In Business News...Let's All Just Go Home

If the first couple days of this week were any indication, this won't be a bad week for Seattle-area businesses to take a long weekend and spend some time licking their wounds in the company of their nearest and dearest.

Where to begin?

Well, Microsoft lost an appeal to some Canadian firm you've never heard of, meaning that it will have to make changes to the coding of Word or stop selling one of its flagship software products three weeks from now. It's a piece of bad news that some industry analysts think could mark Steve Ballmer's last chance to lose his shit as CEO of Microsoft. Don't let us down, Steve!

Meanwhile, upscale sugar water purveyors Jones Soda took a big stock hit while deciding whether to be bought out for about 55 cents on the dollar by Texas-based soda manufacturer Big Red Holdings or face a likely slow demise. Either way, this week may mark the end of running with the little guy, at least so far as your soft drink consumption is concerned.

And finally, the snafu-plagued Boeing 787 has--you guessed it--hit another snafu and seems to be having some trouble getting off the ground. Or rather, getting safely back down to it.

All of which begs the question: why so much bad news in a truncated week for Seattle business concerns? Could something have happened this week that threw financial fortunes out of whack? A karmic whammy come down on the business world from deep space? A disturbance in the Force, if you will?