It seems kind of strange, but the market for virtual goods has become red-hot. Basically, these are nothing more than digital footprints, such as cool graphics used as gifts on a social network or even weapons in online games.

So how big is this market? According to Atul Bagga, an analyst at ThinkEquity, the market is expected to double this year to $1.6 billion. And by 2012, the market may reach $3.6 billion.

Shortly after the introduction of Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) long anticipated iPad tablet computer I was quite surprised to receive an email from one of our more astute readers boldly stating "Game, set and match. See you at $300"

My immediate reaction was that this overly zealous stock trader and Apple enthusiast had let all reason escape his cranium. For me it reinforced how irrational investors are and how little they understand numbers. Apple stock will not reach $300 this year.

Hear the word subprime and you'll likely find many scared investors. But when it comes to DriveTime Automotive, the company has found a way to make money from this market segment -- at least for used auto sales.

And now the company has filed to go public. The offering is for up to $200 million.

Glam Media, an online content company focused on women, seems to grow in any kind of economic environment. In fact, it has shown revenue increases for the past 17 quarters.

And with the top-line poised to cross over $100 million, it only seems natural that investors have been clamoring to put money into Glam. So, this week, the company announced that it has raised $50 million from an investor group that includes Aeris Capital, Burda Digital Holding and Mizuho Capital. This puts the total amount raised at $130 million.

Based in Silicon Valley, Ustream has built a sophisticated platform that allows users to stream videos on their desktops or mobile phones. In January, the company had roughly 50 million unique users.

But of course, Ustream wants even more. So why not go into Asia?

To this end, Ustream has struck a major financing deal, led by Softbank (a major telecom operator in Japan). The round comes to $75 million, with the first tranche at $20 million. The remaining portion is an option to purchase shares in Ustream.

The widely anticipated IPO for Tesla Motors is finally here. Based in Silicon Valley, the company designs and manufactures high-performance, fully electric cars. The investors include the co-founders of Google (GOOG), Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and the founder is Elon Musk, who helped create PayPal.

The company's first car, which came on the market in 2008, is the Tesla Roadster. It can go from zero to 60 MHP in 3.9 seconds -- without any tailpipe emissions. On a single charge, the car can also go 236 miles. However, the price tag comes to a hefty $109,000.

The history of DynaVox goes back to 1983, when the company was spun-off from Carnegie Mellon University. Over time, the company has built some key technologies in the voice market, with a focus on the disabled. DynaVox has also made a variety of acquisitions along the way.

Now, the company wants to get some liquidity and pay down debt. To this end, DynaVox has filed to go public.

The world is searching for new and creative ways to reduce carbon emissions. Here's a new technology that is close to being from The Twilight Zone.

The new technology is "glowing wallpaper." The UK has given a Welsh company, Lomox, £454,000 to develop "light emitting wallpaper." The project is called the Carbon Trust.

Throughout much of December, the rumors were rampant that Spinvox would sell out. A big problem was that the company owed $47 million in debt, which was coming due by the end of January.

And yes, the rumors proved true. Today, Nuance (NUAN) announced that it purchased Spinvox for $102.5 million ($66 million in cash and the rest in Nuance stock). Keep in mind that the company has raised $158 million in venture capital.

One of the easiest stock picks for me to make this year is also one I made last year and for many of the same reasons. In a time of economic turmoil, high unemployment and tight liquidity, what could be more practical than pawn shops and cash advance outlets? EZCORP (EZPW) made me money last year and I expect more of the same as it continues to expand.

Most investors wish they could have gotten in on the ground floor of the hugely successful The Home Depot Corporation (HD), McDonald's Corporation (MCD), or Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) franchises while they only had a few hundred outlets. In the case of EZCORP that is still possible.

When it comes to cleantech, a company usually needs cutting-edge technologies, key strategic partners, lots of money and patience. In fact, these factors may still be not enough. After all, it's incredibly difficult to get people and companies to change their ways.

Despite all this, there are a variety of companies trying to make cleantech work. Just look at Codexis. Speaking of money, the company filed for an IPO this week.

Back in September, the fast-growing online micro-blogging service, Twitter, raised a whopping $250 million at a $1 billion valuation. Meanwhile, it looks like the company has already reached profitability, despite this being usually an elusive concept for online services.

With its growing power, what's next? Well, now it looks like Twitter is into dealmaking as the company struck a deal last week for Mixer Labs at an undisclosed price tag.

When it comes to social networking, Mark Pincus is a pioneer. After all, he is the creator of Tribe.net, which got its start back in 2003. Then, in July 2007, he started another social network for games, called Zynga. It's become an addicting service -- and one that has grown like a weed, with popular games like FarmVille, Mafia Wars and Cafe World. There are now about 230 million monthly active users.

The success has also attracted eager investors. In fact, this week Zynga snagged a cool $180 million from Digital Sky Technologies (there was no mention of the valuation on the deal). Based in Russia, the main investor is also a major shareholder in another top social network, Facebook.

In the wee morning hours just prior to the market opening I had given some thought to shorting AOL Inc. (AOL) on its first day as a newly independent company. Yes, that same company that owns Bloggingstocks.com and a multitude of other interesting Internet "content" icons (and some not yet so). However, I did not do it because it would have been too impulsive and that is rarely a good investment strategy.

I was stunned that we changed our logo. And we changed it to what seems like a team of logos instead of one. That seems bizarre to me if you're trying to build a brand. It is also ironic since we are planning on making money on advertising, and we will be muddling our own brand.

Want that brand-new Stephen King or Anita Shreve novel beamed to your Amazon (AMZN) Kindle? Well, you may be waiting a few months. In a preemptive strike against e-reader technology, publishers Simon & Schuster - part of CBS Corp. (CBS) and Hachette plan to delay the electronic-book editions of about 35 popular titles by four months. The supposed strategy is that desperate readers will pay the full retail price for these volumes, rather than the discounted $9.95 for the electronic version.

E-readers are a hot gift item this holiday season, and products like the Kindle and the soon-to-be-released Nook from Barnes & Noble (BKS) don't seem to be a flash in the pan. E-book retail sales are expected to hit $201 million in 2010, up from $150 million this year. While this is still a fraction of actual, tangible book sales, the growth rate cannot be ignored.