All you need to know
If you're like me, you probably have a lot of friends and family members who don't know squat about the stock market. They couldn't care less about business news. They couldn't tell a bid from an ask, a short from a long, or a Maria Bartiromo from an Erin Burnett.
It's shocking, I know.
Well, in an effort to help you share a little of your market enthusiasm, I've decided to take a look at some of the top stories of the past week and explain them in layman's terms that will get any couch potato excited.
Let's start with the Time Warner Cable
How about Hershey
Oompa, loompa, doopity-do
I've got another pink slip for you
Oompa, loompa, do pity dough
I hear we're hiring in Acapulco
Then you have news stories that really need no translation. 1-800-Flowers
Lifestyles of the niche and famous
One of my favorite stocks is a company by the name of Baidu.com
Wall Street was looking for 136% in revenue growth and 255% in profit growth. Baidu nailed the top line and actually saw earnings per share soar 400% higher. Still, the stock took a hit, though it did begin to claw its way back throughout the trading day.
What spooked investors into what was initially more than a 10% dip? Well, analysts were concerned that the company's revenue guidance for the first quarter wasn't up to snuff. Let's dig right back into that quarterly report. Did you see how profits outpaced revenue? That is margin expansion. The same analysts who can't realize that Baidu is squeezing $0.43 in profit out of every dollar in revenue suddenly think the company is vulnerable under a slower growth scenario. I've seen folks underestimate the paid-search leader in the slower-growing stateside market before, and Google
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
Time Warner is a Stock Advisor selection. Baidu is a Rule Breakers newsletter pick. You can check out either service with a free 30-day trial.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz recommends windshield wiper fluid when trying to look back. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy.