Weird Financial News

• Email
• Share
• Print

Lest you focus solely on whether the dollar is in trouble, or on wondering how you could earn 50% returns, here's a brief recap of some of the world's more unusual financial news:

• In Phoenix, a high school library received a check for $1,000 for two books that had been overdue for 50 years. The former student who returned the books and the money explained that the fee had been $0.02 per day and he was adding a little extra in case the fees had gone up. Still, the former student got a break: Had the library invested $0.02 per day, or $7.30 per year, in the stock market, earning an annual average of 10%, the sum would have grown to more than $9,000 over 50 years. 
• Companies, take every lawsuit seriously! PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) was recently ordered to pay $1.26 billion to defendants who accused the company of stealing their idea for bottled water. PepsiCo apparently never responded when served with the papers. Fortunately for the company, a judge recently vacated that ruling.
• The 15-person police department in a Hungarian town won millions in a lottery jackpot -- and promptly quit, leaving the town in the lurch. Maybe there's an opportunity here for insurance companies like Allstate (NYSE: ALL), Travelers (NYSE: TRV) and MetLife (NYSE: MET) to offer lottery insurance to companies and governments.
• The emphasis on endorsements in sports can create unintended consequences. For instance, Nike (NYSE: NKE) has long been associated with Michael Jordan, so it may seem natural that Jordan's son wanted to wear Nike Air Jordan sneakers while playing for the University of Central Florida (UCF). The problem? UCF had a $3 million contract with adidas. Executives at adidas didn't like the young Jordan's fashion statement; now UCF has lost its deal.
• Hotels looking to juice revenue might want to offer guests unusual experiences. One hotel in France is getting guests to pay more than $150 to spend a night as a hamster. Guests eat hamster grain, run on a giant metal wheel, and sleep in hay. I can't wait to see what Marriott (NYSE: MAR) or Starwood Hotels and Resorts (NYSE: HOT) will do with this concept.

Enough silliness. We at the Fool aim "to educate, amuse, and enrich." I invite you to read any other article in Fooldom for at least a little education, and perhaps some enrichment, as well.