A Fool Looks Back

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz | More Articles
May 7, 2011 | Comments (3)

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DISH Network (Nasdaq: DISH ) CEO Charlie Ergen is comparing his purchase of Blockbuster to a Seinfeld episode -- not that there's anything wrong with that.

Wait a minute. Everything's wrong with that.

"You'll have to just wait and see where it all comes together," he explained, alluding to how some Seinfeld shows don't seem to make a lot of sense initially.

I can just picture Ergen channeling Elaine Benes with a "get -- out" slam for Blockbuster leases that his company won't be picking up.

DISH shareholders still deserve better. I applauded Ergen's decision because of the fire-sale price, but this isn't the kind of endeavor that the satellite-television company should take lightly. There will be some serious losses incurred if the vision isn't communicated clearly.

The company also conceded during this week's conference call that Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX ) has a "probably insurmountable lead" in the digital-delivery future. Is this the kind of thing you want to make known? Why buy Blockbuster if doing so is "probably" futile?

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

Trex (Nasdaq: TREX ) is shuffling the deck. The maker of alternative decking is acquiring most of the assets of a manufacturer of steel deck framing systems.
Renren (Nasdaq: RENN ) , a fast-growing social-networking site in China, went public on Wednesday. What is Facebook waiting for?
Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI ) added 373,064 net subscribers during the first three months of the year. Smartphone streaming and HD radio don't appear to be getting in the way of the popularity of satellite radio.
Bridgepoint Education (NYSE: BPI ) bucked the trend of rival for-profit post-secondary educators that have ben posting weak results and enrollment declines. Bridgeport is reaching a student base that's 34% larger than it was a year ago. That's one way to move to the head of the class.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz

Want to read more about DISH Network? Add it to My Watchlist, which will find all of our Foolish analysis on this stock.

The Steve Jobs Betrayal
You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?

Enter your email address below to find out what made Jobs so enraged!

Alpha Newsletter Account, LLC, has bought puts on Netflix, which is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick. The Fool owns shares of Bridgepoint Education, on which Motley Fool Options has recommended a call spread position. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz recommends windshield wiper fluid when trying to look back. He owns shares of Netflix and is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.

Read/Post Comments (3) | Recommend This Article (3)

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On May 07, 2011, at 9:12 AM, draland wrote:

Hey Rick, NOTHINGS getting in the way of SIRIXM.
Thanks for Ur insight Regarding the CC, looks like we all felt "the sky was falling", when indeed it was the start of a BULL run to $2.50 & beyond !
Stay Well .......
Report this Comment On May 07, 2011, at 4:52 PM, moore34 wrote:

What if the Gainful Employment Rule Gets Weakened? BPI will take off... http://bit.ly/ieeUZW
Report this Comment On May 08, 2011, at 6:45 AM, zukerman wrote:

Costanza's idea for a show about nothing comes to mind, maybe this is what Ergen was alluding to.

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