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This income investment has become more attractive recently. Yet because it's perceived as being strictly for the wealthy, many ordinary Americans never think twice about it.

BP has big problems, and not just because of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the $20 billion compensation fund it set up to pay the victims. The petro-giant has been missing Wall Street's profit targets lately, thanks to sloppy operations and a general trend toward lower gasoline consumption.

The NFL has something broadcasters lust after: a reliably strong source of ratings. So as its football games migrate onto smartphones, iPads, and anything else with a screen, its no surprise that CBS, Fox and NBC -- not to mention Sirius, Westwood One Radio and Verizon -- are all lining up to pay billions to carry them.

Trefis currently has a $30 price estimate for LinkedIn stock -- about a third of the market price. Why the disparity? Take a look at the prospects for the three businesses that bring in the vast majority of LinkedIn's revenue, and the answer becomes clear.

Trefis put a value estimate of $30 a share on LinkedIn as it launched its IPO Thursday. Shares actually opened at $83, raced past $100, and closed at $94.25. Wondering why the Trefis estimate is so much lower? Let's re-examine the fundamentals, and how they arrived at that number.

Based on Sprint's improving average revenue per user for mobile data service and the growth rate of its subscriber base, Trefis has raised its outlook for the telecom giant.

Apple's shares are trading at about $347, just shy of their all-time high of $364.90, which they hit in February. It's second quarter earnings were record-breaking. So why are some analysts beginning to worry about Apple's stock?

Lotteries are big businesses in most states, and they can provide windfalls for both the winning ticket-holders and state coffers. But which states give the most back to ticket-holders and through government services?

Apple's earnings per share nearly doubled last quarter, and its performance the previous quarter was almost just as good. But Apple's shares are only up 11% in the last six months, trailing the Nasdaq. Here's why the stock could be set to take off.

Last year saw a surge in stock repurchases -- companies like ExxonMobil, Walmart and Microsoft bought back shares at record levels. Buybacks can be seen as a cash giveaway to investors, and they boost earnings per share. But there's a strong reason to be wary of companies that do buybacks.