Somebody at Marketwatch.com is either completely busted, or savvy enough to try and bring some levity to the day. You decide after looking at the following:
Agoracom Blog
Best Bailout Bill Headline Of The Day – “Drop Dead”
Posted by
at 2:54 PM on Monday, September 29th, 2008
AGORACOM Bailout Bill Coverage Via Twitter
Posted by
at 2:09 PM on Monday, September 29th, 2008
If you’re trying to catch up on the day’s events, check out our Twitter entries today. More than headlines, you’ll enjoy the intricate coverage all in one page.
Regards,
George
Bailout Bill FAILS To Pass
Posted by
at 12:58 PM on Monday, September 29th, 2008
226 NO
207 Yes
Republicans vote 2:1 against their own President. George Bush speech at 7:30 AM was not enough to rally his own troops. Very surprising but speaks volumes.
However, vote has been left open as leaders of both sides try to convince members to switch their votes. Long shot but who knows what can of pressure can be applied.
Full details and update on my twitter account
Bullish Indicator – Small-Cap Gold Company CEO’s
Posted by
at 11:24 AM on Monday, September 29th, 2008
If you’re a fan of “ear to the ground” anecdotal evidence, then you’ll want to know that we’ve received our 3rd call from a small-cap gold company looking to begin an online investor relations program.
Why? Three Reasons:
- CEO’s feeling very confident that gold is going to re-test $1,000 + highs.
- CEO’s want to reach out to US investors looking to hedge their portfolios.
- Erratic and neurotic behavior of brokers that have lost credibility with clients.
Whatever the reason, it is both a good and prudent move by gold CEO’s to jump on this opportunity and present themselves as one of the few bright sectors in the markets.
Regards,
George
Barry Ritholtz Makes The Case For Just Taking Our Medicine
Posted by
at 11:15 AM on Monday, September 29th, 2008
Barry Ritholtz is one of the smartest and most-respected economic commentators on the planet. Like myself, he has largely advocated against messing with the free markets and just taking our medicine to get this mess over with.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Barry or his position, the following quick read is highly recommended.
Though I do agree with Barry, I do concede that it is much easier to take the position when you don’t sit in any kind of fiduciary position to the country. If you’re an elected or appointed official, it is pretty tough to shun the human instinct to solve the problem by doing something.
Regards,
George
AGORACOM Financial News TV – Breaking Small-Cap And Micro-Cap Financial News At The Open (Sept 29/08)
Posted by
at 10:46 AM on Monday, September 29th, 2008
Good morning to you all. Please find enclosed a summary of the breaking small-cap and micro-cap financial news we highlighted on our TV show this morning. It’s September 29th and we’ve found 6 great press releases and stock halts from both sides of the border to report on at the open. Another great day for small-cap and micro-cap financial news.
If you are new to the show, it is a daily, fast-paced, edgy report that we put out at or before the open everyday that strictly reports on the best small cap and micro cap news of the day in 3-5 minutes. You can watch AGORACOM TV right from our home page .
If you miss an episode or want to search for your company in our archive, you can visit our industry leading Small-Cap Podcast site at any time:
If you want to subscribe to our Small-Cap RSS Feed or download our podcast everyday via iTunes, or your favourite podcatcher, just use the following:
As always, don’t forget to visit the AGORACOM Marketplace where we list compelling summaries for over 85 great small-cap and micro-cap companies that you can sort by exchange and industry to suit your personal investing tastes.
TODAY’S SMALL-CAP AND MICRO-CAP BREAKING FINANCIAL NEWS BEFORE THE OPEN
Our daily show focuses on content over form so that you can get profitable information into your hands as fast as possible. The same holds true for these entries in our small-cap, micro-cap news blog, where I simply cut and paste my TV notes for your benefit, without any editing, so don’t give me a hard time! 🙂
Now, onto our show notes for the day.
** Denotes an AGORACOM Client. AGORACOM TV Only Reports News From AGORACOM Clients That Meets The Same Newsworthy Threshold Of All Other Press Releases.
- **Seabridge Gold – TSX:SEA $19.15
- **Freewest Resources – TSX-V:FWR $0.325
- Colossus Minerals – TSX:CSI $2.00
- Apogee Minerals – TSX-V:APE $0.105
- Tianyin Pharmaceutical – OTC BB:TYNP $2.10
- Comtex News Network – OTC BB:CMTX $0.25
Apple ($AAPL) Drops Below $120 – PYMWYMI Prediction Comes 1 Month Early
Posted by
at 8:49 AM on Monday, September 29th, 2008
Not to gloat folks but I called $120 $AAPL back in June when it was trading over $174.00. Apple fell through $120 this morning on both market weakness and, more importantly, these downgrades.
The real back-pat here comes from comparing the reasons for the downgrades with those I gave back in June. If you don’t have time to go over them, let me sum it like this: Higher oil prices + falling economy = bad news for expensive Apple items. I predicted consumers would substitute cheaper/good enough products to get the job done.
Today, Morgan Stanley states:
“Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty cited a “decelerating” growth in
personal computer unit, while noting that the remaining source of growth
was increasingly in the sub-$1,000 market where Apple does not play.”
RBC states:
“…recent declines in consumers wanting to buy a Mac desktop or laptop
were the biggest in the last two and a half years.”
PYMWYMI – Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.
UPDATE: Apple trading at $110-$111 as of 10:10 AM.
Regards,
George
Small-Cap CEO Lesson: 93% Of Americans Want To Interact With You Via Social Media
Posted by
at 6:08 AM on Monday, September 29th, 2008
If you’re a small-cap CEO that continues to doubt the power of online investor relations, then consider the
recent Cone Business In Social Media Study, which found the following:
- 93 % of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media,
- 85 % believe a company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media.
- 60 % of Americans interact with companies on a social media Web site,
- 56 % of American consumers feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment.
- Almost 25% interact more than once per week.
“The news here is that Americans are eager to deepen their brand relationships through social media,” explains Mike Hollywood, director of new media for Cone, “it isn’t an intrusion into their lives, but rather a welcome channel for discussion.”
2/3 OF WEALTHY HOUSEHOLDS WANT TO INTERACT WITH YOU ONLINE
For skeptical CEO’s that may believe these statistics apply to a younger, non-target market – think again:
With respect to hard-to-reach consumers (ages 18-34), 33% believe companies should actively market to them via social networks.
With respect to the wealthiest households (household income of $75,000+), 66% of the wealthiest households and the largest households (3 or more members) feel stronger connections to brands they interact with online.
CONCLUSION
For those of you that are already deploying an online investor relations program, this study serves as further evidence that you are on the right track.
For those of you that continue to insist on outdated methods, I can only hope that you are smart enough to consider the irrefutable data and adjust your long-term plan accordingly.
Regards,
George
Poof! 5 Biggest Wall Street Investment Banks Gone In 6 Months
Posted by
at 5:27 AM on Monday, September 29th, 2008
In March, the investment banking industry looked pretty healthy to most observers. 
Today, the five biggest independent Wall Street firms have all disappeared.
- Bear Stearns – Forced into a merger with JPMorgan Chase in March.
- Lehman Brothers – Declared bankruptcy last month.
- Merrill Lynch – Acquired by Bank of America last week.
- Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs – Changed their corporate structures to become bank holding companies last week.
Remember, this list is in addition to bank failures such as IndyMac and the WaMu takeover while the CEO was on a plane.
Readers of my blog know that some bank failures were in the cards and shouldn’t be surprised but even I didn’t foresee this kind of carnage. Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that gold is not sitting at $1,500 right now…but $1,000+ gold has to be in the cards over the next couple of months.
Until then, move over Chriss Angel and David Blaine, there’s a new disappearing magic act in town.
Regards,
George
AGORACOM Launches 30-Second TV Spots On CNBC, Bloomberg, BNN
Posted by
at 10:23 AM on Friday, September 26th, 2008
I am very proud to announce that AGORACOM has taken yet another giant leap forward with the launch of 30-second TV spots on the best business television channels in North America. Specifically, CNBC TV and Bloomberg Television in the United States, as well as, BNN in Canada.
Yes, we continue to focus 95% of all our marketing efforts online. However, there is no denying the power of a smart TV campaign in building a brand. Online marketing via search engines, social networks and display advertising is fantastic at driving traffic and sales leads. TV, on the other hand, can do wonders for your brand. We’ve already received significant feedback from members, clients and colleagues that have seen the ads.
For those of you that haven’t seen the ads yet, don’t despair. I’ve enclosed all 4 ads below. Please have a look and please provide feedback via comments.
(TIP: If you want a prettier mug than mine to look at, start with “AGORACOM US Community”)
Regards,
George