Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) has seen the future, and it looks a lot like Larry David.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings insists that HBO is its biggest competitor, and not the growing number of companies that have been rolling out cheap streaming-video smorgasbords.

It sounds like denial, though perhaps Hastings is trying to play nice with Hollywood by positioning itself as yet another premium content channel. Playing the disruptive dot-com speedster hasn't helped it keep all of its streaming licenses. Netflix lost its Starz Play streaming rights on Thursday, so maybe it hopes it can follow in HBO's footsteps and be able to charge a king's ransom just for a handful of exclusive shows.

There's never a dull moment following Netflix lately.

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

  • SodaStream (Nasdaq: SODA) posted better-than-expected results, but the stock still gave back the heady gains it had accumulated earlier in the week. I guess you can be flat even when you're fizzy.
  • Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) is acquiring social travel research specialist Uptake.com. The daily-deals leader has been snapping up quite a few small companies since going public. I wonder whether it's able to pay with prepaid Groupon vouchers to get a better price.
  • Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet thinks Liberty Media (Nasdaq: LMCA) may try to double its stake in Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) to 80%. That seems like a high price to pay to get Howard Stern's autograph -- but those juicy net operating losses are now within reach.

Moving on
Now that you've had a glimpse of the past, let's delve into the future. A new report details the latest Rule-Breaking multibagger that has earned Fool co-founder David Gardner's attention. The report is free, and you're closer to it than you think. Check it out now.