Back in the mid 1990s, Josh James -- who was an undergraduate -- saw huge potential in the Internet. So he teamed up with a friend, John Pestana, to create a company that helps put together web pages. The company eventually became Omniture (Nasdaq: OMTR ), which is a top player in web analytics .

Well, the bet has paid off. Today Omniture sold out to Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE ) for a cool $1.8 billion. Omniture's shares ended the day at $17.32.

Under the radar: Some trends are obvious enough and visible to all investors. Others are more-subtle, but are just as potent, and these often slip 'under the radar.'

Case in point: At a small factory in Wisconsin, something positive happened, something few investors are aware of -- but it's a data point that savvy investors should take note of.

Managers at Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK ) plant reinstated a second shift , hiring 12 workers, The New York Times reported Saturday.

The conspiracy theorists have been arguing for month that aggressive short-selling and illegal naked short selling played a significant role in the financial collapse.

Bad news: The data just doesn't back that up.

Put California Pizza Kitchen (NASDAQ: CPKI ), first recommended on May 15, 2009 at a price of $13.53, in the Hold category.

This stock is testing investors' patience. Casual dining restaurant chain California Pizza faces macro-headwinds in the 'frugal consumer' era, but the argument here is that the California market --- where the chain has a disproportionate number of restaurants --- has bottomed.

Earlier today, the Street was abuzz with rumors that Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT ) was investigating the sale of brands such as Maxwell House and Oscar Mayer in order to raise capital to up its Cadbury (NYSE: CBY ) bid to something a little bit sweeter (and one the confectionery giant might not reject).

Kraft responded to the rumors saying they were just that - unfounded conjecture - and noted that it would not in fact need to ditch hot dogs and coffee for creme eggs and Trident gum. A spokeswoman for the company told Reuters "The financing for this proposal does not require any divestitures." So where did these rumors get started, anyway? Is Kraft protesting too much?

You can't win them all. The May 14, 2009 Shorts of both Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL ), at $25.56 and Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL ), at $14.45 were Stopped Out.

Each is a major cruise line that's battling domestic and international macroeconomic headwinds, overcapacity, stagnant-to-lower U.S. disposable income for many U.S. employment segments, and the sector's latest concern: the H1N1 virus that has discouraged some citizens from taking vacations in large-gathering, contained surroundings.

Today was another up day and you have to wonder if the woes of the world we all felt a few short months ago are just gone for good. Bernanke said the recession is effectively lower. The inventories are getting low enough that a manufacturing surge could come. And inflationary fears are not scaring traders. If this was a football game, it seems that the bulls keep scoring, and the bears just got a couple accidental safety scores.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,683.41 +56.61 (0.59%)
S&P 500 1,052.63 +3.29 (0.31%)
Nasdaq 2,102.64 +10.86 (0.52%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades
Top Trader Alerts

"The smart move in today's market is to stick with companies that are growing right through the recession, such as WMS Industries (NYSE: WMS )," says Mark Skousen .

In his trading oriented service, The Hedge Fund Trader Alert , he explains, "Based in Waukegan, Ill., WMS designs, manufactures, leases and sells gaming machines and video lottery terminals to its customers, the casino operators.

"Earnings at WMS have climbed by at least 24% the past 11 quarters. And they're still accelerating. Most recent quarterly results were up 36% on rising revenue. What's going on here? WMS is a great innovator. And it knows its business.

Just call it 'one win, one loss' with these two shorts, first recommended on May 13, 2009.

McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP ). Hold Short, first recommended on May 13, 2009 at a price of $29.89. After flirting with the Buy/Stop Loss at $36, MHP has resumed the predicted path: down. Belt-tightening by states, school districts, and by other education institutions does not bode well for MHP's education publishing wing. Cover Short on a bounce off $20 or $15. Buy/Stop Loss if you were to sell shares in this company: $36.

From 2004 to 2008, the number of vehicles sold at auctions in the U.S. ranged from 9.4 million to 9.7 million per year. And there are no signs that this will change.

It's certainly great news for Kar Holdings, which is the number two auction operator in the space. Now, the company has filed to go public (here's a profile on the deal).

Kar has 214 physical auction locations as well as a variety of websites (which allow for real-time auctions). Through this system, the company facilitated the sale of more than 3.2 million cars last year.

Here's an interesting dilemma: The Federal Reserve is committed to restarting the U.S. economy, yet unexpected forces are playing against it.

What we have is a "credit bubble" that is bursting. For years, the Fed has made money readily available, fueling a boom in credit expansion. Now, after the bubble burst last year during our financial meltdown, we are still unwinding the excess credit in our financial system.

As evidence of this, banks are issuing fewer loans and are making applicants jump through hoops to get even a modest loan. Credit card companies have slashed credit lines for all its customers regardless of how prompt they are in making their payments. Credit card companies have raised rates to astronomical heights for no reason so now people are unwilling to use their cards. Banks are required to place more money in their coffers to protect themselves against further losses. Add to this the slew of home foreclosures that continue in the housing industry. Further add the almost 10 million people without jobs, and you have the right mix for a second meltdown.

Retail sales numbers jumped more last month than they have in three years. It would be understandable to assume that this was due to the "cash for clunkers" program, which ran through August, but even excluding auto-sales retail numbers were higher than expected.

Core retail sales (which excludes autos and gasoline) was up 1.1% in August, which was almost 300% higher than anticipated. The question at this point is whether that number would have been even better and ultimately more beneficial for the economy if the government had not siphoned so much spending into autos.

Back in June, there was a report on WalletPop that Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD ) and Kmart spied on customers who participated in an online marketing study. The company paid participants in the study $10 if they would download and retain software for "My SHC Community."

The participants were told that the software would help them "participate in exciting, engaging, and on-going interactions" on their own terms. Sears noted that the software would only monitor the participants' online browsing. Not so, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which reported that the software captured secured sessions from participants -- including online banking. The FTC and Sears came to a settlement and the company was less than apologetic for its maneuver.

Perhaps Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY ) is looking to make video games a centerpiece of its product offerings. Video game rival Gamestop Corp. (NYSE: GME ) could be a potential takeover target for the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S. Best Buy recently stated that game sales is a focus area , so there is more truth to this rumor than not.

After all, retailers will use every trick in the book to get feet inside the doors. So many products in retail are loss leaders, but they get traffic inside, and statistically that translates into sales for a certain portion of customers. By buying Gamestop, Best Buy would become one of the premium video game retailers in the U.S., causing even more foot traffic to creep inside its brick-and-mortar locations. This has been a rumor in the past, but it makes sense now more than ever.

The World Bank Group's financing for renewable and efficient energy projects increased 24% in the last fiscal year . Reaching $3.3 billion, the bank's clean technology investments have reached their highest level ever.

At the Bonn International Renewable Energies Conference in 2004, the World Bank committed to increase its contribution to cleantech investments by $1.9 billion through 2009. Not only did last fiscal year's result more than double the five-year commitment, the World Bank's support surged by $7 billion.