Lest you be focusing on the more serious stories in the financial press, such as Burger King's
- Media companies such as General Electric's
(NYSE:GE) NBC unit and CBS(NYSE:CBS) should take note: They may be able to trim their expenses considerably by cutting back on moola paid to stars. There's a new kind of talent afoot -- and it doesn't negotiate contracts. In England, it seems that "A large English cheddar cheese has become a star of the Internet, attracting more than 1 million viewers to sit and stare at it as it slowly ripens." - The country-oriented cable channel CMT, part of Viacom
(NYSE:VIA) , recently dropped the Miss America pageant -- the second time in three years that the pageant has had to look for a new perch. If media companies are looking for a more exciting kind of beauty pageant with which to lure viewers, they need look no farther than Saudi Arabia, where a camel beauty pageant has proved popular, drawing about 250 owners and 1,500 camels. - As the price of gas keeps climbing, investors might want to pay attention to certain industries. Car insurers, for example, may suffer greater losses, while sales might increase at security specialists such as LoJack
(NASDAQ:LOJN) . I suggest this because of the story of Maung Myo Win, who stole 11 cars in Burma in six months -- allegedly just to get their gas. - From a Palm Beach, Fla., area jail comes a warning to companies to think twice before adopting a slogan. Wal-Mart
(NYSE:WMT) , for example, has long been known for its "low prices" and "rollback" prices. The problem is that some customers embrace these slogans as their own -- like the Florida shopper who rolled back prices at a Wal-Mart on his own, dropping Xbox games, diapers, and fishing supplies to as little as $0.75 each. - And finally, a lesson on how companies that occasionally make mistakes might want to put aside a little money to cover occasional lawsuits. Perhaps, if you're a small mom-and-pop business, say ... $65 million? That's the amount that a Washington, D.C. judge is suing his dry cleaners for, after they misplaced a pair of pants he was having altered for $10.50. Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher explains that, "He says he deserves millions for the damages he suffered by not getting his pants back, for his litigation costs, for 'mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort,' for the value of the time he has spent on the lawsuit, for leasing a car every weekend for 10 years [to drive to a new cleaner, since he owns no car], and for a replacement suit, according to court papers."
Enough silliness, though. We at the Fool aim "to educate, amuse and enrich." I invite you to read any other article in Fooldom for at least a little education and perhaps some enrichment, as well. For more enrichment, I encourage you to test-drive, for free, our Motley Fool Hidden Gems newsletter, which delivers promising investment ideas monthly. Its picks are beating the market 60% to 27%, and it's where I've gotten a bunch of great investment ideas myself.
Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian owns shares of Wal-Mart, which is a Motley Fool Inside Value recommendation. JetBlue is a Stock Advisor recommendation. Try any one of our investing services free for 30 days. The Motley Fool isFools writing for Fools.
