Stocks Not Doing Anything, While Netflix Set A 52-Week Low (MOS, JNPR, WDC, NFLX, FSLR, JWN)

Stocks are modestly as the world awaits the EFSF vote from Slovakia.

Dow down 6 pts.

S&P 500 up 2 pts.

Nasdaq up 17 pts.

Netflix hit a 52-week low.  Citi cut earnings estimates on subscriber attrition.

Other losers on the S&P 500 include Nordstrom and First Solar, off 3.4% and 2.9%, respectively. The sell off in Nordstrom stock is likely profit-taking as the retailer is near its 52-week high of $52.15. First Solar shares have come under increasing pressure thanks to the collapse of Solyndra. The solar wafer producer set a new 52-week low this morning and is down 67% from the year's highs.

Leading on the plus side are Western Digital, Mosaic Companies, and Juniper Networks, trading up 5.2%, 5.0% and 3.8%, respectively. Bristol Myers Squibb, Ross Stores, and Cephalon are showing more modest gains, but their stocks are setting 52-week highs.

Commodities declined slightly on the COMEX, with gold December futures at $1,666 a troy ounce, off just $4.40. Copper saw the greatest, if still modest, fall among precious metals. December deliverables of the commodity are trading down seven cents, or 1.9%, to $3.30 per pound.

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DRIVING WHILE FAMOUS: Celebrities Who Did Dumb Stuff Behind The Wheel

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The world of A-list celebrities has become something of a joke in recent years.

People like Paris Hilton have managed to secure world-wide fame by having sex on tape and by having a rich dad. It's pretty ridiculous.

But thankfully, there is salvation, as these "celebrities" are often just socialites, meaning they typically get themselves into quite a mess of an evening.

So with that being said, here’s a quick run-down of some of the most infamous celebrities who were caught behind the wheel being very naughty, indeed.

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THE GOOGLE INVESTOR: iPad Market Share Grows While Android Tablet Share Shrinks (GOOG)

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Image: AP

GOOG Strong In Up Market 
Markets are on the rise for a fourth straight session after major central banks coordinated efforts to offer liquidity into the strained European banking system. Shares of GOOG are up strong, exponentially more than the rest of technology. Catalysts include continued Android momentum in the smartphone and tablet markets worldwide; Motorola acquisition approval and integration; regaining ground in China in search and pushing forward in mobile; any signs of life for Google TV (including Motorola); the roll-out of Google Music and social network Google+; and progress in other newer initiatives (location-based services, mapping, gaming, Chromebooks, etc.). The stock trades at approximately 11.2x Enterprise Value / EBIT, inexpensive relative to historical trading levels.

Why Did Google Buy Zagat? (TechCrunch)
Marissa Mayer, Google's VP of maps and local, says that aside from the strong brand the company has created over the past 32 years, Zagat has a lot of great partnerships, content, and a great team behind it. "We thought there was a lot of value for our users," she says. "Users want to know, what to expect when they're going somewhere." Could spell trouble for OpenTable. Zagat will remain separate from Google Places. And it's ZaGAT, pronounced like cat.

Android Tablets Lost Market Share In Second Calendar Quarter (Various via iDygest)
According to IDC, Apple not only continues to dominate the global tablet market, its share of the market continues to grow while Android's slips, even to the hands of RIM's PlayBook and HP's TouchPad. Worldwide media tablet shipments rose by 88.9% on a sequential basis and 303.8% year-over-year in the second calendar quarter of 2011. Apple took a 68.3% share in the second quarter, up about 3% from the first quarter. Android tablets slipped to 26.8% of the market from 34% in the first quarter.

Microsoft, Yahoo And AOL Team Up To Take On Google (All Things Digital)
In an effort to outsmart Google, AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft have reportedly agreed to share remnant ad inventory with each other. Can anyone say collusion? Bing now powers Yahoo search in North America and the two companies share advertising sales and revenue, but Google still brings in the lion's share of online-ad cash. Under the plan, each of the companies will sell each other's "Class 2 display" inventory or leftover banner ads the companies can't sell on their own. Why doesn't Microsoft just buy both companies?

Google Buys Patents From IBM (Bloomberg)
Google has acquired a group of 1,023 patents from IBM. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. The transaction is the latest move in the ongoing arms race in the mobile computing business. In particular, the company would appear to be seeking ways to protect Android.

Julian Robertson And Sequoia Say Google's A Great Investment (Seeking Alpha)
Julian Robertson is an investing legend. The Sequoia Fund isn't too shabby either. Both like Google as an investment idea. How strong is Google's search share? The days of someone coming up with a clever algorithm and competing against Google in search are essentially over. There’s really only one competitor out there and that’s Microsoft. And we all know what a money pit that is.

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Australian Ikea Store Builds A Playroom For Men Where Wives Can Drop Their Husbands While They Go Shop

By Sarah Firshein

An Ikea store in Sydney, Australia, has either set retail shopping forward by three decades or set gender equality back by three decades—you decide: they're testing out Manland, which is, as one local newscaster describes it, "basically a creche for husbands and boyfriends with short retail attention spans, a place to hang out while their wives and girlfriends run the aisles of Ikea."

Think ultimate man-cave stuff such as video games, foosball tables, free hot dogs, pinball machines, and oddly enough, no books. (Apparently reading is not encouraged in Manland!) As with Ikea's childcare creche, women dropping off their husbands and boyfriends are given a buzzer. "After 30 minutes, the buzzer goes off, it reminds you that you have to come pick up your man or else, you know, we may have to all the authorities," explains one Ikea sales associate.

Clearly there are a number of loopholes in this whole program, not the least being the fact that it overlooks gay couples. And secondly, when is 30 minutes ever enough time to successfully navigate an Ikea.

This post originally appeared at Curbed.

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