Maven: Making a Target out of Wal-Mart

Public demagoguery is often a buying opportunity. From John Edwards' "Two Americas" to Al Gore’s "People vs. the Powerful" and back, populist political campaigns usually fail. Investors probably won't be dealing with the consequences of the rhetoric. And if you think the politicians themselves fail, take a look at the industries that have been targeted by big, noisy populist political campaigns. Though investors may have been scared off in the short run, long term you probably could not have done better than buying the targeted industries. Steel. Big Oil. Drug companies. HMOs. Chemical companies. Credit card companies. Oy, could I go on. In the years after each populist, anti-industry campaign, stocks in most of those industries flourished. So listen: Wal-Mart has plenty of other troubles, but if politicians paint a short-term target on its back, remember what has happened to such companies in the past.

Regarding PepsiCo's (PEP Quote) appointment of a woman, Indra Nooyi, to its top executive spot, let The Business Press Maven cautiously spread praise in the general direction of the business media. I know this is going to come back and bite me -- maybe even swallow me whole -- but in the very early going, reporters have done a decent job covering Nooyi, which is to say they have not portrayed her as either perfect or horrible.