February 28, 2011 Vol. 163 No. 3 / Fortune Asia

36 TED FORSTMANN'S BAD BET
Allegations of sports betting and more have cast a pall over the buyout king's
comeback. True or not, it doesn't look good.
BY WILLIAM D. COHAN

44 AMERICA'S HOTTEST EXPORT: WEAPONS
Arms sales to the Middle East are booming. The defense industry's surprising
partner in the race to arm the world? President Obama.
BY MINA KIMES

56 GRADING JEFF IMMELT
The GE chief executive has been at the helm for almost a decade. How has Obama's
jobs council czar done? Not so great by a number of measures.
BY GEOFF COLVIN

64 CONAN 2.0
How a late-night Luddite accidentally fought his way back into bedrooms (and
computers, smartphones, and tablets) across America.
BY DOUGLAS ALDEN WARSHAW

FIRST

7 | BY THE NUMBERS
'Tis the season for dog lovers.
BY DANIEL ROBERTS

8 | WASHINGTON WATCH
Google woos the Republicans.
BY TORY NEWMYER

10 | THE CHARTIST
The secretive process of FDIC receivership has all the makings of a heist flick.
BY DANIEL ROBERTS

11 | THE BRIEFING
The Mongolian tugrik, 2010's best-performing currency; Hollywood product
placement; and more.

12 | WORLD'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES
How Amazon made its debut in the top five of Fortune's Most Admired rankings.
BY SCOTT CENDROWSKI

VENTURE

15 | CREATING A CULT BRAND
The secret of the Van Winkle family's success in the bourbon business? Make prize-winning spirits and keep supply really low.
BY BRIAN DUMAINE

18 | DAVID VS. GOLIATH
Three small companies aim to upstage their larger rivals by giving consumers what
they really want.
BY JESSICA SHAMBORA

TECH

19 | TECH STAR
Home dﾃｩcor site One Kings Lane wants to be the Gilt Groupe of throw pillows and
footstools.
BY JESSICA SHAMBORA

22 | TECH TRANSFER
AeroVironment is applying its environmentally friendly research to military
drones.
BY DORON LEVIN

23 | WIRELESS WARS
How to switch to the Verizon iPhone.
BY JESSICA SHAMBORA

INVEST

25 | INVESTOR Q&A
Tom Marsico of Marsico Capital is betting on banks.
BY JON BIRGER

27 | ANATOMY OF A TRADE
Thomas Forester likes Marathon Oil.
BY SCOTT MEDINTZ

28 | WEALTH ADVISER
Now is a great time to grab a second-home bargain.
BY PAUL SULLIVAN

29 | ANALYST FACE-OFF
Is News Corp. worth buying?

INTERVIEWS BY SCOTT CENDROWSKI

72 | BING!

Opinion

30 | Banker Arthur Snyder's life was proof that you can do God's work while also
doing Mammon's.
BY ALLAN SLOAN

32 | We need a new concept of American greatness that relies more on political
ideals than GDP.
BY GEOFF COLVIN

34 | Excessive taxation is a big reason airlines have had so much trouble earning
healthy profits.
BY BECKY QUICK

35 | The largest private equity firms no longer return enough bang for the buck.
BY DAN PRIMACK