Ralph F

Morning Call Market Summary

Thanks for posting this, Trend Trader - I'm now following you. Quick request: it would be helpful if you'd tag your post with the ticker symbols of the stocks you're discussing.

China gives up its controversial Green Dam plan which required filtering software to be installed on all PCs in the country, saying it "will fully respect everyone’s freedom of choice." The filter will still be installed on computers in public spaces.

ie. "We'll respect your freedom of choice as long as you're not in a public place". BS. What they really mean is: "We can control you in public, but not in private. But we wish we could do both."

Odyssey Marine Strikes Major Deal with Discovery Communications

OMEX's stock is down 50% on the news that a US magistrate has recommended returning the Black Swan coins to Spain. Do you have any view of that, or of OMEX's response here shipwreck.net/pr181.php ? Thanks.

August is the Time to Buy Odyssey Marine Exploration

OMEX's stock is down 50% on the news that a US magistrate has recommended returning the Black Swan coins to Spain. Do you have any view of that, or of OMEX's response here shipwreck.net/pr181.php ? Thanks.

Odyssey Marine Exploration: Digging for Gold - And Finding It

OMEX's stock is down 50% on the news that a US magistrate has recommended returning the Black Swan coins to Spain. Do you have any view of that, or of OMEX's response here shipwreck.net/pr181.php ? Thanks.

Stock Treasure at the Bottom of the Ocean?

OMEX's stock is down 50% on the news that a US magistrate has recommended returning the Black Swan coins to Spain. Do you have any view of that, or of OMEX's response here shipwreck.net/pr181.php ? Thanks.

Recession Hits Online Advertising: More Data

A friend forwarded me an email update from a luxury ad network called Halogen. Here's what they wrote:

"We have seen a substantial shift in the types of campaigns brands are running for premium CPMs. For branding, advertisers want big, bold, engaging solutions to include microsites, twitter campaigns, sponsored posts, custom content and large format ads. They are willing to pay >$20 CPMs for these. For direct response, they want the cheapest way to get their banners in front of their audience. Like we say in the office, 'the cookie has killed the CPM'. We are seeing more and more advertisers use behavioral targeting and re-targeting at <$2 CPMs to reach their target audience. Because of this, we are not seeing the quantity of run of network direct response campaigns we were seeing just 6 months ago.

Because of this phenomenon, you may notice lighter impression levels for June."

APIs and the Future of Web Content

V. thought provoking article -- as usual, Felix. One question: you say that websites can make money by bundling ads with their content via APIs, just as they do with RSS.

But do you know of anyone making money from ads in RSS?

Three Israeli Baby Googles

Can someone explain exactly what MAIL does? There's no conf call transcript for the company on this site; that would have been v. helpful.

Three Israeli Baby Googles

Useful article -- thanks for writing about these companies, which receive relatively little coverage.

I'm not sure I'd call them "baby Googles". That seems to imply that they have Google's business model and potential. Instead, ANSW and MAIL seem to be dependent on GOOG for revenue. I'm not sure that's a sustainable business model, or a recipe for a big win.

On MAIL, I'm still not clear from your article what they do. Perhaps it's just a collection of small things. But that's not a very compelling value proposition.

ANSW's WikiAnswers is an interesting product -- thanks for the heads up.

Internet Content in Crisis: Are We Becoming Mental Grasshoppers?

Similar comment from Antonio Rodriguez, an HP visionary:

Blogs as junkfood for the brain
theonda.org/articles/2...

The Hedge Fund Business Is Finished and Bernie Madoff Is Sealing the Deal

The core point of this article is valid: you need to understand where your money is, and if you don't understand how a hedge fund manager is running it and how safe it is, that's a problem.

Greg Mankiw: Swap the Payroll Tax for a Gas Tax

The payroll tax is a regressive tax, because it's capped, so it hits the middle class much harder than the wealthy. But you're right that a gas tax would be even more regressive.

Many economists have actually suggested removing the cap on the payroll tax.


On Dec 14 08:50 AM Herbert Hoover wrote:

> This is a great idea! Implementing this will enable us to destroy
> the middle class quickly instead of a little at a time. Let's see,
> millionaires don't have to pay any taxes at all except at the gas
> pump while those schmucks who temporarily have a job get to fill
> up at 7 bucks a gallon. Nothing like a little regressive taxation
> to turn the US into a true banana republic

First-Ever Airlines ETF Set for Takeoff

Any info on expense ratios?

Nissan (NSANY) posts November sales of 46,605, down 42.2% vs. consensus of -35%. (PR)

What currency is that in?