Wall Street is constantly making music. Sometimes it belts out tunes that tickle investors' ears, but other times it hums little ditties that shareholders would rather not hear. Let's review some of the tunes heard on the Street last week.
1. "Oops, I Did It Again" by the Microsoft Melody Machine
On Thursday, Microsoft
2. "Stand by Me" by Steve Jobs and the Apple Artistes
Apple
3. "Ridin'" by Hardcore Honda
Honda
4. "It Was a Very Good Year" by the Warren Buffett Crooners
I heard a rumor that Warren, el capitan of Berkshire Hathaway
5. "Crazy" by Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Rockers
Ben and the Fed were rocking to the Gnarls Barkley smash hit on Thursday as they watched the market react to the latest round of interest-rate hikes. In a peculiar case of "sell the rumor, buy the fact," the Dow finished the day up 216 points while the Nasdaq climbed 63 points in the wake of the Fed's quarter-point interest-rate hike. Of course, the 25-basis-point hike was less than the half-point hike that some Fed watchers were starting to talk about, and the Fed's released statement was decidedly less hawkish than previous statements had been. But since the sell-off on Wall Street began in early May, investors, or at least traders, seem to be hanging on every word from any of the Fed board members and are creating plenty of volatility based on interest-rate expectations. With the Fed's most recent statement that the "extent and timing of any additional firming" will depend on further economic data, it's unlikely that we're going to see that volatility die off quite yet -- or get that darn Gnarls Barkley song out of our heads.
For more recent rockin' Foolishness:
- Backdating Scandal Bites Apple
- Konichiwa, Mon Frere
- Buffett Meets the Press
- Buffett Meets the Press: Part 2
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Fool contributor Matt Koppenheffer loves the beautiful music of Wall Street but doesn't hold shares of any of the companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool's disclosure policy is always a hit.