance, Mayer stated nearly twice as many people are currently applying for jobs at Yahoo! compared to the same time last year, while the rate of “top talent” leaving the company has been reduced by about half.

On redesigns and acquisitions
In addition, Yahoo! Mail enjoyed a design refresh late last year, and the company acquired Summly — a slick little news summarisation app — for around US$30 million in March.

Then on Monday, Yahoo! unveiled a dramatic redesign of its massively popular photo sharing site, Flickr.com, while simultaneously announcing its US$1.1 billion acquisition of blogging specialist Tumblr.

Tumblr, for its part, boasts more than 105 million different blogs visited by 300 million unique users each month, and while it remains to be seen exactly how the folks at Yahoo! plan to further monetise their new prize, some sources say Tumblr is expected to grow annual revenue from just US$13 million last year to US$100 million in 2013.

Mayer also wasted no time promising Yahoo! wouldn’t “screw it up,” and further explained Yahoo! covered its bases by performing multiple valuation analyses — all of which apparently supported the US$1.1 billion valuation. While time will tell how it all turns out, at least one of my fellow Fools already thinks Tumblr is big a win for Yahoo!.

Foolish final thoughts
In the end, the folks at Yahoo! have moved startlingly fast to stabilise their faltering business. Thanks to low expectations in the face of strong competition, investors holding Yahoo! stock have been rewarded handsomely as a result. Assuming Mayer can continue building on her achievements, I see no reason to believe the outperformance by Yahoo! stock won’t continue.

Community outrage against betting companies has risen following an ABC TV program highlighting the issue of betting odds and gambling being promoted during sports broadcasts, many of which are watched by children. A poll running on The Age, currently has 88% of people voting for a ban on all gambling advertising.

According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the chief executive of Sportingbet, Michael Sullivan has said that live odds promotion has gone too far and is too integrated into sports programs. Tabcorp Holdings (ASX: TAH) chief David Attenborough is reported to support restrictions on advertising, where self-regulation wasn’t effective, as long as it was done on a national and not a state basis, and was consistent.

Free TV Australia, the body that represents free-to-air TV stations, has proposed to completely ban the promotion of betting odds by commentators during live broadcasts. The proposal has been mocked by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale as doing nothing to stop ‘pseudo commentators” like Tom Waterhouse. Free TV has also proposed an amendment to stop commentators and their guests from promoting odds during a game and for 30 minutes either side of play.

Tabcorp’s Mr Attenborough said any effect on Tabcorp of such a ban would be limited because the company had a “strong brand and is well trusted in the marketplace.” Tatts Group (ASX: TTS) chief executive Robbie Cooke has told the AFR that wagering companies would likely maintain their levels of advertising expenditure, but change the content, if regulation was imposed.

South Australia’s state government has moved to ban all gambling ads that promote live odds on TV during sports, as part of a move to stop young men being conditioned that gambling was a natural part of sport. But whether the state will be able to implement its ban remains to be seen.

Foolish takeaway

Many people are now calling for a complete ban of sports betting ads on TV. With sports betting estimated to represent about 15-20% of problem gamblers in Australia, clearly some action needs to be taken.

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The Motley Fool’s purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool’s free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead.  This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Motley Fool writer/analyst Mike King doesn’t owns shares in any companies mentioned.

Source: Google Finance

The past is in the past

Of course dwelling on Telstra’s past isn’t useful in analysing its future. On that score, the future looks good for Telstra. As reported today on BusinessDay.com.au, Telstra is expected to announce further job cuts as it looks to reduce costs in its legacy businesses such as the Yellow Pages business Sensis division and the fixed copper line division. A leaner structure, coupled with the significant cash flow to be received from the NBN Co purchase of its assets, will allow Telstra management to deploy funds towards growth areas such as cloud computing and data centres. This opportunity to strategically re-focus the company leads to a positive outlook for Telstra’s future.

The mid and smaller end of the telco sector is also firing on all cylinders, with customers’ appetite for bandwidth and data services growing strongly. Investors looking for exposure to this growing market might take a closer look at companies such as M2 Telecommunications (ASX: MTU), TPG Telecom (ASX: TPM) and iiNet (ASX: IIN), as they potentially have better growth profiles than the already large Telstra.

Foolish takeaway

While investing in a sector experiencing growth is desirable, and the share prices of most telco companies are up strongly in the past 12 months, as always investors need to consider valuations and what is a reasonable price to pay.

With its legendary, fully franked 28 cent dividend, Telstra is the darling of Aussie investors. But with its share price skyrocketing over the past year, is Telstra past its prime? Click here for our brand-new report: “Is It Time to Sell Telstra?”

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The struggling car maker was due to announce its financial results today, but News Limited reports that the media conference, expected to be held around 10.45am, will be “more than that”. The paper reports that Ford will become an import-only brand. Just last month, Ford’s Asia-Pacific president Dave Schoch cast doubts over its Australian operations, saying the company has made commitments to the Australian-made Falcon and Territory until 2016, but had nothing beyond that to announce.

Sales of Ford’s Falcon have fallen to the lowest levels since the Broadmeadows factory opened in 1960, with Ford’s overall sales in Australia last year, lower than 20 years ago. Consumers have taken a liking to smaller passenger cars and SUVs, with sales of all large passenger sedans sliding. The strong Australian dollar has made imports cheaper, while our high labour and input costs have made locally made cars uncompetitive.

The news has implications for the local manufacturing industry, with more than 55,000 employees in the automotive industry and supporting another 200,000 jobs, including industries such as car parts, steel manufacturers like BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) and Arrium Limited (ASX: ARI) ex-OneSteel, and car dealerships owned by the likes of AP Eagers Limited (ASX: APE) and Automotive Holdings Limited (ASX: AHE).

The news comes as Holden unveils its all new Commodore in Canberra today. Ford is reported to have said that the timing is a coincidence, but its news looks likely to push the Commodore’s launch onto the back pages.

Foolish takeaway

We’ll hear from Ford officially at around 10.45am. The Federal government has vowed to support workers that may lose their jobs, with an estimated 1,200 workers directly affected. One wonders how long it will be before General Motors Holden is forced to follow Ford, and become an import only brand.

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It’s certainly not the multi-billion dollar agreement that Telstra (ASX: TLS) has reached with NBN Co but it is interesting to ponder what other infrastructure assets owned by smaller players NBN Co may be looking to acquire.

It’s tough based on the current announcement to determine just how good a deal iiNet is getting. iiNet paid $60 million in cash for Canberra-based TransACT Communications in 2011, which at the time had 40,000 broadband customers and a network which “spans 4500 kms, passing more than 250,000 premises”. Obviously iiNet keeps its customers and it also looks to be keeping TransACT infrastructure outside of the ACT; however reconciling what it paid in 2011 for the assets that NBN Co will acquire, is difficult to determine until further information is released.

The second-tier telecom companies have been doing a good job at growing their customer bases and expanding revenues. In iiNet’s case, this has been both organically and through acquisitions, including AAPT’s residential business in 2010 and Adelaide-based Internode in 2011. The second-tier telcos, with their bright futures in an economy constantly demanding greater and faster Internet services,  have certainly been on a tear recently. The share prices of Amcom (ASX: AMM), TPG Telecom (ASX: TPM) and iiNet are all up over 100% in the past 12 months and have significantly outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO).

Foolish takeaway

Cloud computing and mobile devices are creating an enormous demand for data by consumers. It is a theme that is likely to be with us for some time yet, so investors could do well to keep an eye on innovative companies in this sector.

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The Motley Fool’s purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool’s free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead.  This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson. Motley Fool contributor Tim McArthur does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.