Recently in Current Events Category

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]

Josh sent this email to me this morning with an idea for donations to the victims of hurricane Katrina:

I am trying to get as many traders as I can to donate their profits for Tuesday, Sep. 6 to a charity of their choosing that is assisting disaster victims. Would you help me in this cause? It would be great if you would personally pledge your profits for Sep. 6, and even better if you would urge your readers to do the same.

Here is a list of good charities:

Other than writing a few checks myself, I have no affiliation with any of them.

Any help you can give would go a long way. I am convinced that together we can make a difference.

I'm sitting here listening to the Georgia Governor telling people to stay calm about the rising gas prices but I just came in from a short trip to the store and it's getting hectic out there. I headed to the store at about 4:05 PM today and noticed that the station closest to my house was in the midst of changing their prices. At that time all of the prices started with a '2' and their middle numbers were missing. When I came back about 30 minutes later the prices were 3.09 to 3.29 (pictures of that station below). Also, premium gas at another station I passed on the way to the store jumped 56 cents to 3.56 while I was in the store! Lines were about 10 cars long on my trip to the store and were noticeably longer, even spilling out into the street, on my way back home. Looks like it'll be a fun weekend!

Here are a couple of pics of the station nearest my house. The man in front of the white truck works at the station and was directing traffic.

P.S. The news is now saying that people are reporting 4 and 5 dollar prices throughout the metro area.

Update @ 5:33 - The news just showed a station with a price of $5.57 and the station across the street was in the process of modifying their price from $5 something

Upodate 2: Terry also has a post about what's going on in Georgia today, including the Governor's sanctions against price gougers.

Here's a ton of stuff that I just pulled out of my newsreader. Some good 'surfage' for tomorrow's expiration day. Enjoy...

Very interesting article in the New York Times about how markets react to events like yesterday's bombing -- Initial Panic Selling Followed by a Numbing Business as Usual. Be sure to check out the multimedia features too. (via Big Picture)

Here are some notes the Briefing.com posted about this morning's explosions in London:

I know the west coasters aren't happy about this and count me as one east coaster who doesn't like it either. I vote for shortening the trading day.

NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.

``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''

Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.

Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18. [read the entire story...]

The New York Times has an article which explores the acquisition interest in financial news sites of late.

Dow Jones won the bidding with a deal, expected to be completed today, for $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue. The four-way frenzy among the companies to own MarketWatch outright may be the strongest sign that news and information sites, long thought to be dot-gone relics of 1999, are making a big comeback in 2005.

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

"The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium," said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. "Our audience means more to them now because it's not just revenue they are going to pick up. It's revenue they are going to lose."

I wonder how much the bull run of the last two years had to do the amount of interest in these sites. If the bear comes back that MarketWatch purchase may start to look really expensive.

On a related note -- I'll gladly sell my site for just 5 times ad revenue which amounts to the whopping sum of... oh never mind. :-)

Update: Susan just wrote a post covering some other angles on internet ad revenue. She also points to this article about a recent Goldman Sachs study -- "Newspaper advertising being infringed upon by internet ad campaigns" Interesting times...

Be sure to set your TiVos to catch Random Roger on Your World with Neil Cavuto (Friday) and Forbes on Fox (Saturday).

Welcome to week 57 of the Carnival of the Capitalists. This is an exciting weekend for me, yesterday this blog was highlighted in Barron's and today I get to host the carnival. I encourage all of my new visitors to visit the blogs listed below. You may be surprised at the high quality of writing being done in the blogosphere.

As usual there are a lot of good articles submitted by bloggers on a variety of topics. I didn't even attempt to categorize the articles, as many of them cross multiple topics. I did do a quick sorting of them, so the list below generally flows in this order: entrepreneurship, business, technology, blogging, marketing, internet, financial markets, economy and taxes. Enjoy...

From Fast Company:

What's Next?

Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.

Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).

At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.

Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both. [read the rest]