Tag Archives: Markets coverage
The WSJ’s new popout markets widget
by Chris Roush
Adrienne LaFrance of Nieman Journalism Lab writes about The Wall Street Journal‘s pop-out Markets Data window that puts a real-time markets ticker in the corner of your screen.
LaFrance writes, “It’s part of the newspaper’s ongoing ‘WSJ Everywhere’ mantra, and an attempt to keep readers connected with the Journal in an ever-fracturing and narrowing media world.
“The soft rollout was also a way for Raju Narisetti, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal’s digital network, to test a hypothesis. ‘Our belief is there is a group of people whose prism to the world is through markets and market data,’ Narisetti told me. ‘Let’s test that kind of theory and put this out there.’
“He says the results have been promising. In the first three weeks, the widget got 200,000 page views from 25,000 people. Not only were people taking advantage of an opportunity to pop out niche content, but they were staying with it, and coming back to it. Users can toggle between U.S., European, Asian, and foreign exchange markets. There are also tabs for rates, futures, and a customized ‘My Markets’ view.
“‘The interesting thing was that people on average were spending close to some 15 minutes on that,’ Narisetti said. ‘If you look at that across the site, it’s probably close to more than double the average because so much sideways traffic comes in. I don’t want to falsely assume that somebody who has popped it out has spent all that time looking at it but the fact that people are popping it out on a consistent basis and coming back to it suggests that there is a class of people for whom this makes sense.’”
Read more here.
VC firms have become publicity hounds
by Chris Roush
Nicole Perlroth of The New York Times writes Monday about how venture capital firms, which onced shunned publicity, are now courting the business news media.
Perlroth writes, “Now, up and down Sand Hill Road, venture capitalists, many of whom once shunned publicity, suddenly seem starved for it. In the last year alone, Sequoia hired Andrew Kovacs, a P.R. manager from Google. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers hired Christina Lee, the former head of communications at Hulu, the online television site. Lightspeed Venture Partners hired Kelly Mayes, a former director of communications at AOL.
“‘There has been a definite shift in the importance of brand awareness in venture capital,’ said Rob Coneybeer, a managing director at Shasta Ventures, whose firm is now looking to hire a full-time marketing person.
“Still, some venture capitalists think the self-promotion is fast approaching the level of shameless. ‘The marketing around V.C.’s is approaching what I might describe as an epidemic,’ said David Hornik, an investment partner at August Capital. ‘I don’t quite understand the venture capital celebrity. We should be supporting actors. The entrepreneurs do the work and deserve the credit.’
“‘If venture investors are spending time with public relations people talking about how important and valuable they are, they are necessarily doing it at the expense of entrepreneurs,’ Mr. Hornik said.”
Read more here.
WSJ rolls out Dollar Index
by Chris Roush
The Wall Street Journal, which created the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 100 years ago to measure the broad U.S. stock market, has introduced The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index to provide a more precise measure of the U.S. dollar.
The WSJ Dollar Index was developed by the news team of DJ FX Trader, a specialized FX news service from Dow Jones, to further the service’s mission.
“The dollar defines and determines values across the world each day, so it is crucial to divine the value of the dollar itself,” said Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Co. and managing editor of The Journal, in a statement. “No currency is an island and the dollar’s value is ultimately measured by its relationship with other key international currencies –- we have blended those pairs and weighted their worth to bring a more precise measure of the dollar’s value to the forex market.”
The WSJ Dollar Index is based on the latest data on total FX trading volume from the Bank for International Settlements, a supranational organization of central banks.
The index includes the seven most traded currency pairs, which each account for at least 1 percent of total trading volume and combined cover $2 out of every $3 traded in currency markets. The currencies are weighted based on their proportion of volume within the group of currency pairs used in the index.
The methodology and data used for the index set it apart from some existing market metrics that are based on fewer currency pairs or weight currencies equally.
CNBC ratings hit seven-year low
by Chris Roush
Nielsen stats show CNBC’s ratings for the second quarter were the lowest since 2005, reports Jeff Reeves, editor of InvstorPlace.com.
Reeves writes, “The proof is in the specifics of some of CNBC’s stock-focused shows, based on some numbers I got a hold of:
- Squawk Box (6-9 a.m.) is supposed to prime traders before the bell. The show posted its lowest rated its time block since Q4 2006.
- The Closing Bell (3-5 p.m.) is supposed to wrap up the day’s action. The slot posted its fifth-lowest rating in total viewers and second-lowest ratings in the key 25-54 demographic since 1997.
- Fast Money (5-6 p.m.) is focused almost specifically on swing trading stocks. That time slot showed the lowest rating for the 25-54 demo since 1997 — and lowest in total viewers since Fast Money launched in 2006.
“Not good.
“Of course, out of respect for CNBC it must be noted that it’s not their fault the market is miserable, and bad ratings don’t necessarily reflect bad shows. After all, we don’t blame builders like Pulte or Lennar for causing the housing crisis with poorly made homes.
“It’s also worth noting that many cable networks are experiencing a viewership drain as many younger folks take their eyeballs to the Internet — and CNBC is hardly ignoring the move to online content.”
Read more here.
Weidner on biz media and covering Wall Street
by Chris Roush
David Weidner, a Marketwatch.com Wall Street columnist and leaving New York for San Francisco, where he will begin writing a new column in a few weeks focusing on another aspect of finance.
In his column, he offers advice and commentary for business journalists covering Wall Street:
Timing is everything: Market journalism should be written in two ways. The first would give you the trader’s perspective. The second would be for the long-term, buy-and-hold investor. Too often, we’re caught up in the daily fluctuations in our portfolios. What really matters is what the investments are worth when we need them.
Too cozy for comfort: It’s less of a problem since the financial crisis, but the business media are still too cozy with the powerful on Wall Street to do their jobs correctly. The media still fawned over Wall Street stars such as Jamie Dimon at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. ; Eliot Spitzer, former New York governor and attorney general, and Jimmy Cayne of Bear Stearns. Why? They all dished tips or dirt on their rivals. Access journalism still dominates the landscape, and you — the reader — suffer for it.
Best of the rest: Consistently the best reporters and commentators on Wall Street outside of the Dow Jones empire, which includes MarketWatch and The Wall Street Journal: Josh Brown of the Reformed Broker, Mark Gongloff at the Huffington Post, Barry Ritholtz of the Big Picture, John Gapper and Martin Wolf at the Financial Times.
Read more here.
The most dangerous people in financial media
by Chris Roush
Joshua Brown lists the 25 “most dangerous” people in financial journalism on The Huffington Post.
“Dangerous in a good way,” he writes. “These are the financial media players who are making things very difficult for the establishment to maintain the status quo. Because we tried it their way, allowing the banks and other corporations to write the laws and make all of our decisions for us. Turns out, that’s not true democracy or capitalism, it’s something else entirely, and we’ve all had enough. These are the folks leading the charge to take it back.”
On his list:
Herb Greenberg of CNBC: “It’s one thing to be a skeptic or a cynic. It is entirely another thing to actually read the filings, call up company representatives and take the whole mess to the airwaves when a stock looks shady, braving the slings and arrows that are so inevitable when you express a contrary opinion in the financial media. Herb is the anti-hype, the guy who actually reads the fine print before the cameras come on.”
Bess Levin (right) of Dealbreaker.com; “The most badass financial blogger in financial blogging history. CEOs quake at the thought of her uncovering an errant email, billionaire hedge fund managers quiver at the mere mention of her name. If there is news (or a juicy rumor) concerning the Titans of Wall Street, many others will have their say, but Bess’s take will crush them all.”
Lauren LaCapra of Reuters: “Let me tell you something about Lauren: The most dangerous place on earth to be is between her and a genuine scoop on Goldman Sachs. Lauren covers the big i-banks for Reuters, worked her tail off to get that beat and does it better than anyone I know.”
Kayla Tausche of CNBC: “The Street was probably not ready for this – a knockout beauty TV newser with both the chops to deliver a well-researched story and the stones to chase Jon Corzine down a courthouse hallway. Kayla’s a throwback to the hardnosed stuff most television journalists have forgotten how to do.”
See the entire list here.
What Dorfman meant to biz journalism
by Chris Roush
Doug Kass of TheStreet.com writes Sunday about the influence of Dan Dorfman, a longtime business journalist who died Saturday, on the industry.
Kass writes, “Today’s business commentators — and an entire network, CNBC — owe Dan a lot, too. He paved their way and provided a template, in the early days, of ‘hard-hitting’ and ‘market-moving’ journalism. Just ask commentators such as Ron Insana, Dennis Gartman, Herb Greenberg, Bill Griffeth, Dan Kadlec as to the importance of his influence on their craft.
“His pedigree wasn’t fancy. He grew up in an orphanage. His early years were spent in West Hempstead, N.Y., the Long Island town next to Rockville Centre, where I grew up. He graduated from the New York School of Print the year that I was born, 1949.
“In the 1980s he was a featured commentator on CNN (often appearing with Myron Kandel) and eventually went to CNBC in the 1990s. Dan was also the influential author of The Wall Street Journal’s Heard on The Street Column’ in the 1980s. During his career he wrote for New York Magazine, Money, USA Today and The New York Sun, and his columns were syndicated around the world.
“In my view Dan was one of the most important contributors — arguably the most important and influential contributor — to the great success that CNBC holds today.”
Read more here.
Dan Dorfman and stock market reporting
by Chris Roush
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
Some business reporters have used rumors and talk to make a name for themselves on Wall Street and in the media.
Dan Dorfman, who died Friday at the age of 80, was perhaps the biggest proponent of such reporting about Wall Street in the 1980s and 1990s. A former Wall Street Journal reporter, Dorfman had written the “Heard on the Street” column, as had Alan Abelson. He left the paper after buying stock in an initial offering that he had not written about.
By the late 1980s, he was writing two columns a week for USA Today and providing commentary about the markets on Cable News Network. “My goal is to be an equalizer, to let the little guy know what the big guy knows,” said Dorfman.
But he had his critics. After reporting on CNBC in 1995 that Coca-Cola would make a bid for Quaker Oats, the Atlanta-based soft drink company put out a statement that simply read, “Dan Dorfman does not have a clue.”
He was right on other occasions. He reported on CNN Moneyline that Time Inc. and Warner Communications were merging before it was announced. In 1989, he broke the story of Paramount Communications’ hostile offer for Time. And his reporting moved stock prices, showing that people paid attention to what he wrote or said.
The Chicago Board of Options went as far as to instituting a “Dorfman Rule,” where trading would be halted in a stock that Dorfman referred to on television.
“The reason Dorfman rose so rapidly in recent years to become the highest- paid and most influential business reporter in the United States isn’t because he’s a market genius,” wrote Newsweek business columnist Allan Sloan in 1995. “…It’s the hunger for the simple way to make money, the quick hit, seven stocks to buy now, 10 mutual funds for the ’90s, the 12-step computer program that guarantees you won’t have to live on cat food when you retire.”
Another business publication, BusinessWeek, called to question Dorfman’s reporting tactics and noted his relationship with a public relations executive used as a source for several stories. The magazine broke the story in 1995 that the U.S. attorney was investigating Dorfman and the PR person, Donald Kessler, for possible illegal insider trading.
Dorfman was placed on a leave of absence by Money magazine, which had lured him from USA Today. The magazine then fired Dorfman after he refused to reveal his sources. Though Dorfman was never found to have profited by mentioning stocks in his writing, he was deemed guilty by his association with Kessler, who later pled guilty to two counts of securities fraud.
Dorfman later made a comeback on the Internet.
Dorfman’s style of business journalism always made me uneasy. But I can not deny that he had a huge influence on how the stock market is reported about today. The type of reporting that he pioneered in the 1980s and ’90s is now practiced regularly.
Bloomberg TV’s Dominic Chu on being “on” all the time
by Chris Roush
Janelle Harris of MediaBistro interviewed Bloomberg Television reporter Dominic Chu on covering the markets.
Here is an excerpt:
Besides your obvious knowledge of the material, what did you bring with you from your finance career that made you transition fairly easily into television?
You know what I think it is? There are a lot of similarities between a full-throttle newsroom and a trading desk on a trading floor. You’re being blitzed with all kinds of information, and you have to make heads or tails of it in a coherent fashion in as quick a time as possible. It’s kind of like trading during times when there are volatile markets or big economic data releases. You have to deal with lots of information on a real-time basis. I think that that was probably the thing that most prepared me for this kind of job, because in an organization like Bloomberg you’re dealing with a lot of breaking news all the time.
You were on air during the Flash Crash in 2010 when the stock market plunged 1,000 points. What was the most challenging thing about covering that day and how did reporting on such a pivotal event make you a better journalist?
That was where I really cut my teeth in terms of journalism. It was definitely a very fast and furious situation. Things were literally happening not in hours or minutes, but seconds sometimes. It was a bit of an adrenaline rush, because it was historic just by the sheer volatility. Probably one of the hardest parts was trying to stay calm and be able to deliver some kind of message that was understandable to the audience. Everything comes so fast these days that you have to make sure that you understand what’s going on yourself before you just have a gut reaction to something. For me, it really was a test to stay on task and a defining moment in a career that was obviously very, very young in terms of age. But, to look back on it now, it was great to be involved in such a historic event in real time and to have viewers and listeners count on me to give them information.
Read more here.
Don’t believe what you read about the markets
by Chris Roush
David Moon, a columnist for the Knoxville News in Sunday, warns readers from using the media to make investing decisions.
“It is not a new phenomenon.
“Long-time financial journalist Dan Dorfman passed away a week ago at the age of 80. He was, for a brief period in his career, Jim Cramer before there was a Jim Cramer. He could move markets with his comments, opinions and dissemination of rumors. The Nasdaq even instituted a ‘Dorfman rule,’ allowing suspension of trading in any stock he mentioned on television in an attempt to let the trading volume catch up with whatever impact Dorfman’s pronouncements were having on investor sentiment.
“My favorite Dan Dorfman story, however, is from October 1987, in the midst of that generation’s stock market crash. On Friday, October 16, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 4.58 percent — which would be the equivalent of a 585-point decline from today’s levels. Dorfman was doing his typical post-trading day network interview with Lou Dobbs, passing along tips from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with his trademark and endearing Elmer Fudd articulation: ‘Woo, the one thing I am absawootley certain about is that on Monday the market is going up, up, up.’
“On that Monday, the Dow dropped 22.6 percent, which would be today’s equivalent of 2,900 points in a single day.”
Read more here.