October kicked off with a flurry of financial news that sent the markets scurrying back inside for a warm breakfast.
Stern means Sirius
Faster than you can say Ba Ba Booey, satellite radio got a major boost in street credibility when Sirius Satellite Radio
Little Bunny Flu Flu
It's a sickening thought, but flu vaccine specialist Chiron
Chiron expects to return to business as usual for next year's flu season, so perhaps this past week's stock dive is providing an investing opportunity for value investors writing "Get Well Swoon" cards. Those who can't wait that long may be jumping on rival vaccine makers Aventis SA and MedImmune
Wall-to-wall-to-Wal-Mart
The world's largest retailer is about to get even bigger as Wal-Mart
While that may or may not prove to be antidote to help offset the chain's slower domestic growth, at least we can now hope that a globetrotting Paris Hilton will run into a Wal-Mart eventually.
Two for the show
Grilled ribeye steaks and injectable antibiotics may have nothing in common, but that didn't stop casual steakhouse chain Texas Roadhouse
Both stocks also popped a few dollars higher at the open and that bodes well for the iffy IPO market. They're interesting companies -- Theravance has an intriguing product pipeline while Texas Roadhouse is sporting higher operating margins than rival Outback Steakhouse. However, did you catch a peek at those ticker symbols? They're nearly identical. How much do you want to bet that a few investors messed up and wound up buying the wrong stock? Will they get "I wanted a steakhouse and all I got was this fledgling biotech" T-shirts? Will they demand that the Theravance labs litter their floors with peanut shells? Oh, man, talk about ticker shock.
See you next week!
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has heard of Wal-Mart, has eaten at a Texas Roadhouse in Gainesville, occasionally listens to Stern, and is feeling under the weather but has never gone in for a flu shot. He doesn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.