lucindigo.com

A few posts ago I mentioned that listening to earnings calls is a great way to learn more about or stay up to date with companies and/or industries that you are interested in. Today I came across this resource at TheStreet.com which is really useful. Runs through detail on preparation, process as well as what to look out for during the earnings call in a quantitative (on the balance sheet) as well as a qualitative (tone of management) sense.

1. Preview the call - Listen to previous earnings call, note benchmarks & company metrics.
2. Read the earnings release - Usually issued an hour before call, closely review benchmarks/metrics. Pay attention to future guidance and new announcements. Factor in or out one time items. Look at the balance sheet and focus on changes in financial position e.g. cash, short term investments, inventory, sales, diluted share count.
3. Listen to the earnings call - Details in IR section of website. Usually Intro (US:”safe harbor disclosure), Welcome and Overview, Discussion of details, Q & A.
4. Analyse the call - Look at info gained on call, in release, and previous and form an opinion. Be aware of GAAP vs non GAAP, tone of management and irrelevant metrics.

View full article by Scott Rothbort @ The Street here

Homework is to listen to an earnings call… so:

View Yahoo! Finance Conference Call List here

Scott of Regator has sent me a log-in to the private beta of their service - a start up blog aggregator. Have had a look around and it looks really good. Nice user interface and interaction design. I think a lot of work has gone into the categorisation of channels, despite the fact I could not find a “New Media Communications” channel to log Lucindigo and had to settle for Occupations –> Media –> Publishing. I may have overlooked this though.

What I like about it is the exposure it provides to fresh, high quality content. A good service to use if you want to work on expanding your reading list.

The What’s Hot function is cool. Shows you what those interested in any particular topic are talking about in the Blogosphere at any one time E.g. Today in SEO… Today in Pop Culture…

I recommend checking it out when it opens up to public, especially if you are new to Blogging and don’t obsessively use and adore a specific RSS Reader. Readwriteweb called it “mainstreaming RSS” which I thought captured the concept well.

Read some coverage on the private Beta of Regator:
Techcrunch

ReadwriteWeb

Just came across an interesting article stating the expected, the number of analysts that cover newspaper stocks is on a rapid decline:

• “The trend is clear: the U.S. newspaper business is in bad shape and getting worse as readers and advertising dollars flee to the Internet and other new forms of media. But the void in smart thinking on the publishing sector could exacerbate an already bleak view of the business.”
• Shares of McClatchy Co, publisher of the Miami Herald, are down 77 percent this year. Lee Enterprises Inc, which owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is down 84 percent. USA Today publisher Gannett Co, is trading at a nearly 17-year low.
• In the absence of critical analysis from Wall Street, bloggers and industry executives have grown in importance. e.g. Outsell Inc, Reflections of a Newsosaur and Paidcontent.org

Read the full Reuters article here

Another article from Motley Fool on a similar topic, discussing the fact that financial media focus only on a handful of stocks to profile. This means investors are exposed to only a narrow range of companies which are selected as “they’re the only stocks out that can generate enough page views to support an ad-based financial media model.” More info from the article:

• Data is presented showing that small caps outperformed large caps by 6% points annually from 1927 - 2004. Many of these small-caps have no coverage so investors do not have access to quality information about them and most likely do not though they exist.
• A study found that from 1962 to 2003, stocks that could go at least a day without trading any shares outperformed stocks that traded every day by more than 8 percentage points annually.
• “Big stocks are overcovered by the media and analysts and therefore overbought by investors. And because they’re overbought, they remain overcovered. This is the self-perpetuating machine for mediocrity.”

What is the suggestion then? Find ways of getting exposure to information, research and analysis that separates you from the masses and those stocks that may be overcovered and overbought. Read the full article at Motley Fool here

As highlighted in the first article from Reuters this information can now come from unique, niche sources, including bloggers, who are experienced and in many cases seasoned market professionals that are no longer associated with any of the big investment bank research houses.

This information can complement that provided by research houses, giving you wider exposure and the opportunity to uncover sectors and niche companies you may not have been aware existed. Bloggers who are passionate about a topic usually know their stuff and make a point of being informed and 100% up to date of any developments in their interest area. Those that may not be interested or in a position to invest can use these services and this expertise for leading intelligence on the sector in which they work.
A really good place to start is Seeking Alpha which selects and aggregates content from over 400 stock market bloggers and money managers and also produces its own content and analysis. Sectors covered include Biotech, Energy, Financial, Gadgets Hardware, Software, Healthcare, Industrials, Materials.. And the list goes on. I like to read the media stocks and internet stocks sections at Seeking Alpha. Reading earnings releases and listening to an earnings conference call is an excellent way to understand what is going on in an industry. I also really enjoy the easy to read, informed commentary at Motley Fool.

It is a shame to see that the number of high quality expert analysts in the newspaper sector has dwindled because as this article highlights, “analysts help investors go beyond the general perception and provide deeper reports on factors affecting individual companies.”

But on the positive side a lot of very high quality content (generated by experienced & passionate experts) collated (with smart aggregation) is now accessible to a larger group of people, delivered online.

I think that as the newspaper stocks find their path, what the online/offline business model balance is for survival, analysts in higher numbers may be placed back on these stocks as it becomes more economic for the investment bank (people are actually interested in investing & trading in them.)

Although, the online media shift is still very early in its infancy and is showing no sign of slowing. It may be more a case of the companies themselves widening their horizons and developing their channels to warrant analyst coverage based on a diversified business and strong growth prospects rather than expecting coverage as thats the way it has always been.

I wrote the note below to media monitoring providers yesterday so I can create a white paper that will help businesses navigate the very wide range of media monitoring providers currently in the marketplace. This spans traditional media, blogs, social media, forums, audio, video etc where applicable for each service provider. It is much different than the days of straight press clippings with a vast range of channels and content types that it is in business interests to monitor.

I have already received responses from Integrasco, MarketSentinel, SentimentMetrics and Verbie.

If you did not receive this request and would like to submit the info below about your media monitoring solution please email me.
———————————

Hello,

For the readers of Lucindigo, a blog focused on online media for PR, IR & Communications professionals, I am undertaking a review of Media Monitoring (news, blogs, social media - the lot) providers in the marketplace.

Multi-channel media monitoring
I am aiming to focus specifically on solutions that take a multi channel focus with coverage right across news media, blogs, forums, newsletters, audio, video and more.

I am wanting to provide a review of media monitoring solutions to these professionals that provides them with a wide view of what is out there on offer and enables them to have confidence in the service they select for their organisation.

Relevance
PR, IR & Comms professionals need a service they use they will not miss content relevant to them. With media monitoring as just one of many tasks to be done during the day, Comms people need to be spared irrelevant content, with a solution that has strong and intelligent filters.

Timeliness
For this group timeliness is of utmost importance. I am looking to undercover a media monitoring solution that provides breadth and depth of content with as close to real-time delivery as possible.

Indexing and Archived by Topic
It is also important to be able to call back upon historical media with ease as it is requested by internal or external parties. I would like to hear what type of indexing and archive services are provided, with services I have come across this is not the norm.

This information will be published both to www.lucindigo.com and collated into a white paper so PR, IR & Comms professionals can get insight in one place about all-channel media monitoring offerings in the market place. This white paper will be regularly updated as new providers enter the market and as current providers evolve and develop their services.

I would love to hear from you about your media monitoring service offering, both on the points below and on any additional features and benefits of your solution that are not highlighted above. If you could keep points I-V under 200 words each that would be appreciated, as this content will be published to my blog and then collated for readers and made available as a downloadable PDF. Concise is good!

I. Your reach
E.g. What, where and why? Do you cover all channels that are relevant for organizations today? Is there a risk you could miss a mention of your company that stakeholders were reading? What number of sources to your cover? What technology do you use?

II. Relevance of items delivered
E.g. How is the topic & environment search brief set up? Can it be altered as business evolves & develops?

III. Timeliness & Delivery of monitoring
E.g How often are items delivered and what are the format options for delivery? Are there archiving/indexing services available? Are these at extra cost? Where are archives hosted if applicable? What are guarantees on security? Can the information be exported?

IV. Pricing & Subscription Options
E.g. The clincher. What are subscription options? How does this stack up against competitors?

V. Google News & Alerts vs You
E.g. A lot of people ask - can’t you just get this for free on Google News or & get them delivered with Google News/Blog alerts? Why is your service better and what value does it add?

Please contact me if you have any questions at all and I look forward to receiving your response.

Best,

Lucinda
www.lucindigo.com