Look for a LinkedIn IPO, but not in the near future. Company co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman has revealed his (and his investors') exit strategy, even if it could take a while to get there. Any social media company IPO would take a while to get off the ground in this market, since companies are being incredibly cautious. So, "not anytime soon" could coincide with a change in market conditions ... but Hoffman stopped well short of that.

At an event in London to celebrate LinkedIn's hitting the 3 million user mark in Britain, Hoffman said about the company's IPO prospects, "Probably at some point a balance will occur when that's the right thing. That will not occur in the near term." Worldwide, LinkedIn has 53 million members.

Continue reading Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)

Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There are two competing positions on consumer sentiment right now. One is that it turned south last week, as people worried about their jobs - always a bad sign for spending. The other is that consumer sentiment didn't crap out in July: it fizzled in May. So, it's not a question of whether consumers aren't confident in the U.S. economic machine, it's just a matter of when the collective mood changed.

The July camp is set up around the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, which makes now the weakest point for consumer sentiment since March. Those who favor May look to domestic demand for foreign goods, which went soft two months ago, bringing the monthly trade deficit to its narrowest since 1999. The U.S. trade gap unexpectedly tightened to $26 billion in May, with exports up 1.6% and imports down 0.6%, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Continue reading Consumer sentiment down, according to everyone

Consumer sentiment down, according to everyone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The media has been filled with reports about how poorly the advertising at The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) has been doing. The company has $400 million in debt due next year. It is trying to sell its part of the parent company of The Boston Red Sox. NYT is even attempting to mortgage its headquarters building.

Bringing in new money won't do much long-term if revenue keeps falling. Cutting costs would.

One of the sections of The New York Times that must be costly to run is its business section. Looking at all the bylines, the staff must be in the dozens. But, a great deal of what runs in the business pages is not unique. Most of its is covered by Reuters, Bloomberg, FT, or The Wall Street Journal.

As the cost of being in the news business stays high and revenue drops, networks are pooling reporting resources. Newspapers are sharing coverage of certain geographic areas. Websites such as Politico are offering newspapers coverage of Washington to save money on having bureaus following the federal government.

The New York Times might be better off if it cut a deal with Bloomberg or the FT to handle its business section. The paper would still be competitive with The Wall Street Journal, and the move might be the start of a system to save a lot more money by doing something similar with other parts of the Times.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Outsourcing The New York Times business section originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Chief Executive Tom Glocer told reporters that financial services markets "are likely to remain challenging through at least the end of the year." That means that big clients are going to be asking for big discounts. Bloomberg, my former employer and the company's biggest rival, has usually been able to resist this temptation.

Continue reading Thomson Reuters is in for a tough slog after missing expectations

Thomson Reuters is in for a tough slog after missing expectations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) was initiated with a Neutral rating at JP Morgan. The firm sees risk to 2008 Street estimates given the consumer slowdown in the U.S. and potential ASP and margin pressure as channel inventory is worked down.
  
• Morgan Stanley assumed Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) with an Underweight rating and expects revenue growth in the company's financial business to slow sharply into 2009.
  
• William Blair believes Heritage-Crystal Clean (NASDAQ: HCCI) has the opportunity to gain market share over the next several years as a result of its differentiated parts-cleaning programs, strong sales organization, and experienced management team. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating.

• Lehman initiated Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) with Equal Weight ratings and targets of $20 and $17 and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), IBM Corp (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) with Overweight ratings and targets of $195, $144 and $59, respectively.
  
• Pacific Growth started Spectranetics (NASDAQ: SPNC) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Merrill reinstated Chevron (NYSE: CVX), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Hess Corp (NYSE: HES) with Buy ratings and price targets of $110, $105 and $125, respectively.

Analyst initiations: AAPL, DELL, IBM, XOM, GRMN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• In a step toward expanding its reach into China, UCBH Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: UCBH) has acquired a full stake in Shanghai-based Business Development Bank in a deal valued at $205M, the Wall Street Journal reported.

• After creating an agreement with the International Herald Tribune, Reuters Group Plc (NASDAQ: RTRSY) is reportedly in discussion for a similar agreement with The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), the UK Times reported.

• In an interview with Bloomberg, E.I du Pont de Nemours and Company's (NYSE: DD) CEO Charles Holiday said he believes the U.S. economy will be able to avoid a recession in 2008.
• According to "people familiar with the plan," Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) may sell its Japanese unit in an effort to help cut global costs due to a slump in sales and lower earnings forecast, Bloomberg reported.

Newspaper wrap-up: Reuters looks for revenue-sharing deal with NY Times originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Next year Nestle USA will sell Jamba Inc's (NASDAQ: JMBA) Jamba Juice at stores in eight states in the western U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Last May Canadian information provider The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC) bought Reuters Group Plc (NASDAQ: RTRSY) for GBP8.7B. While the deal was beneficial to Reuters, the credit crunch could have a severe impact on its bottom line over the next few years, the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" said.

• The Detroit News reported that the United Auto Workers signed a new contract with Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F).

• Jeffrey Zucker, General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal media unit would be interested in DreamWorks SKG if it were to become available, Bloomberg reported.
• According to 21st Century Business Herald's website, Baosteel Group's Chairman, Xu Lejiang, said the company is considering making a bid for Rio Tinto Plc (NYSE: RTP).

Newspaper wrap-up: Nestle USA to sell Jamba Juice next year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading CNN plans to expand on the cheap

CNN plans to expand on the cheap originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reuters (NASDAQ:RTRSY) has a blog section at the bottom of most business stories at Reuters.com. It is called Business Blog Posts, and it is powered by Blogburst. Blogburst is part of blog syndication service Pluck. And, Reuters is one of Pluck's owners.

Complicated? Yes.

The business blogs that Reuters runs are mostly small, one-person operations like Phil's Stock World and Captain Currency. Some, like The Kirk Report and Bill Cara, are well regarded. But, Reuters does them a disservice. It keeps the traffic for their content when it runs on Reuters.com. So, Reuters gets the ad revenue on those pages. The bloggers get their names on Reuters, and a link back to their sites, which is probably rarely used.

It is interesting to note that none of the big business blog sites like SeekingAlpha or Ticker Sense run in the Reuters program. They understand that the deal is good for Reuters and bad for the blogs. They aren't prepared to let Reuters compete with them for eyeballs using their own blog content.

It is a shame that Reuters has handled bloggers this way. Many other media outlets like WSJ.com and TheStreet.com comment on blogs but send traffic to the bloggers. Reuters has decided not to give the little guy a leg up.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St. which was approached about the Reuters program and turned the company down.

What does Reuters have against financial blogs? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bernstein upgraded shares of Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO), Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO), Sunoco Incorporated (NYSE: SUN) and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) to Market Perform from Underperform.
• MasTec Incorporated (NYSE: MTZ) was upgraded to Buy from Accumulate at Think Equity and to Buy from Hold at SMH Capital on valuation following yesterday's sell-off.
• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Cognos Incorporated (NASDAQ: COGN) to Overweight from Neutral citing solid end demand, expanded sales capacity, indications that C8 adoption should see an uptick, and the Applix Inc (NASDAQ: APLX) acquisition.
• Forest Laboratories Inc (NYSE: FRX) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, as the firm believes Forest's victory in the Lexapro patent case eliminates a major overhang and returns the focus to the company's pipeline.
• Lehman upgraded shares of Reuters Group (NASDAQ: RTRSY) to Overweight from Equal Weight to reflect benefits from the company's merger with Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC).

• UBS upgraded shares of General Mills Inc (NYSE: GIS) to Buy from Neutral.
• Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE: TMA) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital Markets.
• CIBC World Markets upgraded EDO Corporation (NYSE: EDO) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer.
• Bernstein upgraded shares of Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) to Outperform from Market Perform and shares of Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst upgrades 9-6-07: Refiners, MTZ, COGN, FRX and RTRSY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan upgraded Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) to Overweight from Neutral based on improved risk/return and conservative near-term estimates. UBS upgraded Lowe's to Buy from sell on valuation.

• Cooper Tire & Rubber (NYSE: CTB) was upgraded to Buy from Sell, as the firm thinks Copper is benefiting from surging demand for tires in Asia and considers the recent weakness a buying opportunity.

• UBS upgraded shares of Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) to Buy from Neutral, citing expected growth acceleration, productivity savings, and attractive valuation.

• Deutsche Bank is positive on the Thomson (TOC)-Reuters combination and expected synergies, upgrading Reuters Group (NASDAQ: RTRSY) to Buy from Hold.

• Netease.com (NASDAQ: NTES) was upgraded to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna based on valuation and checks that indicate better than expected performance of Westward Journey Online III...

• Georgia Gulf (NYSE: GGC) was raised to Neutral from Sell.

• US Airways (NYSE: LCC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral.

• Banc of America upgraded Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) to Buy from Neutral.

• Think Equity upgraded Jazz Technologies (AMEX: JAZ) to Buy from Source of Funds.

Analyst upgrades: CPB, LCC, LOW, NTES and RTRSY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Aug 2007 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In a sign of the increasing importance of high-end financial blogs, Reuters Group Plc (NASDAQ: RTRSY) is starting a new network of the sites. Or, it could be that the Reuters business development people have down time because of its upcoming purchase by Thomson Corp. (NYSE: TOC).

The offer that Reuters is making to a number of high-end blogs is that it will link to the participating sites from Reuters.com, offer free access to selected Reuters Headlines (RSS or Headline Wizard) and Reuters Video Player to publish Reuters News, and get 30% of an advertising program that the big financial services company will manage.

In return, each blog agrees to execute contracts with comScore and NetRatings to assign its traffic to Reuters.com. NetRatings ranks Reuters.com as the No.7 financial website with unique visitors of 6.1 million in May.

Reuters may be trying to match blog initiatives at media outlets including FT.com, WSJ.com, and AOL.com.

Either Reuters has a very high regard for financial blogs or it needs to pump up its audience ratings.

Disclosure: 24/7 Wall St. was approached by Reuters about this opportunity.

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

Reuters starts financial blog network originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Bancroft family, which controls the voting block of stock in Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ) has agreed to meet with News Corp (NYSE: NWS) to discuss its $5 billion offer. Earlier in the week, one of the largest Dow Jones shareholders, T Rowe Price, suggested that the company take the offer. The institutional investing firm reasoned that company management did not have a plan to get shares up to $60, the value of Murdoch's offer.

Outsiders might view the change of heart on the part of the Bancrofts as simply an acknowledgment of their duty to the company's other shareholders.

But, it can also be seen in another light, Shares in Dow Jones have not done well since 2001. T Rowe Price is right. The management has no viable plan to substantially increase shareholder value, and it has not had one at any time in the recent past.

As print advertising and circulation rose, Dow Jones did launch online versions of its products. The Dow Jones Newswires have done well, but still face increasingly difficult competition from Reuters (NASDAQ: RTRSY) and Bloomberg. The company did not launch any new business that might transform its financials or make any acquisitions that might change the face of the company.

And so, it comes to this.

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

Dow Jones softens toward Murdoch originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The British newspaper, The Independent, reports that Reuters is a heart beat from being sold to Thomson (NYSE: TOC). According to its report, the "Reuters Founders Share Company, the trust that acts as guardian to the editorial independence of Reuters Group Plc" is prepared to approve the deal. Reuters has been independent since it was founded in 1850.

Thomson's bid sent the Reuters (NYSE: RTRSY) ADRs from below $60 to over $77. While the premium is nowhere near the one that News Corp (NYSE: NWS) has offered for Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ), Thomson is family controlled, and the Reuters CEO would run the combined company.

A combined Thomson/Reuters would have a share of the financial news delivery business that would only be matched by privately-held Bloomberg.

The merger of the two financial news and information giants could put Dow Jones in a bit of a bind. Its revenue would be dwarfed by larger competitors, and a rejection of the News Corp. offer could end up looking short-sighted.

But Dow Jones's management has made mistakes before.

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

Reuters all but sold? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 13 May 2007 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Newspaper wrap-up 5-10-07: Murdoch began talks with DJ on March 29 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 May 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Armor Holdings Inc (NYSE: AH) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan based on the news that the company will be sold to BAE Systems PLC (BAESY) for $88 a share in cash. The firm expects the deal to close with no higher offers. Bear Stearns cut Armor Holdings to Peer Perform from Outperform and Friedman Billings cut shares of the vehicle armorer to Market Perform from Outperform.

• Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America and DA Davidson following the Alcoa (AA) bid.

• Baird cut Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) to Neutral from Outperform following CEO Michael Coppola's resignation. Kevin Dann downgraded Advance to Hold from Buy to reflect an increased level of uncertainty following Mr. Coppola's departure.

• Lehman Brothers downgraded Reuters Group (NASDAQ: RTRSY) to Equal Weight from Overweight pending further information on the Thompson Corp (TOC) bid; Credit Suisse cut shares to Neutral from Outperform and Deutsche Bank cut shares to Hold from Buy.

• Matrix downgraded UST Inc (NYSE: UST) to Sell from Hold.

• Needham cut Entegris, Inc (NASDAQ: ENTG) to Hold from Buy.

• UBS downgraded shares of Golden Star Resources (AMEX: GSS) to Reduce from Neutral.

• Wachovia cut Rowan Cos (NYSE: RDC) to Market Perform from Outperform.

Analyst downgrades 5-08-07: AH, AL, AAP, ROC and RTRSY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 May 2007 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Watching the flurry of information industry merger announcements in the last week or so, I am struck by a point that analysts seem to be missing -- it's important to know what kinds of information people are willing to pay for. In all the chatter about News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) bid for Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ), Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) discussions with Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), and The Thomson Corp.'s (NYSE: TOC) proposed acquisition of Reuters PLC (ADR) (NYSE: RTRSY), the important point that's been lost is that people will pay up for some kinds of information and expect other types to be free.

I first began thinking about this in 1984 when I worked on a consulting project for the New York Stock Exchange on the threat it faced from electronic stock quote providers. In 1986, I published an article based on this, Strategic Developments in Investment Information. The point of that article that's still relevant today is that people will pay good money for information if it satisfies three tests:

• It's proprietary;
• It helps minimize the risk associated with a big investment; and
• The price of the information is a small proportion of that investment.

What relevance does this have for all these information industry mergers?

Continue reading Information-industry mergers: What will people pay for?

Information-industry mergers: What will people pay for? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 05 May 2007 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of Reuters are skyrocketing on reports of a $15 billion takeover bid from an unidentified suitor that can be blocked by a single golden share could block the bid.

I hate to say I told you so, but my post from May 2, suggested Reuters Group PLC (NASDAQ: RTRSY) as a possible takeover candidate in light of News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) bid for Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ).

And like DJ, Reuters has a quirky ownership structure under which no shareholder may own 15% or more of Reuters shares and a single golden share held by The Reuters Founder Share can block a hostile bid. The Reuters Founder Share Co is run by 15 trustees, charged with ensuring the "independence, impartiality, integrity and freedom from bias" of the global news organization.

So once again the interests of public shareholders of media companies are being thwarted by special insider interests. I think it's time to end this quaint relic of the 19th century.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned in this post.

Will the golden share block Reuters takeover? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 May 2007 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A financial MySpace? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS upgraded General Electric Co (NYSE: GE) to Buy from Neutral with a $14 target based on valuation and expectations for strong earnings in its gas turbine business.

• Brocade Communications Systems Inc (NASDAQ: BRCD) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs to Buy from Neutral with an $11 target to reflect the cost savings associated with the McData acquisition. Bear Stearns also upgraded Brocade to Outperform from Peer Perform following its Q1 report and $200 buyback; Raymond James upgraded shares to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Netease.com Inc ADS (NASDAQ: NTES) to Hold from Sell with a $23 target following the company's Q4 report.

• Credit Suisse upgraded Reuters Group ADS (NASDAQ: RTRSY) to Outperform from Neutral citing the company's favorable outlook.

• Citigroup upgraded Moody's Corp (NYSE: MCO) to Buy from Hold with a $77 target as they believe weakness surrounding the company's quarter has created a buying opportunity.

• William Blair upgraded Career Education Corp (NASDAQ: CECO) to Market Perform from Underperform.

• BWS Financial upgraded shares of CuraGen Corp (NASDAQ: CRGN) to Strong Buy from Buy with an $8 target following its recent sell-off. The firm believes the concerns that CuraGen will not be able to sell its 454 Life Science stake are baseless.

• Caris upgraded Marvell Technology Group (NASDAQ: MRVL) to Above Average from Average following its solid quarter as they believe Marvell has worked through the excess inventory in storage and wireless LAN. Needham also upgraded Marvell Tech to Buy from Hold with a $26 target following its Q4 results.

Analyst upgrades 2-27-07: UBS turns the lights on at General Electric originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.