Mark Lin

If you have ever wished to make money from art, you aren’t restricted to either being an artist or bidding for art at an auction. Sotheby’s represents one of the few, if not the only, publicly-traded investment opportunities in the art market.

Faced with online competition, retailers should build their online presence to complement their current distribution channels. In addition, they also need to go back to basics and work on differentiating their products. HSN has adopted both strategies in its battle against online competition.

Staying healthy involves both having a proper diet and exercising regularly. Apart from organic and natural food retailers, health club operators are strong beneficiaries of the health & wellness trends. Among the listed companies, Life Time Fitness stands out as the best proxy for industry growth.

The same companies that produce the mattresses that investors sleep on can help them sleep well in other ways. Leading mattress manufacturers and retailers exhibit stable demand and are good additions to investors’ portfolios.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. This seems to be a fitting description for consumer products companies like Hillshire Brands which have survived the onslaught of private-label competition.

Competing on price alone is a race to the bottom, since only the retailer with the lowest prices will be left standing at the end. Burlington is an example of a retailer with a differentiated business model that gives it an edge over its peers.

Great minds think alike, which is why specialty value retailer Five Below has adopted certain aspects of Costco’s and Wal-Mart’s business models to much success.

As the middle class shrinks due to the widening rich-poor divide, consumers are increasingly conscious of their dining choices. They want the food to be reasonably cheap yet aligned with their health priorities, a gap being filled by fast-casual restaurants.

The widening income gap means that middle-market retailers won’t make the cut. They are too expensive for the budget-conscious consumer, but not high-brow enough for the ultra-affluent.

Casual-dining chains are the restaurant industry’s equivalent of middle-market department stores, where their offerings are typically undifferentiated in terms of both product offerings and price attractiveness. Denny’s, which call itself ‘America's Diner,’ is an exception among its casual-dining peers.

Lorillard was the first among the Big Three tobacco giants to enter the e-cigarette market, and it is now the market leader. However, that doesn’t automatically make this company the best choice for investors who look to capitalize on the future potential of e-cigarettes.

Most growth stocks see their share prices falter because they can’t live up to the expectations embedded in their stock prices. Instead, value-priced companies like International Speedway which have high levels of recurring revenues and growing dividends have better chances of surprising on the upside since expectations are low.

If you are looking for stocks of companies which have stable and consistent demand for their products and services, death-care companies and tax-service providers are the best choices.

Growth stocks are sometimes found in the least likely industries. While organic food is already a well-known trend, consumer staples like eyewear and donuts are also equally good hunting grounds.

Good companies in cyclical industries reduce their asset intensity, increase their share of recurring revenue, and diversify to reduce their risks. That is exactly what hospitality company Wyndham has done.

Misunderstood companies and industries often offer the best investment opportunities. These include ski resort companies and theme-park operators, which are perceived as unattractive due to their high capital intensity and economic sensitivity.

Successful retailing is all about the products you sell and the people who sell your products. The Container Store is a role model for such merchandising and human resource management strategies.

Most machinery companies have to compete with each other on pricing and cost efficiency, because they are just one of many companies producing the same undifferentiated equipment. However, there are exceptions like Columbus McKinnon which has managed to differentiate itself from its competitors on the basis on non-price factors.

Many companies have seen their once profitable business brutally disrupted by low-cost competitors. However, security logistics companies are largely immune to such threats, because of their mission-critical nature.

Some fashion retailers have been foolhardy enough to try to stay ahead of the fashion curve, while others are simply too slow to react. Express' focus on being a fast second follower makes the most sense.