Halloween week found the market taking to financial news the way a vampire would take to Curt Schilling's ankle. In a word, it was appetizing.

I'm not overpriced, I'm just drawn that way
When DreamWorks Animation (NYSE:DWA) went public on Thursday, it wasn't just your kid watching Shrek for the hundredth time who saw green. The company was able to raise roughly $700 million as its IPO popped from its $28 offering price to $39.50 at the open. That places the studio's valuation on par with Pixar (NASDAQ:PIXR) as each company is now valued at more than $4 billion.

There are big profits to be made here as both players are producing wide net margins, and successful animated features flow through so many other lucrative revenue streams like toys, character licensing deals, and the hungry DVD market. But DreamWorks lost money during three of the four previous years and the animation studio has had its share of duds in the past. Pixar has a better track record. DreamWorks counters by an aggressive release schedule that will find it putting out more feature length animation flicks than Pixar in the coming years. But at a market cap of $4.2 billion, it's not giving itself much room for failure.

Does this Spider-Man costume make my wallet look fat?
For Marvel Entertainment (NYSE:MVL), a company whose stock -- like its comic book reading core audience -- has been living in the teens, the superheroes are ready to come out and play. With three highly anticipated theatrical treatments next year -- and twice as many come 2006 -- investors may be ready to get tangled once again in that wicked web that Spider-Man weaves.

After posting a meaty 60% spike in third-quarter revenues, the company raised its profit guidance, now expecting to earn between $0.96 and $0.98 a share this year and between $1.07 and $1.12 a share come 2005. So apparently even the stock's P/E ratio is making the teen scene. Now rich in both cash and characters, the stock has more than tripled since first being recommended by the Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter back in the summer of 2002.

Sorry Howard Stern, Apple is the new king of all media
It seems as if it's only a matter of time before Apple Computer (NASDAQ:AAPL) is renamed Apple Entertainment. The company that spent decades making cool computers is now a multimedia powerhouse. Its iPod and iTunes Music Store have reinvented -- if not outright reinvigorated -- the digital music industry. Now Apple is ready to strike a pose as its new iPod Photo player enters the video market with the ability to store as many as 25,000 digital pictures.

You have to hand the apple to Apple. With its iMac crowd loyal yet relegated to being a thin slice of the larger computer market, Apple has been able to come up with new ways to matter to the mainstream.

Arms stretched out, bags open wide, eyes that scream "Feed Me!"
Every Halloween, we get in the seasonal spirit by dishing out our own bowl of tricks and treats. This year we have five tricks (stocks that we think will perform poorly over the next year) and five treats (well, you know, the good stuff) in our Halloween special.

Yes, we're egging companies such as Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). Yes, we're egging on companies we like, such as John Deere (NYSE:DE) and recent Rule Breakers stock pick Blue Nile (NASDAQ:NILE). Dig in, but always remember what your mother told you: Never eat any unwrapped stocks.

See you next week!

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz wonders whether when John Deere lets an employee go, it sends a Deere John letter. He owns shares in Pixar and Marvel.