The last ball knocked out of the park by all-time home run king Barry Bonds has sold at auction for $376,612.

That's either a bargain or a rip-off, depending on what happens next. Barry Bonds is an unsigned free agent as of now, but he and his agent have insisted that the slugger intends to continue his Hall of Fame career that has been tarnished by allegations of performance enhancing drug use.

The president of the auction house told the Associated Press that "If Barry Bonds never plays again, whoever bought this ball has a valuable piece that's worth seven figures." Of course, if Bonds does make a comeback, the ball is worth a fraction of what it sold for.

The sale of the Barry Bonds ball is actually a pretty good metaphor for the stock market. Given the tremendous uncertainty surrounding Barry Bonds' career, the sale price represents the market's best estimate of what will happen. That is, in a nutshell, the premise behind discounted cash flow.

Given the large discrepancy between the ball's sale price and its probable value if it is indeed his last home run, it seems that many baseball enthusiasts are betting we haven't seen the last of one of the most hated men in the history of the game.

Alternatively, it could be that the increasing scandal surrounding Bonds' accomplishments have driven down the ball's value -- kind of like how investors will pay a lower P/E ratio for a company's stock if they believe it's inflating its numbers.

Yesterday, I praised Adam Piatt for his admission of steroid use and efforts to assist former Senator George Mitchell in his efforts to investigate performance enhancing drug use in professional baseball. I wrote that "Hopefully the media will treat him well in light of his revelations as a sign to people in all industries that, no matter how badly you screw up, there is redemption to be found if you do what you can to fix it."

Now, free agent catcher Gary Bennett, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007, admitted in a phone interview with the Washington Post that he used human growth hormone: "As far as the report is concerned to me, it's accurate... Obviously, it was a stupid decision. It was a mistake. It was something that quite obviously, you regret now. And beyond that, I just don't know."

I would congratulate Bennett for his honesty -- more than a few players are insisting on their complete innocence in spite of strong evidence to the contrary. How are the fans reacting? This is just a small sample, but most of the comments left on the Washington Post blog post were very positive:

In 2001, Alex Rodriguez, perhaps the finest slugger to ever play the game, inked an unprecendented 10-year, $252 million contract to jump from the Seattle Mariners to the Texas Rangers. Three years later, when the Texas management regained its sanity and realized the ruinous terms of the deal, they dealt A-Rod to the only team with the money to support such a contract, the New York Yankees.

With A-Rod and another future Hall-of-Famer at shortstop, Derek Jeter, the Yankees had the foundation to return to its status as perennial World Series champion. Unfortunately for the club, it hasn't turned out that way. For A-Rod, however, things continue to improve.

His 2007 season was a monster; 54 home runs, 156 RBIs, slugging percentage of .645, American League MVP. Unfortunately, he continued what has become a maddening tendency to disappear in the playoffs, hitting like a bantamweight in the team's loss to the Cleveland Indians.

Such a wipeout might diminish most people's bargaining value, but A-Rod took an early-out option in his contract and went back out on the free agent market. After much bluster and posturing, the Yankees awarded him a new 10-year, $275 million contract. At 32, he should be set for the rest of his career, one in which he will almost certainly eclipse the home run record of Barry "better hitting through chemistry" Bonds.

When it comes to baseball contracts, in 2007 A-Rod hit one out of the park.

Be sure to check out more Money Winners of 2007.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig needs to discipline the players named in the Mitchell Report on steroid use that's set to be released today. It's not only the right thing to do for the game's future but it's the best way to safeguard the game's bottom line.

Some players named by former Sen. George Mitchell reportedly include some of the most popular players in the game including future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens, Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Nomar Garciaparra, Texas Rangers star Milton Bradley and Detroit Tigers catcher Pudge Rodriguez. All of these players need to explain what they did and when they did it, or face immediate suspensions or fines. Click here for a list of the players as reported by WNBC TV.

Baseball survived the Black Sox scandal, free agency and those godawful uniforms from the 1970s. It will survive steroids as well but it needs to rip off the scab immediately. For too long, the game took a speak no evil, hear no evil approach to the performance-enhancing drugs. Doing nothing, though, isn't an option for Selig any longer because too much money is at stake.

Game of Shadows, the controversial bestseller that brought to light detailed allegations of home run king Barry Bonds' involvement with illegal performance-enhancing drugs, is being made into a movie by HBO.

Just when Barry Bonds, who recently indicted by a grand jury, thought the negative publicity couldn't get any worse: a made-for-TV movie.

According to the New York Times "Much of the book was based on secret grand jury testimony of Bonds and other athletes leaked to Williams and Fainaru-Wada by Troy Ellerman, a lawyer sentenced to two and a half years in prison for denying under oath he was the reporters' source... The book recounts that Bonds allegedly began using steroids in 1999 after becoming jealous of Mark McGwire's having set baseball's single-season home run record the previous season."

This should be a pretty interesting movie. Remember, Bonds has not been convicted of any crime. And while I'm hardly a fan of Barry Bonds, making a movie based on grand jury testimony that was illicitly leaked to 2 reporters seems unfair. If he ends up being convicted, I would say go for it to the idea of a movie. But it seems premature. After all, even athletes are innocent until proven guilty.

Seeking advice on his contract negotiation with the New York Yankees, Alex Rodriguez went to the number one source for business wisdom, Warren Buffett, and a pair of Goldman Sachs executives.

After opting out of his contract at the urging of super-agent Scott Boras, Rodriguez found limited interest in his services at the price he was seeking. Now, he's back negotiating with the Yankees, after alienating the team badly by refusing to meet with them.

Buffett's advice to Rodriguez was this: If you want to stay in New York, go talk to the Yankees yourself and leave Boras out of it -- there's too much bad blood between him and the Yankees.

There are lot of athletes who could use Buffett's wisdom: Mike Lowell has professed his desire to stay in Boston, but may leave the team if he can secure a four-year deal from another team -- Boston is only offering him three. Buffett would probably tell him that it's silly to leave a great situation for more money when you're already rich. Mr. Lowell: Please stay in Boston. You had the best year of your career and the fans love you.

Buffett would probably tell Barry Bonds ... Well, Buffett would actually probably beat the crap out of Barry Bonds, because Warren Buffett is a person of integrity -- he doesn't like people who cheat and lie.

Full Disclosure: Zac Bissonnette is long the Boston Red Sox and has a large naked short position in the New York Yankees.

Shortly after the market closed today, I got one of my familiar MarketWatch.com bulletins in my in-box. But it wasn't concerning after-hours earnings or the Dow's (latest) triple-digit drop. Rather, it simply stated: "Home-run king Barry Bonds indicted on perjury, obstruction of justice charges."

Yowsa. While everyone always just assumed Bonds used the juice at some point in his career, I think this comes as a surprise to many sports fans. A federal grand jury has accused Bonds of lying under oath when he said he was unaware that substances handed out by personal trainer Greg Anderson were steroids. Bonds has also maintained that he did not use steroids in 2001, as he chased the single-season home-run record, then held by Mark McGwire.

According to MarketWatch, John Burris, "one of" Bonds' lawyers, told San Francisco radio station KCBS the Bonds would plead "not guilty." Burris also asserted that Bonds "will be found not guilty." Burris says the indictment was a shock, as the government doesn't have proper evidence to bring such a claim.

Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday for perjury and obstruction of justice. It may very well be that the all-time home run record holder will be spending a lot more time in court rooms and with attorneys than playing baseball next season.

• "A federal grand jury slaps the San Francisco Giants' slugger with perjury and obstruction of justice charges. The charges come after a four-year investigation into whether the home run king lied under oath to authorities investigating the abuse of performance enhancing drugs in professional sports."

Late in the season the Giants let it be known that they were not interested in having him in the line-up next year. As a free agent Bonds certainly would have plenty of value to an American League team looking for a Designated Hitter (DH) and he would like to put the record far out of reach, I'm sure. This saga looks likely to continue for years. However, this indictment alone may cost him the opportunity to build on his record and may very well put the proverbial asterisk next to it.

I'm sure there will be those that will say his record is not legitimate; that has already been the case. I say the record is the record. The rest of the story is, and will continue to be well documented.

During the past week or so, fashion designer Marc Ecko has been tabulating votes to decide what to do with Barry Bonds' 756th home-run ball. The three choices offered in an online poll were: Bestow It, Brand It, Banish It.

The fans have spoken, and door-number-2 was selected; the ball -- bought by Ecko for $752,467 -- will be marked with an asterisk before being handed over to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. According to the site Ecko set up for the express purpose of voting, 34% favored giving the ball, unblemished, to the Hall of Fame. 19% of voters wanted the ball banished, and 47% preferred branding it. The asterisk merely serves as a permanent reminder that Hank Aaron's record was toppled by someone facing allegations of steroid use. Bonds has repeatedly denied knowingly taking any performance-enhancing drugs.

Ecko and Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey both appeared on NBC's Today show to discuss the matter. Petroskey noted that, regardless of the asterisk, "We're happy to get [the ball] ... we're a nonprofit history museum, so this ball wouldn't be coming to Cooperstown without Marc Ecko buying it from the fan who caught it."

Bonds, naturally, had a compelling opinion on the matter, telling The San Francisco Chronicle, "[Marc Ecko's] stupid. He's an idiot ... What he's doing is stupid."

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

On August 7, Barry Bonds - one of the most universally reviled professional athletes of our time - topped Hank Aaron's 33-year-old home-run record. For months or even years now, Bonds' breaking of this milestone has been a foregone conclusion, and even the mercenary angle surrounding the record-breaking ball was being discussed long before that fateful crack of the bat.

From the second Bonds' 756th home-run ball touched the ever-so-lucky palms of Queens, New York resident Matt Murphy, the debate began over what the ball would be worth. Many have pointed out that the truly valuable ball will be the last home run Bonds hits, as it will effectively represent the new record (until someone mercifully shatters that). Last month, our own Tom Barlow assigned a price tag of $0. But fashion mogul Marc Ecko shelled out $752,467 for the 5 ounces of cork and rubber, and it seems as though he may have dropped more than three-quarters of a million dollars out of spite alone.

While most sports collectors would encase the storied ball in plastic or save it for shipping to Cooperstown, Ecko is taking a democratic approach to his next move. Ecko has set up a website with three options:

That didn't take long. Matt Murphy initially suggested that he would consider keeping the Barry Bonds home run ball, but now he's come to his senses. He's putting it up for auction.

Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) will handle the sale and expects the ball to sell for at least $500,000. But as I said in a prior post, the ball seems likely to decline in value. There are several current stars who seem to have a good shot at breaking the record, most notably Alex Rodriguez. And who wants a ball that's number 2 on a record that was broken just a few years later? I don't think too many people care about the Mark McGwire ball anymore, and I'd be willing to bet it would sell for a lot less than the $3 million it initially brought.

Ya know what I'd like to see? I'd like Mark Cuban or Warren Buffett to buy the ball... and burn it at a gala to raise money for drug prevention and awareness programs for youth.

Maybe then some good could come out of Bonds' cheating.

When Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's all-time record for home runs, it ignited a debate: How much was the historic baseball worth, and how much would it sell for? BloggingStocks writer Tom Barlow asked the question, "What is it really worth?"

To Barlow, it's worth nothing. Bonds is a cheater. But I have another take on it, and one that ties into the way I look at stocks. When investing, I want to buy a company with some kind of moat: If the moat surrounding the value of the Bonds ball is however many homers Bonds will finish his career with, how wide is that moat? Not too wide. Here are some people who have a shot at breaking the record:

• Alex Rodriguez
• Albert Pujols
• Ken Griffey, Jr. (This is a long shot but would be the feel-good story of all-time)

I am willing to make a bet: Whoever pays $400K+ for the Bonds ball will, in 10 years at the most, own a home run ball hit by a steroid-tainted baseball player who, in addition to being among the most hated people in all of sports, is also number two on the all-time list for home runs.

Whether you're buying a baseball or a stock, you want to look for a durable moat. I don't think the Bonds ball has that, and I'd be shorting it here.

Yesterday Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants broke baseball's most hallowed record, the career home run mark held for the last 80+ years by only two people; Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. When the dust cleared from the scramble for the ball, Matt Murphy, a 22-year-old from Queens, New York, was holding the prize. The value of Bonds' home run ball is estimated at $400,000 and up.

The value to me: $0. He, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and the other steroid sluggers have given the grand old game a black eye that taints every player's accomplishments.

If someone is dumb enough to fork over big bucks for this tainted trophy, I'd like to offer them a selection of other treasures, such as --

• Ken Lay's Bible
• Floyd Landis' pee cup
• Rosie Ruiz's running shoes
• Uri Geller's spoon
• Frank Abagnale's pilot wings
• Milli Vanilli's musical charts
• Jayson Blair's chair from the NYT

And a share in a surefire scheme I have cooking with this guy in Nigeria who has to move some money out of the country discretely.

On second thought, perhaps the ball should be given back to Mr. Steroid. Then he'd at least have one larger than a peanut.

Leapin' lizards! BloggingStocks' favorite traffic bonanza, Playboy, has made the "news" twice recently.

Last week, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)'s TMZ.com nigh celebrated rumors that Paris Hilton satellite Kim Kardashian had posed for the men's magazine. Kardashian is the daughter of O.J. Simpson's late counsel and compatriot Robert Kardashian, and apparently the star of a homemade sex tape widely circulated earlier this year. TMZ's sources say the Playboy photo shoot was strictly cheesecake -- no nudity. Tasteful, we're sure.

Then came news that slugger Barry Bonds' former mistress Kimberly Bell will reveal all in Playboy, including what she knows about steroid speculations shadowing the San Francisco Giant, currently closing in on baseball's all-time home run mark. Much of Bell's revelations were probably covered when she spoke with Fox News' Geraldo Rivera two years ago. Only this time, Bell's naked! (See how that works?)

Baseball is all about numbers, just like the stock market. Wall Street got all excited when the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke 14,000. Any day now Barry Bonds will be breaking the career home-run record set by Hank Aaron of 755. He only needs three more to reach 756.

Barry Bonds' last few years have been surrounded by controversy, from mistresses to steroids to anti-social behavior, as he has chased his destiny in pursuit of the home-run record. I will not dwell on any of these issues here as they have all been discussed in far greater detail than need be in every form of media.

I just got back from lunch at O'Brien's Pub where the subject came up (how could it not) and I was thinking about how I would end the story in grandeur if I was writing it. More importantly Hank and I (the bartender, not Aaron) were discussing what Bonds could do to create the perfect ending to this story and his career. Then it came to me -- Bonds should hit No. 755, shake hands with the umpire, his teammates and manager, wave to the fans, and simply walk off the field -- The Ultimate Walk-off Home Run.