Exploring the Art & Science of Marketing
Archive for February, 2008
Stealing the truth with shareholder value
Feb 19th
I think Say What You Will (Requiem for a TV News Career) is an important read about how laughable the idea of “objectivity” or “news” is in television news rooms in the United States.
I was asked to complete self-evaluations which pressed me to describe the ways in which I’d “increased shareholder value.” (For the record, if you’re a rank-and-file member of a newsroom, you should never under any circumstances even hear the word “shareholders,” let alone be reminded that you’re beholden to them.)
Fifty Studio is hiring
Feb 19th
My company Fifty Studio is hiring. We’re currently looking for a PHP developer.
Requirements
- PHP/MySql
- ActionScript
- HTML/XHTML
- CSS
Interested? Send Resume, portfolio examples to rpage@fiftystudio.com
Congress wasting time on steroids in baseball?
Feb 13th
Let’s see, we have the subprime mess, the housing crisis, a possible recession, the war in Iraq, health care, Social Security, terrorism and this is what takes up our time – worrying about whether Roger Clemens used steroids a decade ago?
Um. I couldn’t agree more. Let baseball fix baseball.
Suspend? Reports are Romney to run in 2012
Feb 7th
It seems there is a reason the Romney campaign used the word “suspend” today when getting out of the race for president.
Making the dramatic announcement [that he was suspending his campaign] at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at a Washington hotel, Romney clearly hoped to preserve the goodwill of his party for another possible bid in 2012. He intends to run again in four years, according to a senior member of his inner circle.
“He should be president. 2012,” the confidant e-mailed after talking to Romney.
Asked if Romney will run again, another close adviser said, “He’ll consider it. He’s keeping his options open.”
via Politico
What the Housing ‘Apocalypse’ Prophets Aren’t Revealing
Feb 5th
This article about the mortgage industry is definitely worth reading.
1- The Market Composite Index of application activity increased 42.4% from July 07 to 01/25/08. MBA states that the current composite index reading is 70.7% higher than January 06. (People are filing mortgage applications like crazy. What the heavens are they filing for?)
2- The home purchase index is relatively flat for the last 6 months. (Doesn’t seem they are applying to buy more new or existing homes. What are they up to?)
3- The refinancing application index is up 66.2% since July. Most change occurred in January 08. (Yowsers! Refinance your home and not buy a new one?! How novel!)
4- The refinance applications “market share†has increased from 39.4% in July to 73% of last week’s applications. That is a 33.6% change or an 85.3% increase in refinancing applications that mortgage bankers are perusing over compared to July 07. (John Q Public is figuring out how to take advantage of the FED cut. “Moral hazard†– you say).
Read: What the Housing ‘Apocalypse’ Prophets Aren’t Revealing
