Market leaders have a funny way of leading us out of a recession. Many of the top dogs in their respective industries came through with better-than-expected quarterly results this week.
- Video game giant Activision Blizzard
(Nasdaq: ATVI) bucked the negative trends at its smaller rivals. - Upscale eatery reservations specialist OpenTable
(Nasdaq: OPEN) served up a tasty dish, as results spiked on a 47% surge in restaurant reservation revenue. -
Baidu.com
(Nasdaq: BIDU) hit a new all-time high, after China's leading search engine once again chomped down market share. - The top name in family entertainment -- Disney
(NYSE: DIS) -- posted a healthy year-over-year bottom-line gain. Analysts were braced for a dip in profitability.
Cynics will argue that I'm jumping the gun. We still have a long way to go before the economy has turned the corner. This week's mid-Atlantic snowstorms will set us back. The jobless ranks are still high. Greece is the word.
However, there's a reason why we call these companies market leaders and not laggards. They lead -- by definition. They're proving exactly that right now.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
-
E*TRADE
(Nasdaq: ETFC) became the latest discount broker to slash commissions and eliminate certain account fees. This is great news for investors, though industry margins may take it on the chin. - Activision Blizzard's report may have been well-received, but rival Electronic Arts
(Nasdaq: ERTS) hit a fresh 52-week low after its disappointing report. Leaders lead. Bleeders bleed. - During his radio show, Howard Stern added fuel to the rumor mill fire by declaring that he would welcome a shot at being one of the American Idol judges. It's just one more reason why Sirius XM Radio
(Nasdaq: SIRI) needs to speed up contract negotiations before Stern -- a master of negotiating in public -- drives his asking price higher. His current five-year deal expires in December.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
