A Fool Looks Back

Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool
Updated

Amazon.com's (NAS: AMZN) Kindle Fire is for real.

A week that began with a scorching critique on early adopter resentment -- likening the e-tailer's entry-level tablet to the short-lived Edsel -- was capped off with a rare rebuttal on behalf of Amazon.

Amazon issued a press release claiming that it has sold millions of Kindle Fires already. The leading online retailer says that sales growth is accelerating with every passing week and that it has ordered millions more. In other words, even with its flaws the $199 price point is proving to be too tempting to pass up.

Apple (NAS: AAPL) may not be publicly worried, but it can't be a coincidence that some analysts are scaling back their iPad 2 targets for this holiday quarter just as a "good enough" tablet is making waves.

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

  • InterMune (NAS: ITMN) took a hit after a German advisory group concluded that the benefits of InterMune's pirfenidone drug aren't worth the gastrointestinal and skin-damage side effects it may cause.

  • Sirius XM Radio (NAS: SIRI) star Howard Stern will be a celebrity judge on NBC's America's Got Talent next season. The move should create some welcome free publicity for the premium radio service.

  • Avon Products (NYS: AVP) will be looking for a new CEO after announcing that maligned leader Andrea Jung will take a step back at the company. Corporate headhunters: Avon calling!

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz

At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com and Apple.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Apple and Amazon.com and creating a bull call spread position in Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors.Longtime Fool contributorRick Munarrizcalls them as he sees them. He owns no shares in any of the stocks in this story and is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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