Netflix (NFLX) looks like a buy. And then again, it looks like a sell. Don't you hate that? Louis Navellier was recently bullish on the movie-rental company. I see his point. But I also see the one-year chart as maybe a reason to take profits at this time. Inarguably, the stock has had a nice run.

A little over a week ago, Wade Hansen discussed the streaming success the company has had and also analyzed the technical prospects for the equity. There's no question that the management team wants to aggressively move its business model forward from physical media to digital delivery. Considering the brand equity in place, I believe the service has a good shot at achieving long-term success.

I've been thinking about the whole Jersey Shore zeitgeist. You know the show. It's on Viacom's (VIA) MTV. It's a huge hit, everyone is talking about it and its stars (Snooki, The Situation, etc.). It also was mentioned in a recent conference call the media company had with investors.

It was reported that the cast was able to significantly increase its salary for the reality series. When I first heard about the demands, I mused to myself that this was a grand opportunity for Hollywood to say no to minor celebrities. After all, it's just a reality show, folks. Even though Snooki is immensely popular, there are many more Snooki-type individuals out there. Dime-a-dozen comes to mind when thinking of the goofy girl with the poofy coif.

Disney (DIS) will tell investors how it did during the fiscal third quarter on Tuesday after the market closes for the day. The company will hopefully report some great numbers because, quite frankly, the stock has been somewhat boring this summer; a little fundamental excitement would, at the very least, ease the tedium of the price action.

Net income is expected to be somewhere around 58 cents per share. That's six pennies higher than the previous year's performance. That wouldn't be bad, I suppose, given the economic climate, but I certainly hope that the Mouse has more than a six-penny increase up its sleeve. Back in the second quarter, management was able to beat the estimate.

Viacom's B shares (VIA.B) closed today's session at $33.70. They were down a little less than 1%. Volume was strong. Those who were hoping that the second-quarter earnings report, which was released earlier in the morning, would turn out to be an exciting catalyst were unfortunately disappointed.

The media company, whose colleagues include CBS Corporation (CBS) and The Walt Disney Company (DIS), said it made 69 cents per share this time around versus income of 46 cents per share in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, profit from continuing operations was 68 cents per share, which was two pennies ahead of estimates.

Time Warner Inc. (TWX), a media company which competes with The Walt Disney Corporation (DIS) and News Corp. (NWS), among others, has traded in a narrow range over the last twelve months. The 52-week low is $26.43; the 52-week high is $34.07. Shares finished Wednesday's session at a price of $32.47.

Management released Q2 numbers earlier in the day. According to the AP, adjusted profit was 50 cents per share, five pennies better than expectations. Sounds good, but there wasn't much action in the stock. That $32.47 closing price I just referred to represents a flat percentage gain.

Have you been thinking about buying CBS (CBS)? It's not too far away from its 52-week high. At the end of Tuesday's regular session, the stock, whose colleagues include Disney (DIS), General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal, and News Corp. (NWS), settled out at a price of $15.01; the high for the year is $16.98. The one-year chart tells an interesting story: The trend over the last twelve months has been up, but lately, there's been a healthy amount of sideways action, which, of course, might not be healthy for growth investors.

Then again, for longer-term investors, at least the shares have been holding up, right? And now we come to the second-quarter report, released Tuesday after the bell. What does it tell us about the situation?

Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) was downgraded to a hold rating this week, according to our Analyst Calls piece. It's no longer a buy, says Jefferies, because Carl Icahn's tender offer is now expired.

If you ask me, I'd say it was the right call. I don't think the stock is currently appropriate for most investors simply because the whole struggle between Icahn and management leaves little clarity to the situation. Traders and arbitrage players are probably having a field day, but smaller participants would be entering a highly speculative scenario at this point.

It's tough to buy stocks these days. No one knows when the next drop in the major indexes is going to happen. As many have said, it probably will be a tough summer.

Over the weekend, I was looking through some media articles discussing World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) YouTube strategy (you can check out the corporate press release to get more information about the subject). It made me want to examine WWE's current investment potential.

Viacom (VIA) recently suffered a setback in its war against Google's (GOOG) YouTube. The former's lawsuit centering on copyright infringement by the latter didn't go anywhere in court. Viacom will, of course, appeal.

For those who own Viacom or Google (or both), this is a big deal. At the bottom line, it continues to remind us how painfully difficult it is to make money in the digital age. I don't believe you can completely dismiss Viacom's position. And Google brought up some logical points in its defense. But I doubt either party would disagree with the following statement: it is in the interest of both concerns to figure this thing out. And, in Viacom's case, it may simply be, in some existential respect, to move on.