There will be no more sleeping with the enemy between Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Google's CEO is stepping down from Apple's board, and the only real shock is how long he was privy to boardroom chatter until this week's resignation.

Google and Apple may have been chummy Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) haters a few years ago, but these days they seem to be butting heads as competitors. Google and Apple have dueling smartphone operating systems, Web browsers, and cloud-computing aspirations. Google is also working on a rival computer operating system.

If it ever comes down to two tech companies standing, won't it be Google and Apple? One knows how to draw the masses. The other knows how to draw the subset of said masses that is willing to fork over a premium for its products.

Apple and Google can still be friends, but it's really just a matter of time in this dodge-ball game we call tech before it will be just Google and Apple flinging balls at each other. 

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

  • Marvel (NYSE:MVL) posted quarterly results. The comic-book giant is in a lull between major releases. Iron Man 2 is still nine months away from hitting a multiplex near you. However, Marvel did manage to deliver a healthy profit of $0.37 a share and pay down its debt. It's what any superhero would do between clashes.
  • The "cash for clunkers" program has been extended. That is welcome news for Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) -- which needs new-car sales to fuel subscriber growth. It's also sweet news for the automakers and somewhat grim news for gasoline station owners.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz

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