NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Okay it's still hotter than a witches petunia out there. Little bit of a blah Thursday morning, higher rates across the pond (in jolly ol', merry ol' England) and uncertainty over July retail sales. We'll get over it.

STARBUCKS: At some point this story will be over, but today is not that day. Starbucks (Charts) shares are set to take a hit because the company reported that sales at stores open for at least a year climbed only 4% in July, after rising 7% for the same month last year. Why you ask? Get this. Because lines for its hot-to-trot frozen drinks were too long! Essentially this company was turning 'em away! Sure this means the company has staffing issues, which are difficult to manage because the way traffic at its stores ebbs and flows. They have to address this, and they have to try to get customers coming in all day long, but SUCH a problem, right? Can you say buying opportunity?

TYCO: Here's a sign of the times. Tyco's (Charts) earnings are off 7% in the third quarter on higher copper prices! Higher stock option prices didn't help either. Bloomberg says: "Breen in May blamed...about $100 million in higher expenses for copper and $20 million for gold, used mostly in its electronics connectors." Of course this stock has recovered nicely from the scandalous days of Dennis Kozlowski, bouncing back from $8 in '02 to $26. New CEO Ed Breen is breaking the company up. Not a favorite of mine. Not sure they got this baby fixed.

H.J. HEINZ: There's a proxy fight going on over at the old pickle company - the pride of Pittsburgh. Activist shareholder (don't you hate that phrase?) Nelson Peltz. He and his posse are seeking five seats on Heinz's (Charts) 12 person board. They say of course the company is underperforming. But the stock has perked right up since Nelly started his agitating in February. On Wednesday, the proxy advisory firm Proxy Governance gave Peltz's effort the big thumbs up. I see more upside here. The stock isn't cheap, but Heinz is still below where it was in the mid 1990s. And check it out! You can personalize your ketchup bottle. What's not to like?

Loose Change: Okay this is it, Time Warner (Charts) is coming back! Stock going to $18 at least.......This just in from Carol Costello: "Tigers won again last night, they have now won more games then they won all last year!" Hooray!....Question: What's your favorite Cate Blanchett movie? Correct answer: All of them! And did you know that Pete Rose will not see any movie with Paul Giamatti in it? Know why?