Odyssey Marine Exploration (OMEX) nets $8.75M on a $10M early exercise of an option held by Mako Resources to purchase 8M shares of Oceanica Resources, S. de R.L., owned by Odyssey. The exercise price of $1.25/share, discounted from an original $2.50 in order to facilitate this transaction, represents a 25% increase over the price Mako paid for the 15M shares of Oceanica it bought in February. Mako still holds an option to buy another 7M shares of Oceanica at $2.50 before Dec. 31. (PR) [View news story]
Any predictions for how this will impact OMEX's stock price?
What We're Doing To Stop Stock Price Manipulation, And How You Can Help Us [View article]
Rick,
Thanks for your comment -- it goes to the core of what Seeking Alpha is about.
The objectivity you're looking for is the traditional media model. Main stream media companies were often in a position of influence (such as one of only two newspapers in town), and therefore aspired to objectivity. In finance, for example, that meant insisting that their journalists weren't allowed to own stocks. They claimed that they were trustworthy and objective. But in reality nobody is objective. Everyone has a viewpoint. Everyone has friends. Everyone has influences. And every publication has an owner with interests. Today, most people accept that most mainstream media companies have an angle.
Meanwhile, the investment newsletter industry tried to create gurus, and promote them as people who investors should follow unquestionably. That phenomenon morphed on the web into sites like TheStreet.com and Motley Fool.
Seeking Alpha has a different model and a different aspiration. We don't try to be balanced at the individual article level. We welcome contributors *because* they have an agenda, *because* they have skin in the game. Instead, we try to provide balance at the platform level, by offering different perspectives on each stock from a variety of contributors, and by encouraging our readers to agree with or challenge contributors with comments. (If you look at the articles which George apologized for, you'll actually see that the authors were immediately challenged in the comments.)
One of the biggest differences between mainstream media and Seeking Alpha is our attitude to our readers. Mainstream media companies present themselves as unbiased and authoritative, and expect their readers to follow what they say. For example, newspapers published endorsements of political candidates.
At Seeking Alpha, we don't think our readers should blindly accept what any of our contributors say, and there's no "Seeking Alpha house view". We think our readers should consider the arguments on both sides, in the articles and the comment discussions, and make up their own minds. That's why our tagline is "Read. Decide. Invest." We treat our readers as intelligent investors who should decide for themselves. Our job is to present them with the arguments on both sides.
Finally you should know that we do have processes to penalize manipulation. In addition to the steps which George discussed in this article, contributors sign a compliance agreement with us where they agree to disclose positions, they have to vouch that they aren't receiving payment for their article by anyone other than SA, and they agree not to trade the stock immediately after the article's publication. Most important, we know the real names of our contributors, and will hand over their names to the SEC or other authorities which subpoena us in an investigation of stock manipulation. Our contributors know that.
Is there a danger that someone will land on a Seeking Alpha article, not read the comments, not read articles with an opposing perspective, and naively assume that the single article is authoritative, as they've been taught to think by mainstream media? Yes, there's a risk of that. But we've built Seeking Alpha for people who aren't naive, and who can decide for themselves.
What We're Doing To Stop Stock Price Manipulation, And How You Can Help Us [View article]
Larry (airlarr),
Thanks for your comment. We tried article ratings in the past, and found that they were dominated by people expressing agreement or disagreement with the article, rather than expressing a view about the quality of the article. For example, Apple articles got slammed if they said Apple's stock would fall (which it then did), and got high ratings if they were bullish about Apple's stock.
So we're still looking for ways to get reliable feedback from our users about article quality. Do you have any ideas about how to do that?
What We're Doing To Stop Stock Price Manipulation, And How You Can Help Us [View article]
User 427801,
Thanks for your comment. We don't view Seeking Alpha as on online forum that gives advice to people. Instead, Seeking Alpha is a research platform where investors can get the bull case and bear case on a stock, discuss with other investors, and then make their own decisions. That's why the site's tagline is "Read. Decide. Invest."
Fundamental to our vision for Seeking Alpha is understanding that our readers are intelligent people who should make up their own minds. Our role is to provide information and interaction that helps investors make smarter decisions.
This is in contrast to the newsletter industry and most other financial websites, which have a "house view" and tell their readers what to do, or promote their main writers as gurus who people should unquestioningly follow.
What We're Doing To Stop Stock Price Manipulation, And How You Can Help Us [View article]
AlbionWood,
This is a fascinating suggestion - thank you. Giving users more tools for personalization can only be helpful. In particular, since we have over a million people subscribed to real time email alerts on their stocks, the ability to say "I don't want to receive email alerts on my stocks for articles by this author" might be very useful to people.
Perhaps products go through cycles where there are spurts of innovation, and then not much new for a while. Apple was massively ahead of the competition with the iPhone, but the step from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5 wasn't significant for many people. (Many people in this discussion who love Apple products seem to rave about their iPhone 4S, not 5.)
The lack of game-changing new functionality in the iPhone 5 created an opportunity for Google Android to catch up to iOS, and Samsung and others to catch up on the hardware front. Even if you think that the iPhone is still better, the gap is much smaller than it was when the earlier iPhone models were launched.
Paulo, one other quick thought:The core argument of your article is correct: Many people love Apple's products and will pay more for them (as some commenters have said), but Apple's differentiation is shrinking, and many other people will move to other products. (An iPhone is no longer *cool*.)
Here's a perspective from a publisher: We (Seeking Alpha) offer apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. But Android is much easier to develop for, because Apple imposes a time delay in releasing updates to apps which greatly increases the time between iterations.
The result is that the Seeking Alpha Android apps are far better than our iPhone app (which we'll hopefully upgrade soon to bring it up to par). And, importantly, we offer a bunch of extremely popular Android apps which we don't yet offer for the iPhone: http://bit.ly/17nQszI
Barnes & Noble (BKS) announces Google Play is available for Nook HD products. Though the move is a further capitulation by B&N from offering up a closed eco-system, it also increases the number of apps available to consumers to 750K from 10K to make the Nook more attractive. Barnes & Noble is also cozying up to Google on the browser front with Chrome set to replace the existing default browser. [View news story]
Jason, totally agree, particularly since this is an OS update which is backward compatible on an already-purchased Nook.
BKS has to make a big push for market share to keep the NOOK ecosystem (bookstore etc) relevant. So it will get very aggressive about pricing.
Do you know what's in your preferred stock ETF? The PowerShares Financial Preferred Portfolio (PGF) has nearly all holdings in perpetual preferreds - fixed yields with no maturity dates, thus particularly vulnerable to rising rates. The iShares Preferred Stock ETF (PFF) has just 45%. Mutual preferred funds, though more expensive, might offer even better protection against higher rates - they're able to participate in the OTC market where much of the action in floating-rate preferreds takes place. [View news story]
Wonder whether these are cases of some people looking for yield without fully understanding the risks. One of the effects of low interest rates.
Barnes & Noble (BKS) announces Google Play is available for Nook HD products. Though the move is a further capitulation by B&N from offering up a closed eco-system, it also increases the number of apps available to consumers to 750K from 10K to make the Nook more attractive. Barnes & Noble is also cozying up to Google on the browser front with Chrome set to replace the existing default browser. [View news story]
Alexander, it's v. unlikely that GOOG would buy BKS. It has hardware and patents covered with its MOT acquisition, and doesn't need any other assets owned by BKS.
I personally think this will put pressure on AMZN's Kindle business. There are now two players releasing tablets at cost in a push to make money from services, but BKS has a fully fledged Android tablet whereas AMZN has a tablet that doesn't run most of the apps people want.
Just imagine the "Which tablet should you buy?" articles before next holiday season. "The Kindle is great and cheap, but doesn't run most of the apps you want. The Nook is great and cheap and runs everything you want (including the Kindle app). The iPad is beautiful and runs everything you want, but is $200 more than a Nook or Nexus 7."
Barnes & Noble (BKS) announces Google Play is available for Nook HD products. Though the move is a further capitulation by B&N from offering up a closed eco-system, it also increases the number of apps available to consumers to 750K from 10K to make the Nook more attractive. Barnes & Noble is also cozying up to Google on the browser front with Chrome set to replace the existing default browser. [View news story]
This is a *very* smart move. I'll now consider buying a Nook, whereas the lack of apps was a decisive factor for me in not buying a Kindle.
BKS seems to understand this - note what a big deal they're making about adding Google Play on the Nook website: http://bit.ly/13Rsk8o
I wonder whether AMZN will be forced to open up the Kindle to Google Play as well.
One final thought: Don't you think Google needs to change the name of its app store? "Google Play" suggests it's for games only.
The Nexus 7 might be about to get cheaper: in addition to predicting a summer launch for the next-gen 7, a source tells Reuters Google (GOOG) is thinking of either selling the device for $149, or selling it for $199 while discounting the current version (starts at $199). The next-gen 7 is also said to have a thinner bezel (like the iPad Mini) and a higher-res display. The reported pricing could put pressure on Amazon (AMZN), which sells the Kindle Fire HD for $199 and the current Fire for $159. Separately, SamMobile reports Samsung (SSNLF.PK) is working on a new high-end 10" Galaxy Tab, and 5.8" and 6.3" "Galaxy Mega" phablets. [View news story]
Wouldn't be surprised if Google's Nexus tablets and other Android tablets take huge market share. I've been using an iPad mini and a Google Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 has one huge advantage over the iPad mini - it's much more comfortable to hold in one hand, and fits in a (largish) pocket.
Surprisingly, the Seeking Alpha apps which we released for Android phones look amazing on the Nexus 7. They're listed here: http://bit.ly/17nQszI
Odyssey Marine Exploration (OMEX) nets $8.75M on a $10M early exercise of an option held by Mako Resources to purchase 8M shares of Oceanica Resources, S. de R.L., owned by Odyssey. The exercise price of $1.25/share, discounted from an original $2.50 in order to facilitate this transaction, represents a 25% increase over the price Mako paid for the 15M shares of Oceanica it bought in February. Mako still holds an option to buy another 7M shares of Oceanica at $2.50 before Dec. 31. (PR) [View news story]
What We're Doing To Stop Stock Price Manipulation, And How You Can Help Us [View article]
Thanks for your comment -- it goes to the core of what Seeking Alpha is about.
The objectivity you're looking for is the traditional media model. Main stream media companies were often in a position of influence (such as one of only two newspapers in town), and therefore aspired to objectivity. In finance, for example, that meant insisting that their journalists weren't allowed to own stocks. They claimed that they were trustworthy and objective. But in reality nobody is objective. Everyone has a viewpoint. Everyone has friends. Everyone has influences. And every publication has an owner with interests. Today, most people accept that most mainstream media companies have an angle.
Meanwhile, the investment newsletter industry tried to create gurus, and promote them as people who investors should follow unquestionably. That phenomenon morphed on the web into sites like TheStreet.com and Motley Fool.
Seeking Alpha has a different model and a different aspiration. We don't try to be balanced at the individual article level. We welcome contributors *because* they have an agenda, *because* they have skin in the game. Instead, we try to provide balance at the platform level, by offering different perspectives on each stock from a variety of contributors, and by encouraging our readers to agree with or challenge contributors with comments. (If you look at the articles which George apologized for, you'll actually see that the authors were immediately challenged in the comments.)
One of the biggest differences between mainstream media and Seeking Alpha is our attitude to our readers. Mainstream media companies present themselves as unbiased and authoritative, and expect their readers to follow what they say. For example, newspapers published endorsements of political candidates.
At Seeking Alpha, we don't think our readers should blindly accept what any of our contributors say, and there's no "Seeking Alpha house view". We think our readers should consider the arguments on both sides, in the articles and the comment discussions, and make up their own minds. That's why our tagline is "Read. Decide. Invest." We treat our readers as intelligent investors who should decide for themselves. Our job is to present them with the arguments on both sides.
Finally you should know that we do have processes to penalize manipulation. In addition to the steps which George discussed in this article, contributors sign a compliance agreement with us where they agree to disclose positions, they have to vouch that they aren't receiving payment for their article by anyone other than SA, and they agree not to trade the stock immediately after the article's publication. Most important, we know the real names of our contributors, and will hand over their names to the SEC or other authorities which subpoena us in an investigation of stock manipulation. Our contributors know that.
Is there a danger that someone will land on a Seeking Alpha article, not read the comments, not read articles with an opposing perspective, and naively assume that the single article is authoritative, as they've been taught to think by mainstream media? Yes, there's a risk of that. But we've built Seeking Alpha for people who aren't naive, and who can decide for themselves.
Read. Decide. Invest.
Best Regards,
David Jackson
What We're Doing To Stop Stock Price Manipulation, And How You Can Help Us [View article]
Thanks for your comment. We tried article ratings in the past, and found that they were dominated by people expressing agreement or disagreement with the article, rather than expressing a view about the quality of the article. For example, Apple articles got slammed if they said Apple's stock would fall (which it then did), and got high ratings if they were bullish about Apple's stock.
So we're still looking for ways to get reliable feedback from our users about article quality. Do you have any ideas about how to do that?
- David
What We're Doing To Stop Stock Price Manipulation, And How You Can Help Us [View article]
Thanks for your comment. We don't view Seeking Alpha as on online forum that gives advice to people. Instead, Seeking Alpha is a research platform where investors can get the bull case and bear case on a stock, discuss with other investors, and then make their own decisions. That's why the site's tagline is "Read. Decide. Invest."
Fundamental to our vision for Seeking Alpha is understanding that our readers are intelligent people who should make up their own minds. Our role is to provide information and interaction that helps investors make smarter decisions.
This is in contrast to the newsletter industry and most other financial websites, which have a "house view" and tell their readers what to do, or promote their main writers as gurus who people should unquestioningly follow.
What We're Doing To Stop Stock Price Manipulation, And How You Can Help Us [View article]
What We're Doing To Stop Stock Price Manipulation, And How You Can Help Us [View article]
This is a fascinating suggestion - thank you. Giving users more tools for personalization can only be helpful. In particular, since we have over a million people subscribed to real time email alerts on their stocks, the ability to say "I don't want to receive email alerts on my stocks for articles by this author" might be very useful to people.
Any further thoughts on this?
Apple's Magic Is Broken [View article]
The lack of game-changing new functionality in the iPhone 5 created an opportunity for Google Android to catch up to iOS, and Samsung and others to catch up on the hardware front. Even if you think that the iPhone is still better, the gap is much smaller than it was when the earlier iPhone models were launched.
Apple's Magic Is Broken [View article]
But isn't that already priced in to the stock?
Apple's Magic Is Broken [View article]
The result is that the Seeking Alpha Android apps are far better than our iPhone app (which we'll hopefully upgrade soon to bring it up to par). And, importantly, we offer a bunch of extremely popular Android apps which we don't yet offer for the iPhone: http://bit.ly/17nQszI
Barnes & Noble (BKS) announces Google Play is available for Nook HD products. Though the move is a further capitulation by B&N from offering up a closed eco-system, it also increases the number of apps available to consumers to 750K from 10K to make the Nook more attractive. Barnes & Noble is also cozying up to Google on the browser front with Chrome set to replace the existing default browser. [View news story]
BKS has to make a big push for market share to keep the NOOK ecosystem (bookstore etc) relevant. So it will get very aggressive about pricing.
Do you know what's in your preferred stock ETF? The PowerShares Financial Preferred Portfolio (PGF) has nearly all holdings in perpetual preferreds - fixed yields with no maturity dates, thus particularly vulnerable to rising rates. The iShares Preferred Stock ETF (PFF) has just 45%. Mutual preferred funds, though more expensive, might offer even better protection against higher rates - they're able to participate in the OTC market where much of the action in floating-rate preferreds takes place. [View news story]
Barnes & Noble (BKS) announces Google Play is available for Nook HD products. Though the move is a further capitulation by B&N from offering up a closed eco-system, it also increases the number of apps available to consumers to 750K from 10K to make the Nook more attractive. Barnes & Noble is also cozying up to Google on the browser front with Chrome set to replace the existing default browser. [View news story]
I personally think this will put pressure on AMZN's Kindle business. There are now two players releasing tablets at cost in a push to make money from services, but BKS has a fully fledged Android tablet whereas AMZN has a tablet that doesn't run most of the apps people want.
Just imagine the "Which tablet should you buy?" articles before next holiday season. "The Kindle is great and cheap, but doesn't run most of the apps you want. The Nook is great and cheap and runs everything you want (including the Kindle app). The iPad is beautiful and runs everything you want, but is $200 more than a Nook or Nexus 7."
Barnes & Noble (BKS) announces Google Play is available for Nook HD products. Though the move is a further capitulation by B&N from offering up a closed eco-system, it also increases the number of apps available to consumers to 750K from 10K to make the Nook more attractive. Barnes & Noble is also cozying up to Google on the browser front with Chrome set to replace the existing default browser. [View news story]
BKS seems to understand this - note what a big deal they're making about adding Google Play on the Nook website: http://bit.ly/13Rsk8o
I wonder whether AMZN will be forced to open up the Kindle to Google Play as well.
One final thought: Don't you think Google needs to change the name of its app store? "Google Play" suggests it's for games only.
The Nexus 7 might be about to get cheaper: in addition to predicting a summer launch for the next-gen 7, a source tells Reuters Google (GOOG) is thinking of either selling the device for $149, or selling it for $199 while discounting the current version (starts at $199). The next-gen 7 is also said to have a thinner bezel (like the iPad Mini) and a higher-res display. The reported pricing could put pressure on Amazon (AMZN), which sells the Kindle Fire HD for $199 and the current Fire for $159. Separately, SamMobile reports Samsung (SSNLF.PK) is working on a new high-end 10" Galaxy Tab, and 5.8" and 6.3" "Galaxy Mega" phablets. [View news story]
Surprisingly, the Seeking Alpha apps which we released for Android phones look amazing on the Nexus 7. They're listed here: http://bit.ly/17nQszI
The New Seeking Alpha Portfolio Android App [View article]