IBM

Augusta National, the all-male country club that hosts golf's Masters tournament, always invited the CEOs of sponsor IBM to join -- until this year, because a woman, Ginni Rometty heads the company. Now both sides have a big PR problem.

There are plenty of Peyton Manning stocks -- mature companies that investors avoid -- even though they're still strong.

Impressed by the speed and accuracy with which Watson churned out answers (or rather, "questions") in its winning performance in the Jeopardy! Challenge last year? Citigroup was, too -- so much so that it has hired the supercomputer to assist its human financial professionals.

For investors who open a brokerage account and buy stocks, there's more to be had than just the promise of better investment returns. Some of America's best-known firms also offer perks to their shareholders -- and not just big-money shareholders, either.

Each January, 24/7 Wall St. makes its predictions about which publicly traded U.S. companies it feels will have the highest profits in the year ahead. Read on, and find out which of the Fortune 500 will rake in the biggest fortunes.

On the 2012 Interbrand list of the world's most valuable brands, the top seven are the same as in 2011, with Coca-Cola leading the way. Then we get to No. 8. That spot used to be held by wireless phone giant Nokia, but Apple has knocked it down -- way down.

There's never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially now that we're hitting 2012's first earnings season. What will help shape the week that lies ahead? Earnings and answers from banks, Google, eBay and IBM, and a big education related announcement from Apple.