Random Thoughts On A Friday

In no particular order, here are some random thoughts on my mind this afternoon…

1.  Microsoft ($MSFT) is losing more on the brutal Bing/MSN twosome than they are taking in on revenues for the online business.  Is the board living in phsyical fear of Ballmer?  He has literally gotten nothing right in what seems like a decade!  Damn do they need new blood in Redmond, WA.

2.  Netflix ($NFLX) has been an absolute wildebeest of a stock this year, it ripped up like 15 points this week on an amazing earnings report.  In many ways, Netflix exemplifies the “jobless recovery”.  Here is a company that has very few employees that benefits from a large population of people sitting around the house with nothing to do.  Renting a movie is the very cheapest form of entertainment after crossword puzzles, no wonder that thing is on fire.

3.  My pal Eric Oberg has a really interesting thought piece up on TheStreet.com that I plan to dig into this weekend.  The premise is that “everywhere you look, debt is favored over equity” and that our biggest problem culturally is that we are hooked on leverage.  You can check it out here.

4.  Which show would be more enjoyable to attend this summer, The Eagles or U2?  The Eagles probably have less longevity given their ages and so this may be a last chance when they roll into NY this summer.  But U2 is always a kickass show, although I wasn’t crazy about the most recent album No Line On The Horizon.

5.  Just did a Strategy Session with the legendary Charles Kirk of The Kirk Report.  He is such a pro and such a gentleman – and his audience is extremely savvy -what a great experience!  The link is here.

6.  How many slices of pizza must one consume in a given week before one can admit he has a problem.  I’m becoming the Kirstie Alley of the financial web and it disgusts me. 

Have a great weekend, kids!