Austin Smith, for Motley Fool 9:38 a.m. EDT May 17, 2016 You should get to know the world’s most high-profile plant.(Photo: Pixabay)Cannabis is enjoying a major public-image improvement. After all, we've learned that the THC in marijuana has medicinal uses, while the plant fibers in hemp have countless uses in manufacturing. The legitimacy of marijuana is growing as states legalize it and corporations invest substantial resources in cannabinoid research and development.No matter your stance on cannabis, you should get to know the world's most high-profile plant. So here are some facts and figures on marijuana that may surprise or impress you:In Colorado, (legal) sales of recreational and medical marijuana totaled nearly $1 billion in 2015Marijuana is a bigger business than many people realize. Although some are worried about the long-term health effects of marijuana use, it's clear that legalization comes with some benefits to society -- namely, more jobs and tax revenue. In 2014, Colorado collected $76 million in total marijuana-related taxes, and it had collected an additional $87 million from January through August of 2015 -- and much of that revenue went to schools. Indeed, the state collects more from marijuana taxes than from alcohol taxes. Personal-finance website NerdWallet estimated that full nationwide legalization could bring in more than $3 billion in annual tax revenue to our 50 states.About 700,000 people are arrested annually on marijuana-related chargesThat's a lot of people -- and most of them are not dangerous drug kingpins or even local distributors. Fully 88% of those arrested in 2014 were arrested for possession of marijuana, often in small amounts. In fact, a whopping 40% of all drug-related arrests in 2014 were for marijuana possession and not production or sale. That's a huge drain on our criminal justice and penal systems, suggesting that there could be substantial…

Investors are hungry for hot profit reports.(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto) Despite some high-profile misses, The quarter is actually off to a better start than usual, although it's still early. Big surprises are part of every earnings season. Investors can only hope they get more positive ones than negative.Investors will eye companies with track records for regularly eating analysts' earnings estimates for breakfast to see if they can keep it up. There are five companies in the Standard & Poor's 500, including design software maker Autodesk (ADSK[1]), video-game maker Electronic Arts (EA) and oil explorer Transocean (RIG[2]), that have beaten earnings expectations the past four straight quarters by an average of 50% or more, according to a USA TODAY analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence.The quarter is actually off to a better start than usual, although it's still early. So far, 77% of companies that have reported have beaten expectations, which is higher than the 66% that normally do. It's been pretty common for companies to routinely beat expectations lately: 132 companies in the S&P 500 have beaten earnings estimates over the previous four straight quarters.Investors could use some major beats now. Expectations for earnings growth in the first quarter are so low companies could have an easier time surpassing such a low bar. Analysts are calling for a nearly 8% decline in adjusted profit in the first quarter from companies in the S&P 500, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. But slow global growth continues to dog companies, says Mike Thompson, chairman of S&P Investment Advisory Services. There is "a really anemic economic growth scenario, and the rest of the world is providing little in terms of growth," he says.Some investors might wonder which companies have had a strong track record of topping expectations. Take Autodesk, which makes a variety of…

Nicholas Gartside, chief investment officer of international fixed income at JPMorgan Chase Bank, and Bloomberg's Guy Johnson discuss U.S. interest rates, the impact of a rate hike on the dollar and when we could see the next hike. Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen leads a two-day Fed meeting this week.(Photo: JASON SZENES, EPA)With U.S. economic growth stalling and global risks still looming, the odds of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates this spring are dwindling and Fed policymakers are likely to convey that message after a meeting this week, economists say.While there’s virtually no chance of a rate hike at a two-day meeting that begins Tuesday, many economists had maintained their call of a June move even after a surprisingly cautious speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen late last month.Since then, however, economic growth has slowed and an upward drift in inflation toward the Fed’s 2% annual target has lost steam.“They need to see evidence that the growth slowdown in the first quarter is transitory and inflation is actually firming,” Barclays Chief U.S. economist Michael Gapen, a former Fed staffer, says.The Fed raised its benchmark rate from near zero to about 0.4% in December, the first hike in nine years. But it has stood pat since.The economy grew just 1.4% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter amid a pullback in business stockpiling and a downturn in exports due to the global weakness and a strong dollar.A surge in consumption was expected to drive growth in the first quarter. Instead, retail sales and consumer spending reports disappointed, compounding the ongoing headwinds of feeble exports and a oil-price slump that has hammered energy investment. Many economists expect growth of less than 1% in the Jan.-March period.“Any way you slice it, the economy is falling short of the Fed’s growth…