November 4, 2009 Stock Market Recap

The bulls can't be happy with the way the market sold off in the last hour. But, as I often have to remind myself, the market often takes a day or two to figure out where it wants to go...

Read The Full Article:
http://tradermike.net/2009/11/november_4_2009_stock_market_recap

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Jeffrey M. Stibel: Wired For Thought - Blog
Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



Entrepreneur, brain scientist, and author of the Wired for Thought: How the Brain Is Shaping the Future of the Internet, Jeffrey M. Stibel demonstrates how exceptional companies are using their insights into the nature of the internet's brain-like powers to leverage their competitiveness. Through interactive websites, predictive analysis of consumer behavior, and the power of social media, these companies are creating a collective, commerce building consciousness. Learn as well how the internet will look in the future, and how to utilize these technological advances to build your company.

Jeffrey M. Stibel is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on Blog Talk Radio.

The show airs live on Thursday, November 5, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Entrepreneur, brain scientist, and author of the Wired for Thought: How the Brain Is Shaping the Future of the Internet, Jeffrey M. Stibel demonstrates how exceptional companies are using their insights into the nature of the internet's brain-like powers to leverage their competitiveness. You will learn:

* Why the internet operates like a brain outside the body

* How the internet evolved and how that evolution is changing business

* How some companies are leveraging the power of the evolving internet

* How you can put the brain like internet to work for your business



Jeffrey M. Stibel (photo left) s a brain scientist and entrepreneur who has helped build numerous public and private companies. He is currently President of Web.com, a public company that helps entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses on the Web. He is also Chairman of BrainGate, a brain implant company that allows people to use their thoughts to control electrical devices.

He serves on the boards of a number of private and public companies, as well as academic boards for Brown and Tufts University. Jeffrey Stibel studied for his PhD at Brown University, where he was the recipient of the Brain and Behavior Fellowship, and studied business at MIT?s Sloan School of Business.

My book review of Wired for Thought: How the Brain Is Shaping the Future of the Internet by Jeffrey M. Stibel.

Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with entrepreneur, brain scientist, and author of the Wired for Thought: How the Brain Is Shaping the Future of the Internet, Jeffrey M. Stibel, as he demonstrates how exceptional companies are using their insights into the nature of the internet's brain-like powers to leverage their competitiveness. Through interactive websites, predictive analysis of consumer behavior, and the power of social media, these companies are creating a collective, commerce building consciousness. Learn as well how the internet will look in the future, and how to utilize these technological advances to build your company on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: Wired for Thought: How the Brain Is Shaping the Future of the Internet, Jeffrey M. Stibel, internet business, entrepreneurship, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

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Daily Chart Art - November 5, 2009

Hey EURUSD, USDCAD, and USDJPY traders! Time to check out the breakouts on those charts! Where could these pairs be headed next?

Read The Full Article:
http://www.babypips.com/blogs/pippinainteasy/daily_chart_art_-_november_5_2.html

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Big League Chew: Phils Out-Spit Yanks

To quote the late, great sportscaster Jim McKay, "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" never looked better than in high-definition TV. The pristine, crystal clarity of the widescreen image adoringly captures an athlete's grace, strength, speed and--in the case of baseball--his saliva.

Major League Baseball is the expectorator sport.

I don't recall seeing Tiger Woods spitting on the green. I don't think Brett Favre would risk letting one loose on his facemask. Roger Federer? No way.

But our national pastime is different. The intensity of the game seems to cause these players to salivate more than most. Blame it on a wad of gum or a jaw of chaw but the spitting during the 2009 World Series seems to be at an all-time high. It's an age-old tradition, honored by players and coaches alike. Can you imagine the dugout floor? Yeah. Don't.

The tight, HDTV camera shots of a pitcher's face and his unflinching gaze acutely focus our attention on this habitual behavior. During Monday night's game, I saw one Yankee relief pitcher stare intently at Jorge Posada's hand signals and hock a double-loogie. Then, before his wind up, he topped that with a triple-spittle.

I became oddly obsessed with this ritual and as I kept a running tab on both teams--the Phillies beat the Yankees in more ways than one, with 72 spits to the Yankees' 59--a strange phenomenon emerged. There appeared to be a direct correlation between the aerial flight of a pitcher's projectile spitting and his resulting pitch! The speed, the arc, the angle of descent, it was all there. Could this be possible? Do home run hitters know this?

I've designed these diagrams as proof of my unscientific study. Tune in to tonight's game (Game 6 starts at 7:57 p.m. ET on Fox) and see for yourself!

Read more of Ken Carbone's Yes to Less blogBrowse blogs by other Expert Designers

Ken Carbone is among America's mostrespected graphic designers, whose work is renowned for its clarity andintelligence. He has built an international reputation creatingoutstanding programs for world-class clients, including Tiffany &Co., W.L Gore, Herman Miller, PBS, Christie's, Nonesuch Records, the WHotel Group, and The Taubman Company. His clients also includecelebrated cultural institutions such as the Museé du Louvre, TheMuseum of Modern Art, The Pierpont Morgan Library, The Chicago SymphonyOrchestra, and the High Museum of Art.

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How to Get Found

The reality is that people and technology is getting better and better a blocking out unwanted interruptions?aka, ?marketing.? Brian Halligan is the CEO of HubSpot, and he explains in my post on the American Express Open Forum ?how to get found.? It?s all about creating great stuff and letting Google et al do what they do: find great stuff.

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Molson Coors: Sales a Little Watered Down

Molson Coors endured a tough sell off of more than 8% on Wednesday following the results. The bottom-line earnings were better than expected but much of that was due to tax benefits. TAP's management continues to believe that global beer sales will be[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://blog.ockhamresearch.com/index.php/2009/11/molson-coors-sales-a-little-wate
red-down/

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Fixing Conferences: Six Lessons From the
Designers Accord Summit

I've realized that I can't stand conferences. To me, conferences are akin to watching television without Tivo, or going to AAA to get a triptik instead of mapping a journey on Google. Conferences are an old workhorse model--a mix of passive consumption and fluorescent lighting--that is at odds with the seeds of inspiration they are supposed to inspire.

Almost without exception, after each conference I attend, I swear I'll never go again.

But we do need them, or something like them. We need to get together face-to-face and talk about challenges, successes, and failures. We need to learn from each other--not through PowerPoints but facial expressions.

I promised that I would never hold a Designers Accord conference (because of the sheer numbers of design conferences, but especially because of the ever-promiscuous green conferences). However, it has become obvious that a significant part of the discussion about incorporating sustainability as a critical lens in design is missing. We spend so much time reworking our professional practice (or at least the rhetoric around it), but another major opportunity lies in shaping the value systems of the next generation of designers. What if the leading thinkers in design education came together to craft a new proposal for the future of the design?

Last week, the Designers Accord invited 100 design educators and activists to a two-day workshop in San Francisco to make an actionable plan for integrating sustainability into undergrad and grad design programs around the world. While I don't know if this is the ultimate post-conference model, I felt there were six takeaways that made it valuable.

Social media is the enemy of time-based productivity.I love Twitter. I hate Twitter. At conferences, Twitter reduces complex ideas to pithy one-liners. The tyranny of the hash tag! We had a Twitter-free event so that we could have an off-the-record conversation. Attendees were more engaged and present; conversations were more authentic. We didn't ban phones or laptops, but no one seemed to use them.

All problems are systems challenges.The prevailing wisdom in systems design is that challenges that are treated separately from their relevant political, financial, cultural systems are unsolvable. To remind ourselves of that (and to abate the inevitable high-five, self-congratulatory tone that can happen at conferences), we had a series of interstitial speakers who roused us into keeping a few key points at the forefront: design education is only as good as it directly plays out in the real world; design work that has a social value cannot exist outside our regular work stream (we need to unapologetically design new business models); we've gotten away with our seeming entitlement to "cheap" for far too long--we need to understand the true price of the things we create; and finally, forgiving modalities like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs rarely if ever promote systemic change (ghettoizing these programs doesn't work--think about it: every big bank that failed over the last 2 years had award-winning CSRs).

Big thinking loves tight parameters.The concept of the Summit was to gather 100 thought-leaders to create a toolkit that design educators all over the world can use to integrate sustainability into their schools and programs. We had pre-Summit meetings to select eight of the most pressing topics to design educators (not surprisingly, most had to do with communication and administration, not curricula). Because we wanted each attendee to contribute to the development of each topic, we structured the Summit as a highly choreographed, iterative series of eight rotating brainstorm sessions, each employing a different "lens." We were able to rapidly orchestrate convergent and divergent thinking, and more importantly, synthesize in real time, so that the content could be ported easily into the toolkit.

Ask for what you want.I regularly speak about collaboration, and almost all of my design practice revolves around employing various protocols to problem-solve with groups in new ways. But personally, I am terrible at asking for help. How eye-opening to realize that corporations, designers, educators, students all want to give of their precious little time to actually role their sleeves up and work together. There is not halo effect from an unpublicized event--every sponsor (including Adobe, Autodesk, Sustainable Minds, KODA) and attendee was there because they wanted to be part of the dialogue. Perhaps relegating partners and sponsors to exhibition spaces and NASCAR-like thank you slides might not be the best use of their brainpower and reach.

Meeting in-person is powerful.Recently, I had a very public exchange with designer David Stairs on Design Observer after he wrote a piece criticizing the Designers Accord, among other initiatives. I invited David to the summit and he not only attended, he was a vital contributor to the weekend's dialogue. We're all plagued with the ubiquitous email introduction from friends and colleagues, and yes, weak connections often have longer ties. But when it comes to having the permission to ask questions, or express strong points of view, face to face is always best (and lucky for me, David was much less scary in person than he was in writing!).

Action is harder than rhetoric.Stories about design process are like other people's children--they aremost interesting to those who created them. And yet as designers, weare storytellers. Our products are as much form as they are narrative,and our social currency is the case study. But the overarchingnarrative of the do-gooder design movement is short-termism. Having asense of urgency doesn't mean we are short sighted, but it does meanthat we have to start making not just reflecting. The free toolkit thatwill be developed from the Summit will be a (hopefully successful) testof what moving in this direction can yield.

[Photography by Christian Ericksen]

Read Valerie Casey's blog Networked Culture Browse blogs by other Expert Designers

If you have a design and sustainability story to share, let us know about it! And follow us on Twitter @designersaccord to hear what the Designers Accord community is thinking about.

Browse more Designers Accord Case Studies

Valerie Casey is a globally recognized designer and innovator. She works with start-ups, governments, and companies all over the world on challenges ranging from creating new products and services, to transforming organizational processes and behaviors. Valerie is the founder of the Designers Accord, the global coalition of designers, educators, and business leaders working together to create positive environmental and social impact. Valerie's work has been highlighted in multiple publications, and she has been named a "Guru" of the year by Fortune, a "Hero of the Environment" by Time, and a "Master of Design" by Fast Company. Valerie lectures on design throughout the international community, and is an adjunct professor at California College of the Arts. She holds a master's degree in cultural theory and design from Yale University and a BA from Swarthmore College

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Huge, Stupid Tech Lawsuit Might Just Be Crazy
Enough to Work

A defunct navigation company called WebMap Technologies is suing 15 different major companies in what might be the most bloated and fatuous IP lawsuit in recent memory. And it just might pay off.

WebMap's principals are claiming that all 15 companies--Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Expedia, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Travelocity, CitySearch, IAC/Interactivecorp, Yellowpages.com, The Washington Post Company, Ticketmaster, Zagat Survey, and City Accommodations Network--all violated a patent they hold that describes a "method and apparatus for collecting and expressing geographically-referenced data," or in human-speak, software code for pinpointing something on a map. WebMap is seeking damages for willful infringement.

According to TechCrunch, WebMap crashed and burned after the tech bubble burst nearly ten years ago. Its former homepage has been supplanted with a GoDaddy parking page.

But its lawsuit hedges an interesting legal bet. Last fall, a Federal Circuit court upheld a decision called In re Bilski that rendered all "business method" patents indefensible--including all patents for software, formulae, and any other non-mechanical technology. Patents like WebMap's "method and apparatus" are clearly included under that rubric. So why bother suing?

Because the Bilski suit is headed to the Supreme Court, and is scheduled to be heard on November 9. Should the court strike down the decision, WebMap's suit could suddenly become a goldmine--assuming, of course, a judge finds the 15 companies in question guilty of infringement. If the Bilski decision is upheld, they'll simply look even more asinine than they already do for suing 15 companies.

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Bits 'n' Pieces: High-tech Design

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Markets sell off after Federal Reserve holds
rates low

Stocks liked what they heard from the Federal Reserve about keeping rates low. But in the last hour sellers returned, pretty much wiping out early gains (shown in the Bigcharts widget on the right). The Dow gained only 30, advancers over decliners 4-3 & NAZ fell 2. Banks led the selling, the Financial Index dropped from 193 when the interest rate announcement was made.


S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX


Value
188.54Change
-2.89 % Change
-1.5%






The Alerian MLP index had a good day, up 1½ to the 255s. It's down from the yearly high of 265 last week (271 showing is not a good number). The Dow Jones REIT Index pulled back almost 4 & has found it difficult making headway in the last 2 months. Junk bond funds were mixed. They had been making new highs until last week's sell-off. The VIX, volatility or fear index, has been volatile itself lately explaining recent weakness for many high yield securities. Treasuries sold off, taking the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond up 7 basis points to 3.56%. Some of that money may have been used to buy gold.


Alerian MLP Index --- 2 months




Dow Jones REIT Index --- 2 months





Buyers liked oil & gold. Oil held its gains taking it above 80 & gold closed in on 1100, another record. The chart for the gold ETF below shows gold's gain of 200 in just 2 months caused by weakness in the dollar. Extending low US interest rates as other countries (such as Australia) are raising interest rates is causing dollars to be sold. As long as US interest rates are low, the dollar can be expected to continue weak & thus encouraging gold buying. How to buy gold is becoming a hot topic again!

CLZ09.NYM..Crude Oil Dec 09..80.70 .. 1.10
......(1.4%)

GCX09.CMX..Gold Nov 09..1,096.50.. 12.20
......(1.1%)


GLD (ETF) --- 2 months





The late day sell-off caught many by surprise but may be another one of those times of buying on the rumor & selling on the news. Dow cracked thru 10K a month ago & hasn't been able to stay above that level. Gold hitting record highs has to be hurting the stock markets.


Dow Jones Industrials --- 2 months

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