Weekly Wrap

School finally ended for my kids this week, Fear Factor has become my latest television addiction (a close second to The Weakest Link), and I put my house on the market yesterday. It's time for me to move from the Great White North to God's country (Calgary to MN). That was my week... but how was it in the market?

Just as busy as mine.

This past week in the Chicks Eye View we covered companies that were up for our last buy. My mother, Chick Jeanette shared the fun she has shopping at Wal-Mart (WMT) and how my dad is far from being Tool-Time Tim. On our message boards, Chick Lynn airs some concern and relief that we didn't buy Wal-Mart as she found this news disturbing. Chick Kristin wrote about the company she proposed for our purchase, Alcoa (AA). She does a heck of a job cheering it on, but maybe she should have followed Chick Megan's lead... Gimme a "P", gimme a "G" as she rallied around Procter & Gamble (PG). We're a funny bunch when it comes to what really makes us buy a stock. When we bought Medtronic (MDT), Chick Lynn's mom actually had to have a heart attack for us to realize their need in the marketplace. Lynn kept us up to date on their weekly news in her message board post and Chick Megan did double duty as she also covered AFLAC (AFL) in this week's Chicks' Dozen report.

For more Chick holdings news, Chick Jana reported on her company to track, Nokia, Kristin reported on AOL-Time Warner, and Susie reported on both EMC (EMC) and Sun Microsystems (SUNW). I'm just curious how she knows Scott McNealy's wife drives a PT Cruiser. Where does she get her scoops?

Speaking of scoops... Chick Cheryl had lunch with Greg Kinnear and Sam Elliott on Wednesday; but that's nothing compared to her sharing a coffee with Mel Gibson!! True story, she was hanging with Mel... on the set... IN HIS TRAILER!! For more scoop on Cheryl and Mel, read about her day. Some girls have all the luck.

Can we even talk market after Mel? Ugh, I'll do my best to fade from "green with envy" to "market in the red."

The big drug makers took a beating on Friday after a week of bad news. Merck (NYSE: MRK), Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP), and Novartis (NYSE: NVS) all disappointed shareholders this past week. Merck came out with an earnings warning which led to the largest sell off in the pharmaceutical sector. The stock dropped 8.4%. Schering-Plough announced that they are still having problems at their drug plants (not the kind you grow in your back yard) in New Jersey and Puerto Rico. They gave a similar warning in February, saying that it would delay their new product, Clarinex (a spin-off of Claritin), from hitting the market. So, long-story-short: we won't see Clarinex any time soon since their drug plant problems are not any better. (Hint: Try trimming leaves). Then, drug manufacturer Novartis failed to get FDA approval for its new drug Zelnorm, a drug for irritable bowel syndrome. Huge disappointment and the stock lost almost 5%. For a more in depth look at these and other drug companies, check out Tom Jacob's article at fool.com.

Somewhere in my weekly market wraps I have missed that iVillage.com (IVIL) and Women.com are merging. This brings more women together, but on the flip side, they had to send quite a few home today on account of it. As part of the merge, iVillage has told half of its staff to hit the cobblestone street. This brings their total employees down to 200 people. How does the saying go... "It takes a village?" Well the village just got smaller.

Forbes came out with their World's Richest List this week. Guess who's on top? Yep, Chick Julie's pal, Microsoft's Bill Gates. His net worth is a spectacle raising 58 billion. Right behind him, Mr. Warren Buffett, and after him, another Microsoft exec, Mr. Paul Allen. But where is Oracle's Larry Ellison? He was number two last year and sooooo close to Billy (even surpassing him a couple of days). Larry dropped to #4 as his worth plummeted from $46 billion to $28 billion. I don't think Larry really cares right now, as his company announced their earnings on Monday. For the first time in a loooooong time, I'm happy to report, a tech company beat earnings estimates. (Albeit, an adjusted earnings estimate.) Their stock gained 13% on the day.

You won't see Kenneth Cole, the CEO of Kenneth Cole (KCP) anywhere near the top of that list, especially after Friday's news. My favorite shoe company announced that they expect lower than anticipated earnings for this next quarter. The stock lost a heel and dropped 20%. It's a tough market for the retail industry right now; just ask the Chicks how their Gap (GPS) is doing. Not good. They announced on Friday that they would cut 5 to 7 percent of its headquarter's staff, amounting to 10,000 people. They also reneged on their original plan to increase the square footage of their stores by 15%... they scaled it back to 10%. The stock did the downward spiral dance (commercial yet to come) and lost 8%. Ugh.

Oooh... just got a call that my son made the provincial All-Star Team for lacrosse. They are having a practice in half an hour for the National tournament that takes place in British Columbia in July. Looks like I won't be leaving Canada as soon as I thought.

Have a great weekend!
Chick Karin

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