At The Motley Fool, we know our readers like to be informed. Here's a quick look at today's most relevant financial news, boiled down to what you need to know.

Barnes & Noble launches new tablet
Adding to its existing e-reader devices, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) introduced its Nook Tablet. Priced at $249 a pop, the new Nook begins shipping Nov. 16, just in time for the holidays. The company hopes its new tablet will challenge Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad (starting at $499) and Amazon.com's (Nasdaq: AMZN) Kindle Fire ($199) for tablet market share domination. Read the full story at CNN.

Dish Network looks to pay TV
Satellite and television provider Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) is in talks with various media companies about possibly licensing their TV channels for viewing on a new Web-delivered programming service. Dish Network is getting in at the right time, with media giant Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) exploring a paid television service that links with a high-speed data network. Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal.

McDonald's revenue climbs on Monopoly game success
October was a strong month for McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), which saw the amount of money customers spent on food rise 5.5% on the success of its Monopoly game. The fast-food chain's stock also climbed on the news, opening up $0.43 a share to $95.05 this morning before falling back toward lunchtime. Read the full story at Yahoo! Finance.

That's a wrap
So there you have it -- the top financial stories for this afternoon. If you are interested in getting all the news and commentary on these stocks, sign up to My Watchlist here --it's free!