This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

The battle between CNN and Fox News isn't a question of liberals and conservatives. That debate was settled long ago and the conservatives won.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) makes a ton of money from Fox News, which continues to dominate. Its ratings have rebounded after slipping last year. CNN parent Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) launched Headline Prime in 2005 as a Fox without Bill O'Reilly, complete with rabid right-wing talk show hosts like Glenn Beck.

One night for fun, I decided to compare O'Reilly and Beck. Boy was I lucky. I picked a night to DVR their shows when both hosts were at the the top of their games.

On his program, Beck railed against all sorts of people bent on destroying the America, including filmmaker Michael Moore, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, comedian Rosie O'Donnell, and pop star Elton John.

Elton John? Rocket Man? I was shocked too.

Apparently, Sir Elton is the "high priest of hypocrisy," according to Beck. The singer had a 60th birthday party at St. John the Divine, a big church in New York. Seems John, who has little use for religion, made some changes to the church building for the concert, including removing the pews. To make matters worse, John showed a background of a burning church at his show the next day at Madison Square Garden. Oh yeah, that was on a Sunday.

All of this was too much for the talk show host to take.

"If he wants to drop a few million to desecrate your church than who am I to judge, right? Wrong!" he said of the pop star.

Posts for all the current Battle of the Brands match-ups have gone live this past week, and some early favorites have already emerged. But there are some pretty close races as well, so let's take a peek at those.

As of this writing, the one match-up that's simply too close to call is McDonald's vs. Burger King, or as the post on that match-up puts it, the Hamburglar vs. the Creepy King. So if you're tired of voting for or against Sanjaya, why not stop in here for something a little different.

Both the Starbucks vs. Dunkin' Donuts and Kraft vs. Hellmann's match-ups have received quite a few votes, nearly 400 each, from what I suppose must be the coffee and sandwich crowd. Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Kraft (NYSE: KFT) have slight leads, with less than 60% of their respective votes.

The Haagen-Dazs vs. Ben & Jerry's match-up has received more than 500 votes so far (how decadent of you), and defenders of each brand have spoken up in the comments. Other match-ups attracting discussion in comments include Southwest vs. JetBlue and Whole Foods vs. Trader Joe's. So check them out and let your opinion be heard. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) has a slight lead in its match-up, but all three of these remain close.

Another close one is Home Depot vs. Lowe's, with the latter showing a slight lead as of this writing, but that match-up was one of the mostly recent posted, so things could change shortly as you do-it-yourselfers come out of the woodwork to cast your votes. Abercrombie also has a small lead in its match-up with the Gap. Is Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) really hipper?

While all these are close races right now, the polls are still open, and vote tallies are rising fast. Anything could happen. Be sure and let us know which brands you prefer by voting in our reader polls, and we'd love to hear why you're loyal to your favorites in the comments of any of our Battle of the Brands posts.

A Battle of the Brands bonus: BloggingStocks blogger Tom Barlow has shared a few thoughts on other possible Battle of the Brands match-ups. What two brands would you like to see go head to head?

Posts for all the current Battle of the Brands match-ups have gone live this past week, and while there are some close races, some early favorites have already emerged as well.

In the Saks vs. Nordstrom match-up, for instance, Saks is a clear favorite with about 80% of of your votes. As for Splenda vs. Equal, its Splenda with about 75% of the vote. However, only about 100 of you have voted in each of these match-ups, so things could easily swing the other way.

It's probably no surprise that in the rivalry between Wal-Mart and Target, Target is clearly ahead with nearly two-thirds of your vote. The Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) affiliated Sam's Club isn't faring any better in its match-up with Costco, the latter currently holding about 75% of the votes.

The early surprise is with General Motors vs. Toyota. Despite Toyota's advantages as outlined in the post, more than two-thirds of you prefer down-but-not-out General Motors (NYSE: GM). This match-up has received more than 500 votes so far, and some lively back and forth in the comments. Check it out.

The monster match-up, though, and maybe an even bigger surprise, is FedEx vs. UPS. There have been more than 50 comments and more than 2,000 votes cast so far. About two-thirds of you prefer good old United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), but there are some strong opinions about each of these brands.

Other active vote getters so far have been Coke vs. Pepsi, with more than 400 votes, Apple vs. Microsoft, approaching 400 votes, and Bud Light vs. Miller Lite, with well over 300 votes. About two thirds of you prefer Coca-Cola and Bud light (though not at the same time, I'm sure), while about three-quarters of you prefer Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) products (hello all you iPod lovers).

In CNN vs. Fox News, the latter has jumped out to a quick lead. We could soon see some fireworks in the comments for this match-up as well.

Other match-ups showing clear favorites in the early running are Coach vs. Louis Vuitton, Yahoo! vs. Google, and Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble. And those favorites are Coach (64%), Google (68%), and Amazon (60%).

While all these are clear favorites right now, the polls are still open, and vote tallies are rising fast. Anything could happen. Be sure and let us know which brands you prefer by voting in our reader polls, and we'd love to hear why you're loyal to your favorites in the comments of any of our Battle of the Brands posts.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

A few months ago, I moved into a larger apartment and found that I would need to make numerous trips to the hardware store each week -- and sometimes twice on Saturdays. The list of projects I had in mind for my new pad was as long as a city block and I knew some choices needed to be made. The most important one: Should I go to Home Depot (NYSE: HD) or Lowe's (NYSE: LOW)?

I always go to Home Depot to get lumber or some screws for the toolbox, or to glance at the power tools that I always dream of finding a use for. I go to Lowe's to pick up a closet organizer or to look at the latest washer and dryers on sale. They're both big box home improvement stores, but each one has its own special place in the world.

When I first drive into the lot of the big orange beast, I always see construction crews hauling lumber and Sheetrock into their vans. I know these people didn't search online for what they needed here, mainly because the HD site only has 20% of their actual inventory online. If you want to know what's in Home Depot, you actually have to go to Home Depot. As I walk inside, I find this magical place where men can walk happily around sawdust filled floors, sans spouse, testing out power tools and talking shop with other men. Workers in bright orange aprons walk side-by-side with beeping forklifts that weave in and out of crowded isles, creating an atmosphere that would intimidate any novice do-it-yourselfer. This is the department store for DIY weekend warriors. This is home.

I certainly don't get the same feeling driving to Lowe's. Lowe's is more focused on the aesthetics of home improvement and the final product, compared to Home Depot, which I feel is more about tools and parts. I can search through the Lowe's website much easier than Home Depot's, and even place an order to pick-up whatever I need, which is always good for the novice fixer-upper. Walking into Lowe's, I see couples walking on perfectly swept floors down extra-bright, super-wide aisles. I walk past tons of appliances and machinery that call out to me: top-of-the-line refrigerators, washing machines, and lawn tractors; I walk past them in amazement. This is a place for the general public and the occasional fix-it-yourself team; and this place takes pride in targeting women in their stores -- officials directly aim for the female customer by placing shelves at the perfect height for the 5-foot-4-inch customer.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

A portfolio manager once said, "If a nuclear explosion hit my city and I had to pick one place to hole-up for a couple of years until all was calm, I would want to be at a Costco store. It has everything any human being could ever want or need." Well, I don't know if I could spend a couple of years in a Costco store, but no problem with a couple of hours!

Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) versus Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST): they have collectively changed the way people shop. The differences are profound between the two, yet conceptually they are very similar. Both "warehouse" concepts sell in bulk fashion. If you're looking for a small jar of Grey Poupon mustard, forget either of these two warehouse stores. But, if you want two side-by-side 16-ounce jars of Grey Poupon, enough to satisfy a football team, then you have come to the right place.

As similar as these two are, the differences do exist. Costco offers tremendous prices to its customers (club members) and quality. Costco has figured out the consumer will come in with a set list of items to be purchased, only to be enticed to expand that list as they walk the store. Strategically placed "special" items, or Costco employees serving out free samples of delicious food and drink items not normally found on the customer's list. It's brilliant marketing: on-site demonstrations and/or sampling of the product. "An impulse purchase" is the expression I have used many, many times as I've explained to my wife why I bought this or that.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

Financial Data

An examination of the financial data indicates that Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS), with a market capitalization of $2.2 billion, is up about 15% to $20.50 so far in 2007. Meanwhile, Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) has not fared as well: Nordstrom, with a market capitalization of $10.9 billion, is up about 3% to $50.80.

Products

In general, Nordstrom appears to carry a wider product line than Saks. One example would be women's apparel, where Nordstrom's line was more-extensive. Nordstrom also offered cocktail dresses in the $140 to $160 range, whereas Saks did not. That said, Saks appeared to do a better job at dress line selection: their line of black dresses was exceptional, with both contemporary and modern styles displaying eye-catching, striking/confident characteristics. Further, Saks appeared to be willing to reach slightly into Nordstrom's zone by offering black dresses as low as $180 to $200. Otherwise, Saks remained in its price zone, which was substantially higher, across apparel lines, than Nordstrom.

And that's perhaps another distinguishing characteristic between the two upscale retailers. While both Saks and Nordstrom serve the high-end consumer, Saks stays there, while Nordstrom carries many lines for the "mid-range" high-end consumer. One example here would be women's handbags: Nordstrom had several lines and styles (including leather bags) in the $200 to $300 range, whereas Saks for the most part remained in the stratosphere, with handbags above $800. Further, bag prices at Saks quickly moved above $1,200. That said, Saks, again, appeared to best Nordstrom in women's handbags; their Dolce & Gabbana and Bottega Veneta lines offered contemporary-yet-functional characteristics for that smart and sophisticated professional look.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

There exists, somewhere between the fearsome mass-ness of the mainstream grocery store and the high-pitched good works of the coop, farmer's market, or CSA, a world in which low prices are valued slightly higher than locality of the source but, more than anything, the products must be good. Fair-trade, organic, without trans-fatty acids, with fewer artificial colorings or preservatives or Disney characters than all the other products.

It's the world of the natural foods market. A world dominated by two very dissimilar and yet, from a target market perspective, nearly identical competitors: Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) and Trader Joe's, a unit of German private company Aldi Group.

Walking into a store -- or simply gazing at one from across the street -- you have a very different picture. On one corner, in the midst of a posh shopping area or trendy boutique-spattered neighborhood, Whole Foods, with its glistening crates of fresh produce, honeydew melons, purple potatoes, and blood oranges piled high in an abundance of exoticism. The doors open smoothly, the merchandise is displayed beautifully, and a high-ceilinged eating area is often overflowing with customers enjoying their deli purchases. Customers enter slowly, looking around as if discovering a stunning architectural landmark for the first time.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

Some people drink Pepsi, some people drink Coke,
The wacky morning DJ says democracy's a joke.
-- Cake, Comfort Eagle

Unless you are a rare RC Cola drinker, your carbonated beverage decision in the supermarket comes down to the two heavyweights: the flagship products from the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP). But the battle between these brands spans much further than the supermarket shelves. From which brand restaurants stock, to what countries each operates in, this rivalry is all-encompassing and global. But instead of a list of countries or restaurant chains, lets take a deeper look at the actual products.

Cola and Beyond

We don't have space to list, nor would you have time to read, every different variant of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which would force me to include failed ideas such as Crystal Pepsi. Suffice it to say, you won't find many original ideas here, and when a successful idea comes from either company, an imitator just as quickly appears from the other. Coke/Pepsi, Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi, Cherry Coke/Wild Cherry Pepsi, Coke with Lime/Pepsi Lime, Coke Zero/Pepsi One, Coca-Cola Blak/Pepsi Cappuccino. Had enough yet? Because that was just a list of comparable colas. Both companies also make lemon-lime sodas, orange sodas, and other similar carbonated and noncarbonated beverages. So then what differentiates them? Certainly not their product arsenal, but taste and marketing.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

When you have to send a package and it needs to be there yesterday, who do you call? It usually depends on a few key items: speed, price, and peace of mind.

The two delivery services that dominate the United States are United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) and FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX). But which do you think of first?

Let's take a look at each company's marketing practices:

UPS: "What can brown do for you?" The UPS shield is one of the most recognizable icons in shipping, as is the trademarked brown uniform that office secretaries go ga-ga over. Brown is the official sponsor of NASCAR, the NHRA, NTRA, and the Olympics. When looking at the gold shield, a person could think of security and strength. UPS prides itself on those ideas and has become the largest package delivery company in the world.

FedEx: "Relax, it's FedEx" was the well-recognized slogan of the second-largest package delivery company in the U.S. The company's logo has a right-pointing arrow located in the negative space between the E and X. While the arrow becomes quite obvious when pointed out, most people do not notice it. The arrow has been occasionally pointed to as a mild form of subliminal advertising, the arrow suggesting forward movement and thinking (check it out). FedEx is the official sponsor of the NFL, the NBA, the FedEx Cup, FDX Racing, the FedEx Orange Bowl, FedEx Field -- the home field of the Washington Redskins -- and the FedEx Forum in Memphis. With the subliminal arrow and company's name targeted all over the sports world, a person could think of FedEx as a fast company that gets around.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

The Hamburglar vs. The Creepy King

Looking at the financial data for McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) and Burger King Holdings Inc (NYSE: BKC) tells us that McD's cooks BK on market cap ($53.7B to $2.9B), and that both stocks are up big since BK started trading last May (McD's is up 29%, BK is up 24%). But these brands aren't really found in the numbers. Let's look at the factors that make these fast-food giants the top two burger chains in the land.

The Menu

What's the first thing you think of when someone says McDonald's or Burger King? Probably their signature sandwiches -- the Big Mac and the Whopper -- because they are what make the brands. There are two factors to look at here -- taste and health.

As far as taste goes, my nonscientific survey says that both sandwiches are flawed (yes, I used writing this blog as an excuse to eat fast food twice in the same week). With the Big Mac, most of my problem was finding the two all-beef patties in a sea of buns and lettuce it was surrounded by. With the Whopper, my criticism is that the burger should come with cheese on it without you having to ask (or pay extra). The burger is supposed to be their top-of-the-line; they could at least throw a slice of cheese on it for you, with you making it "your way."

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

It seems that the competition that has been brewing between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has never really died down from the late 1970s, even as both companies have had ups and downs in the stock market and in the consumer products market as well. The battle between Apple and Microsoft has been (and will be) a perfect case study for future business textbooks at the best universities, as the fight between the two has been nothing short of amazing in the past 25 years or so.

Apple

Apple's start began with Steve Jobs (visionary guru) and buddy Steve Wozniak (tech guru) trying to find a way to get customers buying the personal computer before the market and world even knew what a personal computer was. Steve Jobs was trained in calligraphy and wanted the PC experience to be just as much an art and visceral, visible experience as a technical, computer program-interface experience. With that vision, and with a little help from friends, the two Steves started selling Apple's first PC products out of a garage about 27 years ago in the Southern California area, after Jobs dropped out of college due to lack of funds and general boredom.

What transpired throughout the early 1980s was the rapid growth of Apple Computer Inc. as the PC powerhouse at the same time it was grabbing the attention of MicroSoft (later renamed Microsoft Corp.) founder Bill Gates, who had dropped out of Harvard to pursue his vision of coming up with a PC operating system that he could "license" to all the big hardware manufacturers to use on their machines. But, Gates needed a nice interface to ensure his product was better than Apple's.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

The sad part about this subject is watching these two companies going in almost opposite directions -- at least for now. General Motors General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) has a current market capitalization of $18 billion versus the behemoth Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) with a massive market capitalization of $236 billion, over 13 times bigger than GM. Yet on the surface one would never guess these numbers as their revenues are fairly close in comparison: GM for 2007, estimates revenues of $173 billion, and Toyota's at $200 billion.

It's what's underneath the hood that distinguishes these companies.

Toyota has just come off a five-year period of growth in its per-share earnings at 26% per year, an astounding accomplishment for such a large company. General Motors has experienced flat to negative earnings per share growth over the same five-year period. Toyota is opening new plants, both in Japan and the U.S., to handle demand, while General Motors is closing plants to save costs and resources.

Toyota has set itself apart as the undisputed world leader with the hybrid auto: half combustible engine, half battery powered. The hybrids are still at a price premium to comparable standard combustible, gasoline-powered models, but they will close that gap over the next two or three years. The hybrids come in luxurious lines of the Camry, the Highlander SUV, and the Lexus RX series, as well as the economical Prius model. GM has yet to enter the hybrid field in a serious way.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

I was preparing to make a sandwich recently, which for me is quite an undertaking. The ingredients need to be fresh, sliced to appropriate thickness and of the tastiest varieties. I got out all the fixin's and took hold of the appropriate tools, then I realized that I was missing one key ingredient. I was yet to procure the mayonnaise.

I went into the refrigerator where I knew I'd find the delectably smooth and scrumptious stuff. You can probably imagine my shock when I found not one but two brand new unopened squeeze bottles of mayonnaise right there on the door shelf in between the horse radish and the barbecue sauce. As if that wasn't trouble enough, when I reached in to take one of the bottles for my project, I realized that each of the bottles was a different brand. Oh the sheer unfairness of it, that meant I would have to decide which brand would appropriately bless my sandwich.

Rather than make a rash decision by simply grabbing a bottle and applying the dressing, I decided to carefully weigh my mayonnaise choice. After all, I wanted the perfect mayo for the perfect sandwich. I already knew that the two products were nearly identical in taste and texture. I needed to find the deeper meaning. I grasped both bottles, one in each hand, and carefully initiated my sandwich dressing analysis. Both bottles were plastic and totally squeezable. Each had appropriate tamper protection and a wide, flip-top cap that can be used to stand the bottle inverted. Each had a serving opening designed to apply the mayo in a flat ribbon outlay. The caps were blue and the bottles were clear. So far it was a dead heat.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) was the shining star of the internet bubble in 2000, just before the dot-com crash, and has managed to keep a huge customer base (tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions based on how you calculate it). Yahoo! customers are loyal apparently, even though Google has trounced Yahoo! in recent years in terms of search popularity and overall brand awareness. Like Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo! was founded by Stanford grad students, Jerry Yang and David Filo, so that information on the web could be more easily found back when the web was in its infancy -- 1995.

From 1995 to 2001, Yahoo! grew at a rapid clip, and then saw a downward spiral as advertising fortunes started collapsing at the same time Google's "text ad" advertising model started growing by leaps and bounds. It's pretty obvious by now that Yahoo!'s "one ad for all" approach grew quite stale (and so did its revenues) at the same time Google's "customer relevant" and unobtrusive ad model grew an an inversely proportionate rate. Yahoo! has made great strides on the comeback trail under five-year CEO and Hollywood expert Terry Semel, who has modeled Yahoo! as a "relationship builder" to customers (and gotten them to pay for certain services).

This model is quite opposed to Google's "tool-based" customer model that can't touch Yahoo!'s model for creating and enhancing actual relationships with paying customers, beyond just providing easy internet tools for customers while keeping that "relationship" quite distant. Yahoo! shares spit almost three years ago, but have remained between $29 and $44 per share since that time. By contrast, Google's shares have skyrocketed from $85 in August 2004 to over $460 today. In terms of an investment over the past five years, it's hard to draw a conclusion since Google has been publicly traded for less than three years, while Yahoo! has been traded for quite a bit longer than that.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

So let's imagine that you like the convenience of shopping attired only in your underwear. In this (purely hypothetical) case, which site, Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com, would be your first choice?

With over 40 product categories ranging from books and DVDs to pet food to health and beauty products, there is something for just about everyone on Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). The site contains your browsing history, which can be either good or bad depending on who's looking over your shoulder when you next log in. Amazon offers 1-click check out once you set up an account, and also offers incentives to consumers who use Amazon's own credit card. Orders over $25 ship free to continental U.S. addresses. Amazon provides plenty of graphics of book and DVD covers, so even if you can't remember the name of the item, you might be able to recognize it from its picture. Amazon also offers a simple order tracking option called Where's My Stuff.

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) offers a narrower range of products, mainly books, DVDs, and vaguely educational toys. Books are new and used mass market, as well as new and used textbooks. The site is much less graphics intensive than Amazon, but holds more information on titles. Barnes & Noble also offers incentives for customers to use its own credit card and to join its membership program in exchange for discounts. Shipping is free on most orders over $25. Payment is via Paypal. Unlike Amazon, Barnes & Noble includes an 800-help number on the web page. Barnes & Noble targets more serious readers with weekly online book club meetings in which various authors participate in the discussion and Q&A about their books.

So, clad in whatever manner makes you comfortable, what is your preference for online shopping?

Be sure to vote in our poll for B&N or Amazon as your preferred brand, and lets us know why you love it in the comments. Results of all Battle of the Brands match-ups coming soon.