Sometimes corporate competition can get pretty silly and downright petty, and this would appear to be one of those instances. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) rolled out its new Fox Business Network yesterday [subscription required], a few months after the company won its bid to acquire Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ), the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch.

And now, for the corporate espionage. CNBC somehow got Dow Jones to sign a contract allowing the cable business news network to buy all the advertising on Marketwatch.com on Monday, October 15th -- the day that News Corp., the soon to be parent company of Marketwatch, was set to launch its new business network.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "The advertising contract was signed Sept. 11, 2007, and included specific provisions for Oct. 15, the Fox Business Network launch date, according to a copy of the contract reviewed by the Journal. On that date, CNBC agreed to spend $59,500 to buy all of the ad space on Dow Jones's MarketWatch.com site, and agreed to an additional $27,500 to make sure any visitor to MarketWatch's home page would first see an advertisement from CNBC. This is known in ad parlance as a "roadblock."

Then Dow Jones pulled the CNBC ads yesterday, in an apparent attempt to suck-up to Mr. Murdoch -- it's hard to understand why else it would have done that.

All of this interesting and somewhat amusing. The one thing Dow Jones can probably take from it is that it should do a better job reviewing contracts. Shouldn't CNBC's request for October 15th have raised some alarms before the contract was signed?

But in the end, it probably isn't that important. FBN will be able to generate plenty of publicity, and its success or failure will depend on the quality of its content -- not the ads on MarketWatch on the day of its launch.

Recently, the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) said it will abandon its premium service -- and just give things away on its website. Even Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ) is thinking of doing the same with wsj.com.

Or take a look at television operators, such as CBS, which are providing free videos of popular shows.

Should your company think about doing the same? When is there a valid business case to be made for giving your product away?

Trynka Shineman, senior vice president of North American marketing for VistaPrint (NASDAQ: VPRT), thinks it can be a savvy move. After all, her company has been successful in giving away its business cards.

"Make sure you have a clearly defined objective for your offer and a marketing plan to meet that objective," said Shineman. "For example, do you want to generate leads? Referrals? Are you trying to cross-sell existing customers new products or services? Are you trying to retain your customers? For example, if you are trying to generate new customers, make sure you have a plan to convert free trials into purchases – that is, including offers for subsequent purchases with the free product. Getting your product into the hands of a potential customer is only beneficial if you turn that potential customer into a customer."

Or consider Spiceworks. The company develops sophisticated IT management software – and gives it away.

The catch? Spiceworks makes money through advertising.

"We wanted to target the small and medium size business market," said Jay Hallberg, the co-founder and VP of marketing at Spiceworks. "We know it's a huge market. The problem is that it can be difficult to get customers. So by making the product free, we got lots of adoption."

In fact, Spiceworks has a user base of over 120,000 users, which is certainly attractive to various advertisers. The company has deals with Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), McAfee (NYSE: MFE) and Rackspace

"If you plan on building an ad-based model," said Hallberg, "it's important to start placing ads on the site from the start. If not, you may disrupt the user experience."

Spiceworks initially used Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s AdSense system.

Hallberg also recommends: "Make sure you monitor the traffic and get details on your users. This is critical for getting sponsors."

Yet again, Spiceworks uses another Google product to help out -- called Google Analytics. And, of course, it's free.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Michael Copps, a member of the FCC, said that the tests for some upcoming mergers should be set higher. Two deals over which he showed special concern were the Sirius (NASDAQ: SIRI) merger with XM (NASDAQ: XMSR) and the News Corp (NYSE: NWS) purchase of Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ).

Mr Copps' worries about Dow Jones are simple enough. He is troubled that Mr. Murdoch will have such a large concentration of media in New York

He shows even more interest in the Sirius plan. The Wall Street Journal writes that "as one of five FCC commissioners, Mr. Copps will cast a vote on whether the Sirius-XM merger and Tribune sale should be allowed to proceed." Copps may want the satellite radio companies to give more guarantees on prices charged to consumers.

XM and Sirius stocks have both moved off lows as it appeared that approval for their merger looks more certain. The stocks are sill severely depressed. Copps comments may help push them down again.

While the satellite radio company merger may face more opposition than was anticipated recently, the firms still have a compelling argument about how competitive the marketplace is. They continue to lose money and, without some change in their structures, their debt loads could sink them. Perhaps someone will point that out to Copps.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Recession-Resistant Stocks and Sectors
The housing downturn, credit crunch, gloomy employment data and a parade of maudlin financial forecasts have been enough to send some investors scrambling for bubble gum and beer. Investors are starting to stock up on the usual slump-resistant suspects that make his list: consumer-staples makers, health-care companies and utilities.
Heard on the Street - WSJ.com


10 Great Retirement Spots
Be it beachcombing, city life, or fishing you crave, we've got great places for your golden years. U.S.News list of best places to retire has something for everyone.
Special Report: Best Places to Retire -- US News and World Report Money: 10 Retirement Spots to Get You Started - US News and World Report
Also: More Retirement Spots Worth a Look - US News and World Report


Pros Fess Up to Their Biggest Retirement-Building Blunders
We all make mistakes. But when they involve retirement, serious mistakes can mean working till you drop instead of retiring in style. Even financial professionals -- people who are paid for the wisdom of their judgments -- commit financial blunders they live to regret. Several experts share their most regrettable financial decisions. Some of their errors led to huge losses.
Pros fess up to their retirement-building blunders - USATODAY.com
Also: 6 Steps You Can Take for a More Prosperous Retirement
Also: Women Turn to Alternative Housing to Meet Retirement Needs


Scaling the Social Web
Move over, MySpace. Online players from media giantViacom to auctioneer eBay are adding networking features for their users.
Scaling the Social Web
Also: The Web's 25 Most Influential People

The Associated Press reports that News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox News Network plans to launch Fox Business Network (FBN) to compete with General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal's CNBC on October 15. Will the two really compete? CNBC targets upscale investors while FBN says it's targeting Main Street.

One interesting detail in this article is that Dow Jones & Company's (NYSE: DJ) arrangement with CNBC -- giving it exclusive access to the Wall Street Journal until 2012 -- only covers business-related news. This allows FBN to use Journal coverage of other areas such as Washington and lifestyle topics.

I think CNBC will feel threatened by FBN and continue to respond by offering conservative-leaning and big-business-boosterish coverage. Meanwhile FBN will use its well-practiced brand of Amen Chorus stories that both demonize the enemy -- in this case CNBC -- while appearing to support the voiceless, powerless little guy. If I ran CNBC, I would focus primarily on giving my core audience more of what it wants and not try to imitate FBN through patriotic-sounding stories.

Advertisers will pay a premium to access CNBC's upscale viewers and GE cannot afford to lose those dollars.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates,. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns GE stock, has consulted to News Corp.'s CEO, has appeared as a guest on CNBC and Forbes on Fox, and has no financial interest in Dow Jones.

Rupert Murdoch all but said that he would take his new prize, The Wall Street Journal, and offer it online for free, even though he would be giving up almost one million paid online subscribers and about $50 million in revenue.

Murdoch is probably looking at the nearly $400 million that The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) says it will do through its online editions this year. According to Nielsen Net/Ratings, nytimes.com has more than 13 million unique visitors. WSJ.com has closer to 5 million.

Murdoch has hinted that he will add reporting on national and international news to the Journal's financial coverage. That would give him the opportunity to do real damage to the Times and potentially go after much of its consumer advertising revenue base. With internet advertising revenue at newspaper sites still rising at close to 20% a year, Murdoch is after a pot of money that The New York Times Company must know will be close to $750 million three years from now.

What the Interest Rate Cut Means for You
Consumers should soon start feeling the impact of the Fed rate cut in the form of lower borrowing costs and stingier savings rates. But the rate cut doesn't offer much help for the key problems bedeviling many mortgage borrowers.
What the Rate Cut Means for You
Also: Fed Cut Impact on Housing


ATM Fees
Banks are charging more and more for access to cash, but is convenience worth such crazy costs?
Breaking the bank: ATM fees - Sep. 19, 2007


How to Save Money at Wal-Mart or Anywhere Else
Savings at Wal-Mart stores -- or any other retailer -- can be found in a number of places, as long as you're willing to commit the time to find them. Here are some simple steps you can take to save even more money when shopping.
How to Save at Wal-Mart -- TheStreet


Most Expensive Preschools
If you're like many new parents, nothing's too good for your little genius. The top pre-K's will set you back more than 25 grand a year. That's if junior can get in.
The Most Expensive Preschools - Forbes.com

This post is part of our Money Face-Offs feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.

From the bodegas of Brooklyn to the penthouses of Central Park, most New Yorkers would probably tell you that they like the present mayor Mike Bloomberg a whole lot better than the previous occupant of Gracie Mansion, Rudy Giuliani.

Neither Bloomberg nor Giuliani suffers from low self-esteem. I worked for Bloomberg LP for seven years and had some brief encounters with Bloomberg over the years. One time, I called him "Mr. Bloomberg" when I shook his hand at the company's Christmas party. He insisted that I call him "Mike." I continued to call him Mr. Bloomberg. Warm and cuddly, he is not, and working for Mike's company wasn't always easy.

The main union representing newsroom employees at Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) better hope it can settle its contract dispute with the publisher of the Wall Street Journal before Rupert Murdoch completes his $5 billion acquisition of the company.

Dow Jones is taking a tough line with the 2,000-member Independent Association of Publishers' Employees (IAPE), making it a final offer of a three-year contract with 3% raises in each year with sharply higher health care costs, according to Editor & Publisher. Members of the union may call for a strike vote as soon as this weekend, the publication said.

This dispute comes as the Australian tycoon is trying to make nice with the editorial staff at the Journal, personally trying to talk some people out of taking jobs at competitors. He's also promising to make significant investments in the Journal.

But Murdoch wants to be nice to the Dow Jones employees on his terms, not the union's. News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) shareholders also are going to keep a close eye on the costs of integrating Dow Jones into the rest of Murdoch's empire.

The IAPE may have little choice but to accept a bad contract now and hope better times will come later. That's not great news, but then again there's very little of that for employees in most media companies.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• In an effort to stem the flow of weaponry into Iraq, the Pentagon is planning to build its first base near the Iraq-Iran border, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is expected to make concessions with the investment banks putting together $24B in debt for its purchase of First Data Corporation (NYSE: FDC), something it had previously been unwilling to do, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Bush administration wants to limit the role of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) in the home mortgage crisis, but a number of Democrats, led by New York Senator Schumer, want to increase the authority of both firms by loosening growth constraints, and increase the size of mortgages they can buy in high cost areas, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• While the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) said it extended the deadline earlier this week, the "self-imposed deadline" for an LSE bid passed without a single firm bid, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).

OTHER PAPERS:

• The U.K. Times reported that Russian state-controlled energy company Gazprom (OTC: GZPFY) considered making a rival $5B offer for business news company Dow Jones and Company Inc (NYSE: DJ), according to a source.
• The New York Times reported that after three separate recalls of Mattel Inc (NYSE: MAT) toys, Disney (NYSE: DIS) said it would begin testing toys featuring Disney characters, including ones already on store shelves.

Another visit to the movie theater, another Murdoch triumph. The Simpson's Movie (a Fox Studios release) was very funny, but I think it would have been equally entertaining to see Murdoch close the Dow Jones and Company (NYSE: DJ) deal. If you could have heard some of the behind the scenes discussions from the Bancroft family, the majority shareholders of Dow Jones Inc., it might have been pretty funny also. In the end Rupert Murdoch and Homer Simpson are a big success, smiling gleefully all the way to the bank. Rupert taking money out of the account and Homer putting it back in. I doubt the Simpsons will make up for the billions, but perhaps it will take the edge off the early losses News Corp (NYSE: NWS) will not be able to avoid in the beginning.

The Simpsons Movie raked in the dough (or should I say "DOH!" since that is Homer Simpson's most used exclamation). The Simpsons television show is broadcast on the Fox Network, and the movie lived up to the hype. It is funny, the first half more than the second. Speaking of seconds, it would be no surprise to see Homer on the big screen again and Rupert making headlines again -- on one more paper he owns.

To verify my track record, including bad calls, read Chasing Value and Serious Money.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch is launching a charm offensive to convince reporters at the Wall Street Journal not to jump ship once his $5 billion acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) becomes official, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Times says Murdoch has called at least 3 reporters who were weighing job offers. No doubt, he'll call even more in the coming weeks.

But even if he didn't enjoy a deserved reputation for meddling in editorial affairs, Murdoch would have his work cut out for him. We journalists take pride in having a thick skin that's schmooze resistant. In fact, workplace romances are very common in newsrooms because it's a good place for cynical people to meet other cynical people. It's sad, I know. Murdoch, though, has to give it his best shot.

The tycoon is eager to prove to his many naysayers and advertisers that he's not going to wreck a great newspaper. No doubt, the paper's star reporters and editors will be promised everything short of a guest star role in "The Simpsons" to stay. Many Journal staffers will stay put because the paper pays pretty well and jobs in the industry aren't real plentiful.

After reading the story, the classic blues song "Baby Please Don't Go" popped into my head and now just won't leave. Them, the group which first brought Van Morrison to fame, recorded a great version of the tune in the 1960s. Please enjoy the video courtesy of YouTube.

Any investment company (or hedge fund) is required to file all of its positions with the SEC in the form of a 13F-HR filing each quarter. If you're interested in watching all 13F-HR filings, you can watch the SEC page. However, investors and traders are becoming more dependent on services such as Stockpickr or GuruFocus to scramble through these filings.

An interesting story appeared on Bloomberg today about Buffett's most recent filing with the SEC on behalf of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A). The most interesting part of his portfolio, in my opinion, was his position in Dow Jones and Co. (NYSE: DJ).

This position was especially interesting because it clearly wasn't a traditional, long-term value play -- the type that Buffett has become so famous for investing in. Contrarily, this seems like a classic arbitrage play. The company was in a bidding war with a variety of potential buyers, most notably Rupert Murdoch of NewsCorp (NYSE: NWS), who actually won the company.

With the surge in internet and other digital systems, there's been a huge demand for infrastructure technologies. Some of these operators -- like Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN), Data Domain (NASDAQ: DDUP), and BladeLogic (NASDAQ: BLOG) -- have gone public this year to raise more capital for growth. And the latest infrastructure player to file for an IPO is 3PAR.

The company is a provider of utility storage systems geared for medium and large enterprises. Basically, 3PAR leverages an architecture that melds servers and storage arrays to get better efficiencies for storage. In fact, the technologies combine some of the advantages of mainframe and client/server approaches.

3PAR has about 200 customers, including Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ), MySpace.com, United States Census Bureau, and Verizon (NYSE: VZ).

Over the last year, 3PAR's revenues have grown from $38.1 million to $66.1 million, though the company is still posting losses.

The lead underwriters on the IPO include Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Credit Suisse.

The prospectus is located at the SEC website. If you want to check out more IPO filings, click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Since relocating to New York about a year ago, one of the more surprising realities I can't get over is the sheer ubiquity of celebrities -- they're simply everywhere! Walk through any subway train -- from an Inwood-bound A train to a Z train headed for JFK -- and you'll find those stars and starlets shining down on you. Lindsay! Britney! Paris! Lindsay! Brangelina! TomKat! Lindsay! All gloss and glory, beaming at you from the pages of the ever-present In Touch Weekly.

Power lunchers, design majors, single moms, goth queens -- even your own friends and families -- they're all reading these magazines. And don't think it's just women -- fellas are just more sly about it, brandishing blurbs about A-Rod's latest effort while sneaking peeks at Page Six.

Hey, I'm not making this up -- the Audit Bureau of Circulations confirms this celebrity fetish. Figures released yesterday show the gossip glossies are flying off the checkout stands.

OK! Weekly, put out by Britain's private Northern & Shell -- which also publishes some of London's sauciest fishwraps -- saw circulation bound 54% higher during the first half of the year, selling 809,000 copies per issue. Also reporting jumps in circulation were US Weekly (did you know it was founded by The New York Times (NYSE: NYT)? Thanks, Wikipedia!), In Touch Weekly and Life&Style, the latter two both owned by Germany's Bauer Publishing, Europe's largest private publisher. Alas, BloggingStocks' distant Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) relative, People, slipped 2%, though it remains proudly at the top of the heap, with more than 3.7 million copies of each issue sold.

Time, another corporate cousin, saw its genre-leading circulation drop by 700,000 -- apparently owing to its excision of promotional tie-ins that weren't pulling their weight and a redirection away from waiting room subscriptions. Circulation for newsweekly challengers and financial magazines stood pat, with the curious exception of the enigmatic London weekly, The Economist, which posted a 15.5% jump!

So what's on the uptick? Stoic, faceless financial analysis and paparazzi pap! Wrap your head around that.

Magazine sales in general held steady year over year, which is more than the Audit Bureau can say for the newspaper industry, unfortunately. Predictably, among the few major papers to post higher sales in the most recent newspapers report were the tabloid New York Daily News and its rival, The New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NYSE: NWS), the new guardian of The Wall Street Journal.

Perhaps fearing Jessica Simpson pinups in Rupert's new plaything (Item!), fans of the Journal's gravitas are flocking to The Economist's stuffy pastures.