GOOD DAY FOR: Delayed delivery, after the Internet domain name pizza-dot-com pulled in $2.6 million at auction. Software entrepreneur Chris Clark registered the name 14 years ago for $20. Most speculative investments in domain names don’t pan out. (CNET.com)
BAD DAY FOR: French secularism, after a regional court in the Val D’Oise region, near Paris, ordered Ikea to pay $707,500 last week for violating a 1906 law banning businesses from operating on Sundays. French home-repair chain Castorama was sued for $550,300 for breaking the same law. Ikea says Sundays account for 20-25 percent of its weekly revenue in France. (AP in BusinessWeek.com)