Search, satellites, and supermarkets owned the week that was.

All roads lead to Microsoft
Isn't it inevitable? Now that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has walked away from the regulatory hassle behind beefing up Yahoo!'s (NASDAQ:YHOO) paid search monetization, isn't it just a matter of time before Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) sweeps in and steals away Yahoo!?

Even Yahoo! is starting to see it that way.

"The best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo!," Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang said on Wednesday. He then expressed his willingness to sell the company at the right price.

Price has been a stickler before. It remains to be seen if Microsoft is even interested in putting its shareholders through another dilutive ordeal. However, as Yahoo!'s options dwindle and Microsoft's own growth prospects in search diminish, the two are practically stuck with each other.

For better or worse, all roads lead to Microhoo.

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

  • If you've ever labored over cracking open a huge plastic clamshell to get your hands on a tiny memory card or find your fingers blistered after untwisting a ton of twist ties in unwrapping your child's action toy, you're in luck. Amazon.com (NYSE:AMZN) is launching its Frustration-Free Packaging initiative, simplifying the packing process. It makes sense, since shoplifting practices that brought us the plastic clamshell as a deterrent aren't necessary in the e-tail space.
  • Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) is talking to financial institutions to help refinance next year's problematic debt repayments. In doing so, the company is going public with its five year projections for subscriber growth, revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow. The big news is that over the past two months, the company has shaved 0.9 million members from its original target of having 21.5 million subscribers by the end of next year. However, seeing the combination of growing rolls, revenue, and cash flow metrics paints an encouraging picture of a stock that has been battered by negativity. Has Sirius XM bottomed?
  • When is the last time that Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFMI) rose after an earnings report? It's a rare sight lately, but it did happen on Thursday. The company scored a welcome cash infusion, also managing to post positive comps for the quarter. Maybe consumers haven't tired of paying a premium for organic groceries after all?

Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz