The Ticker A Look Back At The Past Week On Wall Street

What’s hot

Wall Street has been eagerly awaiting news on who would be replacing Richard Ayers as head of Stanley Works.

Thursday, the street found out it will be John Trani, head of General Electric’s medical systems business. And what did investors think of the choice? Stanley’s stock jumped $5.37-1/2 Thursday and Friday, to end the week at $32.37-1/2. … Another company that announced new leadership this week, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., also received favorable response. The avant-garde ice cream maker chose Perry Odak as CEO and Wall Street licked it up, bumping the stock $1 to $12.75 on Friday.

What’s not

Microsoft, the 800-pound gorilla, chapter six. In this week’s episode, Spyglass sees its stock drop $1.25 Thursday before ending the week at $12.37-1/2. The reason? The internet software-maker’s first-quarter loss will be larger than expected. Why? Microsoft hasn’t reported to Spyglass how many copies of Internet Explorer have been distributed. Without the report, Spyglass can’t determine the royalties due from Microsoft. … FileNet Corp is not getting enough orders for its document-imaging software, and it is having trouble filling the orders it does have. A sure recipe for disaster and Friday was one, as its stock fell $8.75 to $23.