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A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week.

Williams-Sonoma


WSM (NYSE)

  March 14, 2014 close: $64.51 (U.S.)
  up 4.84 or 8.1% over week

There are those who buy their spatulas and kitchenware at Dollarama. And then there are those who travel in circles a little more upscale. The high-falutin' folks turned out at Williams-Sonoma stores in force this holiday, providing strong earnings and a new all-time-high stock price.

Herbalife


HLF (NYSE)

  March 14, 2014 close: $58.04 (U.S.)
  down $6.70 or 10.3% over week

Silly Billy Ackman and his billion-dollar bet against Herbalife that would wipe out all that money he made hassling CP. How quixotic he is, attacking it as no one finds anything wrong with the company. This stock is only going to … oops. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, launched an investigation this week, providing Mr. Ackman a little help.

Coupons.com


COUP (NYSE)

  March 14, 2014 close: $26.55 (U.S.)
  down $3.45 or 11.5% over week

You don’t have to clip a coupon to take $3 off the company’s shares. There was no discount on the stock in its IPO more than a week ago, when the shares nearly doubled. Any investor not lucky enough to buy at the offering price of $16, though, has now lost – not saved – money.

Transat A.T.


TRZ.B (TSX)

  March 14, 2014 close: $8.46
  down $2.29 or 21.3% over week

The declining loonie has made things tough for a number of Canadian businesses, but they’ll soldier on without placing too much blame on currency problems. Like Montreal-based Transat, which headlined its earnings release “Company prevented from improving its results by drop in value of Canadian dollar.” Shareholders were prevented from improving their portfolios by drop in value of Transat stock.

Castlight Health


CSLT (NYSE)

  March 14, 2014 close: $39.80 (U.S.)
  up $23.80 or 149% from $16 IPO (not shown)

This week’s hottest U.S. IPO is Castlight Health, which doubled in its debut Friday. It’s a software company that helps that country’s employers control their health-care costs, a concept somewhat foreign here. Will Americans ever figure out that if the solution is called “Castlight,” the problem is that their health-care system is shrouded in darkness?