The effort comes as HSBC faces revenue growth challenges in its various other businesses, particularly its U.S. consumer finance arm, Household International of Prospect Heights, Ill.

FORBES: HSBC's I-Banking Bet

My winners included Household International, which spiked up when HSBC decided to buy it, which was pure luck, and Gap (nyse: GPS - news - people ), which is rebounding from 9.

FORBES: Next Year Will Be Better

Panmure Gordon analyst Sandy Chen also points out that, as prudent as HSBC has been with its investment banking business, it has made some opportunistic acquisitions of distressed assets in the past, most notably in the case of Household International in the United States.

FORBES: Magazine Article

They are in constant demand and have recently advertised an international household appliance company as well as an Indian telecoms company.

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In the past few decades, though, only a handful of Brazilian stars such as supermodel Gisele Bundchen and footballers Ronaldo and Ronaldinho have managed to break that curse and become international household names.

FORBES: Have You Heard Of Brazilian Country Music Phenomenon Michel Telo Yet? You Will.

The group has said it hopes the film and other efforts will make Kony a household name and drum up international support to halt killings, rapes, abuses and abductions committed by his group, the Lord's Resistance Army, in central Africa.

CNN: 'Kony 2012' director not on drugs or drinking, family says

Chinese household saving, at around 25% of disposable income, is astonishingly high by international standards.

ECONOMIST: The frugal giant

The wines they created in the mid-to-late 1990s won international attention and acclaim, though it would be a while before Malbec became a household name.

WSJ: How Malbec Became the Wine of 'Regular People' | On Wine by Lettie Teague

Despite his vast following and torrents of media attention, Limbaugh, 59, gets trumped by an unlikely array of household names on our poll, including Dr. Mehmet Oz, Steven Spielberg and even U2 frontman and international do-gooder Bono (who also owns a stake in Forbes through Elevation Partners).

FORBES: Magazine Article