Amazon Phone Rumors Swirl and 3 Consumer Stocks to Watch Now

Costco (NASDAQ:COST): After the company’s international same-store sales grew only 2 percent after adjusting for foreign currency and fuel prices, Bernstein maintains an Underperform rating, saying long-term international growth at the retailer may be slow.

Visa (NYSE:V) and MasterCard (NYSE:MA): According to Bloomberg, the two credit card companies may be nearing settlement on a lawsuit with retailers that alleged they fixed swipe fees – terms of the settlement are not available, but could be substantial given that MasterCard took a $495 million charge on this account in Q4, while Visa has a reserve of $4.28 billion to cover litigation.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN): According to Bloomberg, Amazon is developing an Android-based smartphone in collaboration with Foxconn, and may be in the market for buying up wireless patents to avoid any litigation for intellectual property violations.

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