- Commentary -

September 21, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Bob Farley) — With online news portals like Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), not to mention bloggers in every room, building, city, state, and country on the planet providing instant access to much of the news of the day, it’s no wonder that newspapers and magazines are having trouble selling ads.

Should they start holding back news from Internet viewers who don’t pay some kind of online subscription? That’s the view of some newspapers, according to published reports.

The world today isn’t one that cares that much about news for sale on the Internet. The Internet generation won’t stand for paying for what ought to be free. It’s bad enough, as the old joke goes, that the evening news advertises they have the “greatest thing the human race has ever needed to know,” but you have to wait till 11 to hear it. That won’t fly online, folks, sorry.

The Internet has forced the shifting of paradigms like no other medium since television to radio, radio to newspapers, newspapers to town criers–how much farther can we go back?

Anyway, the point is newspapers and magazines, like musicians and writers and any number of other creative types have to figure a new way to make money. It’s just the way it is.

[Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=bob+farley to see more commentaries and articles by Bob Farley.]

FirstAlert(tm) “Money Index” is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX 25 Most Actives and NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX greatest Percentage Losers and Percentage Winners (weighted against pure monetary loss/gain) indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing, as well as the general focus of the market. Of the Most Actives, last session’s trading showed 17 advancers versus 8 decliners. Volume leaders were led by the Citigroup, inc. (NYSE: C) trading 160,017,100 shares closing at $4.30 (down 2.7%), E-Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) trading 57,097,678 shares closing at $1.84 (up 8.2%) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) trading 39,353,700 shares closing at $17.63 (up 0.1%). Of last session’s Greatest Percentage Losers, stocks taking the greatest monetary losses were led by Valhi, Inc. (NYSE: VHI) trading on volume of 136,000 shares (losing $132.4 million), International Coal Group, Inc. (NYSE: ICO) trading on volume of 1,537,300 shares (losing $45.7 million) and Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: BEE) trading on volume of 1,596,900 shares (losing $14.8 million). Of last session’s Greatest Percentage Winners, stocks making the greatest monetary gains were led by Oncolytics Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY) trading on volume of 195,736 shares (gaining $34.0 million), Columbia Bancorp. (NASDAQ: CBBO) trading on volume of 325,910 shares (gaining $13.8 million) and GSI Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GSIG) trading on volume of 481,991 shares (gaining $11.0 million). [Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=%22%27Money+Index%27+Synopsis for all the most recent FirstAlert(tm) "Money Index" Synopses.]

The FirstAlert(tm) Economics Calendar lists Leading Indicators Index for August (10 a.m.), Treasury auctions 3&6-month bills (11:30 a.m.).

The FirstAlert(tm) Events Calendar showcases A, ARRY, TMO, DHR at UBS Global Life Sciences Conference; AVB at Zelman & Associates Housing Summit; DNR at John S. Herold Pacesetters Energy Conference; DRC, PDE at Natixis Securities Oil Services Conference; EMC TechTalk; F at RBC Capital Markets Canadian High Yield/Mid Cap Fixed Income Symposium; PVH, MKSI, CXO, VECO at Bank of America Securities Smid Cap Conference.

FirstAlert(tm) Website of the Day: http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/heroin/opiwar1.htm

Quote of the Day: “Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” H. G. Wells

Today is: International Day of Peace, World’s Alzheimer’s Day, Independence Day in Malta, Belize, and Armenia.

Happy Birthday: H. G. Wells, Chuck Jones, Jay Ward, Larry Hagman, Henry Gibson, Fannie Flagg, Stephen King, Bill Murray, Rob Morrow, Faith Hill, Kiefer Sutherland, Ricki Lake, Luke Wilson.

Today in History: In the Second Opium War in 1860, an Anglo-French force defeated Chinese troops at the Battle of Baliqiao. The “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” letter was published in 1897 in the New York Sun. The Great Hurricane of 1938 made landfall in 1938 on Long Island in New York. Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice, was confirmed in 1981 by the senate in a 99-0 vote.

[FirstAlert(tm) was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information. The opinions expressed in FirstAlert(tm) do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]

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