Stars and Dogs for the week of May 1

Nothing perks up your spirits like a bouquet of flowers delivered to your door. Unless the flowers are dead, of course. Shareholders of 1-800-Flowers.com know the feeling. The seller of bouquets, gourmet foods and gift baskets posted a quarterly loss of $7.3-million as weak consumer spending, aggressive promotions and lousy weather around Valentine's Day put a dent in profits. With results falling well short of Wall Street forecasts, no wonder the stock is wilting.

Things that are less risky than being a Shoppers Drug Mart shareholder: 1) Walking across train tracks with your iPod turned up all the way; 2) Using a blowtorch near a propane tank; 3) Yelling "What a bunch of pansies!" in a biker bar. With its stock already hammered by Ontario's drug price reforms, the company slashed its forecast for prescription sales and chopped $100-million from its capital spending plans. Investors are in need of some heavy-duty painkillers.

There once was a company called Goldman Sachs Whose stock price was showing some widening cracks The losses were minimal Until the word criminal Was used to describe the firm's alleged acts.

Whether you enjoy eating a bowl of Raisin Bran in the morning or devouring an entire tray of Rice Krispies treats while watching Dancing With the Stars, Kellogg has a cereal for you. The breakfast cereal giant had some sweet news for investors this week: Boosted by stronger international sales and cost cuts, first-quarter profit jumped 30 per cent and sales rose 4.7 per cent, giving the stock some snap, crackle and pop.

You know that feeling when your company rolls out a brand new software program, but you're still trying to figure out how to log on to the last one? Open Text shareholders can relate. Shares of the business software maker plunged after it posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit, prompting at least one analyst to downgrade the stock and several others to cut their price targets. Isn't technology fun?

Open Text