Mr. Market may have been surprised with Hewlett-Packard's (NYSE: HPQ) deal to acquire Palm (Nasdaq: PALM), but I wasn't. I actually singled out HP as one of four potential suitors several weeks ago.

Is HP crazy to be forking over $1.2 billion for a smartphone pioneer that was on the ropes?

I don't think so. I don't necessarily agree with HP's optimistic view of having the resources to take on Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) or BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM). However, I think that Palm's webOS now has a second shot at mattering, backed by a company with deep pockets and a true turnaround genius at the helm in Mark Hurd.

In a few years, if we're flipping over webOS tablets and cracking open other webOS gadgetry beyond smartphones, this deal will be a bargain in HP's quest to find a proprietary platform that it can build something great on.

And, hey -- if HP survived the costly Compaq acquisition, it can easily swallow this one down if it doesn't live up to the hype. 

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

  • IMAX (Nasdaq: IMAX) posted the strongest quarter in its 43-year history. Revenue more than doubled and last year's quarterly loss turned into a $0.40-a-share profit. Life after Avatar will be a hard act to follow, but new theater installations keep the company scaling in the right direction.
  • Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) was scheduled to meet with Nasdaq OMX Group (Nasdaq: NDAQ) Thursday to discuss the satellite radio giant's delisting. It never happened. A funny thing happened on the way to the appeal. Sirius XM's stock closed with a bid above $1 for the 10th consecutive day on Tuesday, pushing it back into compliance.

Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz