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Monthly Archives: October 2009

FTC: Stop Telling People You Lost 47 Pounds!

October 14, 2009
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FTC: Stop Telling People You Lost 47 Pounds!

The Federal Trade Commission has just decreed that as of December 1, bloggers, Tweeters and other new media types will need to disclose if they are being paid or receiving some other type of consideration from the companies that make the products they recommend or chat up. It’s hard to quantify how many bloggers receive free products, but likely it is a lot, since they don’t make much money from their writing and marketers have been aggressively pursuing bloggers in recent years as voices highly influential among their core readers. This pay for play ranges from free supplies of...

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Modernizing our Power Grid

October 13, 2009
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Modernizing our Power Grid

Today I want to focus on the possibilities for change in our enormous electric power grid, an animal that is so complex–and so rooted in ancient technologies–that it is rife with inefficiencies.  Which to me spells opportunity. We all know how it works in general.  All across the country, power plants burn coal or oil or natural gas or combinations of the three.  Others burn wood, or generate nuclear power, or use hydropower, or take in trickles of power from little wind power farms and solar panels.  And all across the country, people like you and me go around...

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Why Conde Nast is Dying

October 12, 2009
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Why Conde Nast is Dying

This week Conde Nast announced it was killing Gourmet magazine, leaving my wife and thousands of other foodies feeling betrayed.  Many blamed Editor in Chief Ruth Reichel for the failure, but to me the termination of Gourmet–along with Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and Cookie, and following the shuttering of the ultra-rich Portfolio–is one more symbol of the times, and the result of forces far stronger and more pervasive than Ms. Reichel. Just consider these other victims of the times: Saturn, Delphi, Charter Communications, Fleetwood Enterprises, Ritz Camera, Star Tribune Companies, Sun-Times Media Group, Six Flags and above all, General...

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A Look Back at Cabot Market Letter

October 10, 2009
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A Look Back at Cabot Market Letter

Monday marks a special day for us at Cabot: It’s the 39th anniversary of the first issue of Cabot Market Letter, our flagship newsletter. In honor of this anniversary, I’ve interviewed Timothy Lutts, Cabot’s publisher and the son of Cabot’s founder, Carlton Lutts. He’s going to tell you about how Cabot got started (and where the name came from), as well as his favorite investing story and top investing rules. Next week, I’ll have a Q&A with Cabot Market Letter’s current steward, Michael Cintolo. Enjoy! 1.) Can you explain the history of Cabot? My father, Carlton Lutts, wrote the...

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ASIA: A Stock Ready to Break Out

October 9, 2009
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ASIA: A Stock Ready to Break Out

Cell phones and wireless value-added services (VAS) have taken China by storm, leaving wire line telephone service in the dust.  China’s major wireless companies are healthy and growing.  We have great affection for China Mobile, which was a huge winner for the Cabot China & Emerging Markets Report back in 2007. But the big telecoms are old news now, and a better place to look for growth is in AsiaInfo Holdings (ASIA), a Chinese company that offers software solutions and software protection for the big phone companies. AsiaInfo’s software suite allows customers to build, manage and enhance their communications...

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