by eubie

Increasing transparency in the bond market

Micheal Lewis "The Big Short"One interesting conclusion in reading Micheal Lewis’ “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine” is that bonds markets should be more transparent so that both buyers and sellers can have better ideas on what bond prices are.

Knowledge of prices is a key tenant in pure capitalism, and one supplier like to avoid. Have an object become a commodity moves into a low-margin business, because a competitor’s product can easily be substituted.  Buyers are big winners in transparent markets.

The equity markets has become more transparent and open in recent decades as discount brokers grew. Present a choice, buyer happily dropped the “research” and personalized advice that full-service brokers offered. Maybe it was the difference in commissions, and the ease that technologies, such as telephone trading and later internet trading.

Lewis maintained in his book that one reason Wall Street firms moved to quickly in the sub-prime and CDO market was the commissions on selling these products was so much higher than the ever-shrinking commissions in the equity markets.

A public market similar to the stock market is growing in more areas of the bond market, especially in the public sector, but it’s still a long way from being as accessible as equity markets.

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by eubie

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-26

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by eubie

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-19

  • ParidContent; Google Paid Content System For Publishers May Be Coming By Year-End — http://ow.ly/202Fg #
  • @toddbishop on Xbox 360 "bribery" If everyone is a journalist, should basic journalistic ethics apply to everyone? http://ow.ly/1ZQLm #
  • The Lede covers BP's hearing with the House. Just watched Diane Wilson's arrest at the hearing. http://ow.ly/1ZQEj #
  • Three library branches in Charlotte are closing this week due to budget cuts. Sad. #clt #
  • WindyCitizen and Davis Wiki among the 12 winners in Knight Foundation's 2010 News Challenge: http://ow.ly/1Zrf8 #
  • Good news. @Caspio: Caspio now supports database-driven charts and graphs (in beta). http://bit.ly/6bPeP3 #
  • Nieman Reports: straddling print and digital publishing, the role of the gatekeeper has markedly morphed. http://ow.ly/1ZlsE #
  • "The Big Short" is fascinating read. Investors Who Foresaw the Meltdown – http://nyti.ms/cYNh3f #
  • Zombies on the homepage — Newsweek Rises From the Dead – http://nyti.ms/940ZnT #
  • @bizjournals BP station owners fear boycott: http://bizj.us/ajrgj #
  • Starbucks to offer free Wi-Fi — no surprise that this is is more our best-read story today. http://ow.ly/1Ymn2 #
  • I like the new wallpaper ad showing today when I log in at Yahoo. #

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by eubie

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-12

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by eubie

Cory Bergman on journalism startups and Newsosaur comments

Writing in Lost Remote, Cory Bergman expands on the idea from Newsosaur that journalism startups need to focus on business.

As a journalist entrepreneur myself, the business challenge is what keeps me awake at night. It’s just as important to know how to help your local advertisers succeed as it is to know what news to cover. As Mutter suggests, a business plan is critical. So is finding people who have a nose for business and understand what it takes to make a startup succeed. This is the big problem to solve, and it won’t be easy.

In the Newsosaur post, the comments give additional insight from other journalism entrepreneurs.

Chris Seper on key moments in launching his startup:

a couple of business mentors who reminded me – constantly – that to build a business I would need to spend as much time selling as I would producing content.

From Rose Roll, director of membership and market with www.baycitizen.org, on why they created a business and tech team instead of relying on just journalists:

There just aren’t enough hours in the day for them to do all the “other” stuff that goes into running a 25-person company: payroll, benefits, government paperwork, income statements, foundation proposals, membership drives, marketing campaigns, meeting with major donors, tweaking the website based on feedback, analyzing online traffic, etc.

Jeff Noedel, editor and publisher, CountyNewsLIVE.com, Hermann, MO:

I agree with the central theme here that a very equal balance between sales and reporting is needed. I’d drop the call for a tech department. I’d propose the third leg of the stool is audience promotions (which helps sell ads and subscriptions).

David Boraks, founder and editor, DavidsonNews.net, Davidson, N.C.

We’ve found that old-fashioned marketing makes the difference: direct mail, sponsorships, presence (and signage) at community events, fliers in kids’ school folders, posters on high-traffic bulletin boards and storefronts, and of course lots of online and offline word of mouth from folks who’ve read your stuff. There’s a lot of legwork involved in this, but it’s absolutely essential. “If you build it they will come” is a fallacy.

by eubie

Journalism startups: it’s a business, not a job

Reflections of a Newsosaur: Journalists running start-ups face tall odds

After talking to one enterprising journalist after another, I have found almost uniformly that they are making the mistake that has proven to be the downfall of many an entrepreneur: Instead of trying to build a business, they are trying to give themselves the job they always wanted.

There’ a big difference between running a business and working a job that is the business.

One of the best ways to understand the difference is explained in Michael Gerber’s E-Myth, which is now E-Myth Reviseted: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. It’s the best book I’ve read on how successful business owners manage and grow their businesses compare with being very good at working in the business. You can read the first chapter of the E-Myth Revisited.

For journalism start-ups, Newsosaur’s Alan Mutter nails the argument with:

While journalists at news start-ups think nothing of routinely devoting more than a dozen hours a day to running down stories and tweaking their websites, the pace typically leaves them with neither the time nor the energy to think about such key success factors as building audience and developing a healthy financial basis for their endeavors.

It’s not enough to just have traffic. A entrepreneurial journalist needs to think revenue, controlling expenses and growth. A revenue detail many startups overlook is the revenue being earned on page views. It’s a standard of looking at revenue.

Earlier this year, Felix Salmon, writing in Blogonomics: Revenue per page, and Henry Blodgett debated the importance of revenue per page. Salmon’s best quote was:

This is one area where I think that Henry could take a leaf out of Nick Denton’s book, and refuse to run deeply-discounted ads. Doing that helps to improve the value of the brand among advertisers, and it also creates interesting opportunities for rewarding staff.

See the spat between Salmon and Blodgett, retold in the AtlanticWire.

by eubie

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-05

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