The recent press about McDonald's US same store sales and remodeling conditions reinforced why the "asset light model" should not be too asset light. In short, it takes money to make money.

We hear it all the time on retailer and restaurant earnings calls: the weather hurt. Is it an excuse? They never mention if the weather was too good. One rule does not fit all; brand by brand thinking on weather is required.

Today is Non-Farm Payrolls Friday and this report is a stock market mover.

Tomorrow we get three big earnings reports to start the New Year and the fourth quarter reporting season: MON, WBA and SONC.

Francfort downgraded Sonic two notches to Underperform from Buy but raised its price target to $30 from $27. The analyst said the downgrade is not a call on the quarter, as the company reports on June 22, and he sees limited downside to Q3 and Q4.

The list includes SONC, DRI and PLAY.

I evaluated 51 different companies this week to determine whether they are suitable for Defensive Investors or Enterprising Investors. Out of those 51, only 14 were undervalued or fairly valued and suitable for Defensive or Enterprising Investors.

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’

I reiterated our oil short and our silver long live at the Nasdaq, at the market open, getting America off to a great investing start for 2017.

Here is our update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also called ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling shortly after the ex date near the same price, yet getting the dividend.

The markets are generally quiet and we also shorted the indexes this morning at the same lines we went for yesterday.

The list includes Visa, Sonic Corp, V.F. Corporation, Kimberly-Clark Corporation and T-Mobile.

The big news from this quarter is Blackberry is ending its hardware production. All internal hardware development will be outsourced.

Sonic is best known for its quick services restaurants that bring a nostalgic 1920’s drive in appeal at an inexpensive price. The company continues to see strength in core menu items, value based promotions and limited time items.

The average small cap score is 51.16 and that's below the four week average score of 52.54.

For Sonic Corporation, we are calling for EPS of $0.17 on $128.79 million in revenue, 1 cent above Wall Street on the bottom line and right in line on the top.