Lest you focus just on looking for the next great place to invest or on finding the best stocks to buy in this market, here's a brief recap of some of the more unusual financial news out there:
- Someone might want to remind oil companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron
(NYSE:CVX) that good fences make good neighbors. It seems that a camel in Saudi Arabia that was to be entered in a camel beauty pageant fell into a crude-oil storage hole and was killed. Its owner is suing oil giant Saudi Aramco for around $250,000.
- Fast-food purveyors such as McDonald's
(NYSE:MCD) and Yum! Brands(NYSE:YUM) might want to play soothing music in their eateries. In Massachusetts, a couple allegedly went into a rage, hurling coins and plastic safety cones at cashiers after being served a small order of fries instead of the large that they had ordered. - Day traders, the folks at Philips Electronics and ABN AMRO are looking out for you. They've developed a prototype stress detector that will alert you when it's time to take a break. (Of course, we at the Fool suggest that you take a permanent break from day trading.)
- Attention Nokia
(NYSE:NOK) , Verizon(NYSE:VZ) , and Motorola(NYSE:MOT) . If you're planning to lobby against curbing cell-phone use while driving, take note of a study in an upcoming Applied Cognitive Psychology journal. The study surveyed people who were talking on a cell phone as they passed by a clown riding a unicycle. Talkers were less than half as likely as nontalkers to say they saw anything unusual. Uh-oh.
- Lawnmower makers such as Deere
(NYSE:DE) and Toro might be facing a clipped market if this development becomes a trend. Andover, Mass., has begun using goats to trim its public meadow. It's seen as a win-win-win-win solution, with the goats feeding on the grass, the grass getting cut, fewer dollars being spent, and the environment benefiting.
Enough silliness, though. We at the Fool aim "to educate, amuse, and enrich." So I invite you to read any other article in Fooldom for at least a little education and perhaps some enrichment, as well.
