- Spain's Debt Costs Near Danger Level: Is Bailout Next?
- US Markets Will Be Watching Europe—And Jobs Report
- India's Tumbling Rupee Roils Convertible Bond Market
- European Companies Plan for Greek Unrest and Euro Exit
- Japan's Marubeni Nears $5 Billion-Plus Gavilon Deal
- Public Pensions Faulted for Bets on Rosy Returns
- Greece to Leave Euro Zone on June 18: Wealth Manager
- Italy 2-Year Borrowing Costs at Peak Since December
- Euro Bond Wins Supporters, but Details Remain Vague
- A New Look at the ‘New Poor’
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Greek Exit Could Trigger 50% Fall in Euro Stocks: Analyst
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Big Stock Upside for Hudson City Deal: Analyst
- 5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Option Bulls Take Another Shot on Idenix
MOST SHARED
- Greece to Leave Euro Zone on June 18: Wealth Manager
- Greece Pours $22.6 Billion Into Four Biggest Banks
- Spain's Borrowing Costs Near Danger Level: Bailout Next?
- European Firms Plan for Greek Unrest and Euro Exit
- Marubeni Nears $5 Billion-Plus Gavilon Deal
- Facebook IPO Fiasco: 10 Things Underwriters Got Wrong
- Newedge to Leave Greek Stock Market
- Europe Has Wall Street's Bull on a Short Leash
- CP Rail CEO Quits After Proxy Fight With Bill Ackman
- 10 Massive Advertising Campaign Failures
MOST POPULAR
HOT ON FACEBOOK
Octopus Outshines Investment Banks as Spain Wins
Text Size 
Paul the Octopus proved correct once more as Spain indeed won the World Cup against the Netherlands, as he predicted.
 |
Roland Weihrauch | AFP | Getty Images An octopus named Paul sits on a box decorated with a Spanish flag and a shell inside on July 9, 2010 at the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen, western Germany. |
On Sunday, Spain won their first World Cup ever after scoring a goal in the last minutes of extra time; this was also the first victory by a European team when playing in the World Cup outside Europe.
Paul, who now has his own Facebook page, was flawless in his picks, contrasting sharply with predictions made by banks ahead of the tournament.
UBS, for example, gave Spain just a 4 percent chance of winning the trophy with their past performance model. The Netherlands, who meet Spain in the final Sunday, had just an 8 percent chance, the bank said.
JPMorgan fared a little better, putting Spain in the final. But it predicted England — which exited in the first knock-out round game — would triumph.
Banks were not the only ones whose predictions were outdone by Paul. Mani, a Singaporean parakeet credited with forecasting powers, had predicted a win for the Netherlands.
On Friday the octopus, considered by some to be the most intelligent of all invertebrates, got the choice of picking food from two different transparent containers lowered into his tank — one with a Dutch flag on it and one with Spain's flag.
Reaction in Spain was swift, with the country's biggest selling sports daily Web site Marca.com running the headline: "The octopus Paul makes us champions."
The container Paul opens first is regarded as his pick. On Friday he wasted no time in diving for the container on the right side with the Spanish flag on it.
Two German television networks interrupted their programming for live coverage of the two-year-old celebrity octopus's picks. Networks in Spain, the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe also broadcast Paul's decision live.
— Watch the video above to see Paul the Octopus in action.
— Reuters contributed to this report
- Critical elections are scheduled for Greece in June. Here are some of the players and their roles.
- Our financial system is still not designed to meet the needs of poor families, says this author.
- Statistics show there aren’t many women billionaires compared to their male counterparts. Why?
- Click to see various forms of funding and what entrepreneurs have used to build successful companies.
- Here are some of the most expensive hotels in the world to book. And we mean expen$$ive.
- Always drink responsibly and when you do, try one of these more unusual and tasty drinks. Cheers!
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
