Homer Simpson, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Foolish Joe walk into a bar. No, wait, that isn't right. Let's clear this up by starting at the beginning, with this week's editors' picks from The Motley Fool.

3 CEOs Walk Into a Mortgage Broker's Office ...
The contest is over, but the laughs remain. The Fool this week asked readers to provide the punch line to this setup. "Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs walk into a mortgage broker's office ..."

Fools aren't your average investors; you have to read only a few of the dozens of responses to know that. Here are three:

  • Clint35 weighs in with a Simpsons-related gag: "And the broker says, 'Hi I'm Troy McClure. You know me from such shows as 'Leverage.'"
  • A zinger from ScottBonz: "'Boy it feels hot in here' say the 3 CEO. The mortgage broker looks at them and replies, 'Now that you mention it, it is a little hot down here. But don't worry it, it only feels like an eternity.'"
  • "... and the receptionist says 'Is this a joke?'" A rimshot for QuandoInQuando.

Click on the story link above to see all the responses, and maybe have a giggle or two at the expense of the CEOs of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Check back at Fool.com to see who wins the prize.

9 Reindeer of Retail
Fool writer Rick Munarriz has a way with words -- and, apparently, reindeer.

On Rick's team, Blue Nile (NASDAQ:NILE) is Cupid, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is Dasher, and lululemon athletica is Prancer.

Leading the show is ... toy-drum roll please ... Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) as Rudolph. "Sure, Wal-Mart has its critics, but the world's largest retailer is the all-weather bright spot -- get it? -- that leads the sleigh," wrote Rick. "It's also the best bellwether for the retail industry. Wal-Mart, you'll go down in history."

Rick's article is part of the Fool's "The 12 Days of Christmas." Over the coming week, there will be "12 Days of Content" surrounding consumer-focused names that look set to profit or perish from the holiday cheer.

Stocks 50 Times Better Than Gold
Fools like to stir things up, but being contrarian just for its own sake isn't Foolish.

Fool analyst and writer Joe Magyer understands that gold fans might not be thrilled when he relates how an investment in stocks over the past 20 years could have walloped an investment in gold.

Forward-looking gold bugs "believe that some mix of America's fiat currency, aggressive monetary policy, and epic deficit spending could make for gut-wrenching inflation," Joe wrote on Monday. "I don't think gold investors are wrong to have those concerns -- just that they're making the wrong trade on them. There's a far better one based on the same concerns."

See, Joe's not just some gold-baiter. He advises readers to skip gold producers and instead consider shares of "high-quality, high-payout producers of necessary industrial commodities which should also benefit from the same concerns that would benefit from drivers of gold prices."

In particular, he alerts readers to Compass Minerals (NYSE:CMP), which deals in salt and sulphate of potash.

What did you see that struck your eye this past week? Tell us about it in the comments below.