Bubble or no bubble, that is the question

Grok Headline matches for Bubble or no bubble, that is the question

UBL bubble

UBL bubble 01/04/2005 01:39 PM
Tim Bray points to a presentation by Brian Nielsen and Mikkel Hippe Brun on how Denmark is adopting the OASIS Universal Business Language (UBL). Tim writes: Check out slides 4 & 5: they estimate the annual savings achievable from invoicing in UBL at somewhere between €100M and €160M. I may be out of step with the crowd but it seems painfully obvious to me that UBL is going to be huge and I don’t understand why more technology vendors (including my employer) aren’t refocusing their e-business strategy around it....

One more bubble, please.

One more bubble, please. 04/29/2004 02:42 PM
Word on the street is google has filled for an IPO. Hot Damn!

Pop Goes the Bubble

Pop Goes the Bubble 06/02/2004 08:03 PM
Is a Market Disaster Immement? The Federal Reserve has confirmed [a] Stock Market Crash forecast by raising the Money Supply (M-3) by crisis proportions, up another 46.8 billion this past week. What awful calamity do they see? Something is up. This is unprecedented, unheard-of pre-catastrophe M-3 expansion. M-3 is up an amount that we've never seen before without a crisis

Bubble Snooker 1.0

Bubble Snooker 1.0 05/14/2004 04:49 PM
A game that combines the best features of Bubble Shooter, Pool, and Arcanoid.

The Google Bubble

The Google Bubble 04/26/2004 05:27 PM

Everyone's talking about Google because the company has to release some key financial data this week, causing lots of folks to assume an IPO filing is in the works. No doubt that's true, but I keep wondering why -- except to make the insiders happy -- this IPO is going to happen at this stage. Here we have a successful company, making (reportedly) tons of money and investing it wisely. Does Google need the distraction an IPO will bring as much as the insiders -- especially the venture capitalists -- crave the cash-out? More on this in the next few days...

It's Maybe a Bubble, but a Selective One

It's Maybe a Bubble, but a Selective One 02/05/2005 09:04 PM
Is the Internet bubble half empty or half full? The tale of two trajectories among Internet leaders like Google and eBay has prompted a debate.

The Bubble About to Burst

The Bubble About to Burst 04/09/2004 04:02 PM
If you haven't refinanced your home yet (we've refinanced twice in the past two years), you're running out of time:...

The New Stock Bubble

The New Stock Bubble 04/13/2004 09:56 AM

Here we go again: Stocks in unknown and untested tech and biotech companies -- and supposed nanotech (my favorite new bubble category) --are soaring. Price to earnings? Surely you're kidding about the earnings part. The market is frothy again. Even solid companies are selling way above historical P/E ratios. Be wary. You think Wall Street has totally cleaned up its act? Get real. These guys are incorrigible. If you're going to jump in again, you should at least be double-sure that your broker's corporate parent isn't getting millions in fees from companies it's pushing at retail. Of course, they're probably working on some new way to con you. Meanwhile, I've had lots of e-mails recently touting micro-capitalized companies founded in in places like Nevada, headquartered in places like the Cayman Islands and claiming big plans to make a huge score in, say, China. Oh, sure, those have to be solid enterprises. I'm sympathetic to most scam victims. But anyone who buys a stock based on an unsolicited e-mail recommendation, or who even looks at such a thing with any intention other than derisive laughter, is an idiot who should not complain after losing his money. Period.

Bubble Trouble 1.0.2

Bubble Trouble 1.0.2 02/12/2004 05:00 PM
Give that cranky crab from “The Little Mermaid” a run for his money.

Is There An Online Ad Bubble?

Is There An Online Ad Bubble? 04/15/2005 04:49 AM
Back in the mid-90s, during the original internet bubble, just about every consumer business plan (that wasn't about e-commerce) was about online advertising. Everyone was focused on getting eyeballs and making their sites "sticky" for advertisers. However, the bottom fell out of that market when the bubble popped -- and people realized that online ads weren't that effective. So, now that everyone's focused on online ads, some are beginning to wonder if th is is a bubble that will pop as well. There certainly are a few differences this time around. First off, more (and bigger) advertisers are willing (and eager) to jump online -- especially as other advertising, such as television, is having problems. Second (and perhaps more importantly) the technology for targeting ads has gotten much, much better, thanks in large part to the paid search world. However, those who are relying solely on internet advertising for revenue would be silly to assume that the cyclical nature of the advertising world won't come back to bite at some point again. The media business is a very tough business, and just because the internet is the hot spot for advertising these days, it doesn't mean that will last.

Five Years After the Bubble

Five Years After the Bubble 04/15/2005 11:58 AM
F ive Years After the Bubble is a collection of ten links from the perspective of those who were neck deep in the whole thing. I found the link while reading up on Andy Kessler, who had an interesting piece in today's WSJ, and is giving away his new book.

Ready for the Next Bubble?

Ready for the Next Bubble? 04/28/2004 01:10 PM
What does it mean for the economy if the housing bubble bursts?

Is China the Next Bubble?

Is China the Next Bubble? 01/18/2004 06:03 PM
Recent excesses suggest that China may be in a bubble now, especially on the investment side of the economy.

Frozen Bubble 1.0.0a

Frozen Bubble 1.0.0a 11/06/2003 05:02 PM
Match similarly colored bubbles to win.

"Leaks in the Wi-Fi Bubble"

"Leaks in the Wi-Fi Bubble" 11/17/2003 03:01 PM
The San Jose Business Journal looks at cut backs at Trapeze and Vivato, referring to the setbacks as "leaks in the Wi-Fi bubble": The story also looks at Cometa's scaled down ambitions and is the fist place I've seen a Cometa spokesperson note that the company's original plans were overly optimistic. Cometa has gotten some flack for delivering on a slower pace but not admitting that its plans had changed. The story also notes that Vivato has 40 customers, which is more than I thought. I think the piece unfairly picks on Trapeze for requiring customers to use its proprietary APs--all the WLAN switch vendors require customers to use their APs. Otherwise they couldn't offer all their whiz-bang features. But ultimately those whiz-bang features may not be worth it for customers who don't want to replace existing APs or who don't like to feel forced to buy only a certain AP. I keep reading about increasing sales at companies like Bluesocket and Reefedge which both offer beefed-up security solutions to customers regardless of the APs they use....

The Coming Corn Bubble

The Coming Corn Bubble 03/17/2005 03:37 AM
We really need to move to Ethanol-powered automobiles.  And I mean soon.  Not because of energy efficiency, or to reduce farm subsidies.  People in America are getting really fat.  We need a more profitable product for corn than High Fructose...

Freddie Mac: No Housing Bubble

Freddie Mac: No Housing Bubble 07/30/2004 12:20 PM
Salim Haji gets the scoop on why Freddie Mac believes that the U.S. real estate market today is rational.

Bubble Golden Pack 2

Bubble Golden Pack 2 12/04/2003 08:28 AM

Who Cares About the Housing Bubble?

Who Cares About the Housing Bubble? 04/13/2004 10:07 AM
A swig of Pepto and a small perspective shift is overdue.

Bubble bursting for Napster

Bubble bursting for Napster 02/19/2004 02:19 PM
Analysts have predicted multiple casualties in the online music business by year end. Napster 2.0 may be heading for the endangered species list.

Bubble Gum in Kabul [Flickr]

Bubble Gum in Kabul [Flickr] 09/11/2004 02:13 AM

Googlescape: Are we headed for Bubble
II?

Googlescape: Are we headed for Bubble
II? 02/13/2004 07:52 AM
Forrester Research CEO George Colony says the imminent arrival of Google's IPO has generated too much hype and silliness.

Blogs Bubble Into Business

Blogs Bubble Into Business 01/28/2004 05:38 PM
Great in-depth article in Computerworld on how enterprise weblogs are being adopted....

Gadget Magazine bubble?

Gadget Magazine bubble? 01/26/2004 07:34 PM
i think all magazine trends can be traced to opportunities that were identified 18 months before their launch

Bubble Dreams Come True

Bubble Dreams Come True 12/22/2004 01:52 AM
Grab your sock puppets, order some bags of dog food to be delivered, and start selling pots and pans to the gold miners: Broadband usage has passed dial-up in the United States! I bet all the people that Om covered in Broadbandits must be rolling over in their prison cells....

Housing Bubble, Continued

Housing Bubble, Continued 04/11/2004 01:19 PM

Mercury News: As offers pour in, cutthroat market a boon for sellers. The fast-paced, competitive nature of this spring's Bay Area housing market has participants and observers alike speculating on the reasons -- particularly after three years of severe job losses.

The story goes on to offer all the usual reasons, such as a shortage of houses and low interest rates. But there's another very good explanation: rampant speculation of another kind, inducing panic buying like the kind that occurred in the stock market in the late 1990s. This is a bubble that will deflate eventually. It's happening elsewhere, as this NY Times story notes today. The mania will end here, too, and it'll be ugly.

Is the bubble coming back? It sure looks
like it

Is the bubble coming back? It sure looks
like it 07/29/2004 03:24 AM
The first sign was the $13 million investment in Friendster, a company with millions of eyeballs but no visible business model or profits, led by my old investors Kleiner Perkins and Benchmark. Then came the hype and frenzy over the Google IPO, which is reportedly going to value Google at something like $36 billion. Then I read earlier this week about all the cash trying to get into VC funds, at the same time that research shows: The optimal fund size, Professor Kedrosky and others say, is a $250 million fund managed by four partners. "There's 25 years of data that shows that funds roughly this size give the best returns, but it's like everyone went temporarily nuts for a while," he said. The smaller the fund, Professor Kedrosky said, the more a firm's partners can focus on individual companies, which often rely on venture capitalists as much for advice and help as for cash infusions..... Sequoia... ended up saying yes to only 82 of the 400-plus institutional investors who sought to give it money this time, turning away around $2.5 billion in potential investments, according to Mr. Romanello of Thomson It certainly seems like there is a lot of money chasing a lot fewer good ideas. Not a good sign. Plus, the Bay Area housing market has gone insane, and traffic is starting to get bad again. There are lots of signs that we are headed towards another period of irrational exuberance. I just hope the slope up is flatter, so that the slope down will be as well. I also wonder what, if anything, the Valley learned from the bust?...

doing the math on the friendster bubble

doing the math on the friendster bubble 11/03/2003 03:16 AM
comparison of Friendster and eBay .. Sippey does some math .. analysis

sippey.typepad.com/filtered/2003/10/thinking_throug.html
track this site | 4 links

The Housing Bubble, Continued

The Housing Bubble, Continued 06/19/2004 12:14 PM

Mercury News (reg req): Economy boosts valley home prices. The median price of a home in Santa Clara County reached $590,000, up 20.2 percent from May 2003, according to DataQuick Information Systems. A total of 2,149 resale houses changed hands in the county last month, a nearly 30 percent increase from a year earlier.

It's much more than the economy at work here. It's a mindless, dangerous bubble that shows what a short attention span human beings have when they are infected with greed and/or panic. This particular news story ends witha local public defender who found a lender that offered a "zero-down" loan -- that is, loaned the full selling price with no down payment. I can understand the borrower's motive, though I think it's an incredibly risky move, but the bank making this loan is just irresponsible. So is the real-estate industry that promotes this kind thing, but that's par for the course. Of course, the lender will now push this mortgage into the national market, offloading it to some other company. This is how we have such liquid markets, and the system was a boon in the past, greased as it has been by the likes of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the giant federal home-loan operations that act as though they have the full faith and credit of the U.S. taxpayer behind them even though they do not. But it is not sustainable, yet nobody in power dares mess with this machinery. What we'll see eventually, if we don't find a way to slowly deflate this bubble, is a massive collapse of the housing market that will in turn spark a severe recession. The truly scary scenario, still not the most likely but growing in probability every day, comes when falling prices for housing lead to massive collapses in the financial industry. But if that occurs, the Fannie Maes and Freddie Macs and the money-center banks with big exposure will be considered too big to fail. We taxpayers will bail them out to the tune of several trillion dollars, an amount that'll make the S&L bailout of the 1980s seem tiny. And the only way that will work will be to re-ignite inflation on an absolutely massive scale, because the only way to make it work will be to ratchet up the money supply in unprecedented fashion. This is a bubble. It will deflate. If it doesn't deflate gently, the nation is in for the worst kind of pain.

Lasting Benefits of the Dot-Com Bubble

Lasting Benefits of the Dot-Com Bubble 03/13/2003 10:24 AM

Annals of the Housing Bubble

Annals of the Housing Bubble 05/21/2004 10:01 PM

Mercury News (reg req): Median home prices pass half-million mark. The median price of resale houses sold in the Bay Area reached $520,000 last month -- the first time that figure has exceeded the half-million point.

Lunacy.

Frozen Bubble For Series 60 0.90

Frozen Bubble For Series 60 0.90 06/08/2004 06:51 PM
A Frozen Bubble port for Series 60 devices.

Frozen Bubble for Series 60

Frozen Bubble for Series 60 06/03/2004 06:38 PM
First release is out!

Tech bubble banker down by law

Tech bubble banker down by law 05/06/2004 04:44 AM
Contempt for SEC sank Frank Quattrone

Bursting Motorola's Bubble

Bursting Motorola's Bubble 07/28/2004 02:33 PM
A number of outlets are critical of the Motorola Wi-Fi/cell phone: TechDirt and TheFeature emphasize how limited the phone's use will be because it only operates on 802.11a. Also, as we noted yesterday, it sounds like this platform would make a tough sell because it requires APs from Avaya and Proxim or upgrades to existing Proxim APs. The solution isn't ideal and neither is the HP/T-Mobile device, which doesn't include voice capabilities over Wi-Fi. These are pretty typical first attempts and they'll certainly improve with future iterations. However, the enterprise solutions like Motorola's will have a tough road ahead of them. Cellular operators are typically very slow to embrace change, especially anything that may be perceived as threatening their voice business, which voice over Wi-Fi may. I'll be interested to see which operator Motorola actually launches this with and which enterprises actually use it....

Pop Goes the Global Housing Bubble

Pop Goes the Global Housing Bubble 06/17/2005 04:21 PM
The Global Housing Price Bubble is bursting. Prices are already declining in Australia and Britain. The Economist has another story that outlines how a global bursting of this bubble could be deleterious to the world's economy. The bubble is bigger than the stock market bubble of the late 90s. Will there be a smooth landing or will spending collapse when it cannot be funded on housing price gains?

Gadget Magazine Bubble

Gadget Magazine Bubble 06/07/2004 09:06 AM

Om Malik picked up an issue of Primedia's Connected magazine and was so disgusted by its lack of good gadget news and insight that he did what no other angry internet writer would dare to do -- he wrote a blog entry. Fortunately, Om knows what he's talking about, especially when he compliments me and my online colleagues by claiming that a simple aggregation of a few blogs collectively kicks the ass of almost any dead tree magazine around. What's more useful to you: publications with 90 day lead times or blogs that measure scoop time by the minute? Thank god there are a few magazines out there doing it right. I was pleasantly surprised by Mobile PC Magazine's recent laptop comparison issue that used the paper format to show life-sized pictures of each notebook's keyboard -- exactly the sort of thing that leverages (synergizes!) the strengths of the paper medium. But for up to the minute news, what's the point? The internet wounded magazines years ago, and blogs have refined the technique to a deadly art.

(P.S. Magazine editors, I am available for freelance.)
Read [GigaOm]

I80 Color Bubble Jet Printer

I80 Color Bubble Jet Printer 05/04/2004 10:44 AM
This printer's portability and excellent output override our gripes about the small and multicolor ink tanks. The only real issue is price. By Niko Coucouvanis, MacAddict (via MyAppleMenu)

The Housing Bubble Builds

The Housing Bubble Builds 07/08/2004 02:12 PM
The real estate market remains strong despite rising interest rates.
Grok Description matches for Bubble or no bubble, that is the question
GrokA matches for Bubble or no bubble, that is the question

Snow-Balled by Fannie and Freddie

Snow-Balled by Fannie and Freddie 05/27/2004 01:55 PM
The Treasury secretary runs into a little snafu with the two quasi-governmental agencies.

Chief Is Ousted at Fannie Mae Under
Pressure

Chief Is Ousted at Fannie Mae Under
Pressure 12/22/2004 01:50 AM
Fannie Mae, the mortgage finance giant, forced out its chairman and chief executive, days after the company was found to have violated accounting rules.

Fast user switching may disable some
print jobs

Fast user switching may disable some
print jobs 01/19/2004 11:43 AM
Today I was trying to print a image from iPhoto on 4x6 glossy paper using a HP PSC 750 All In One. My dad (admin) had been logged on and every time I tried to print, it sent him an error message even though I was logged in (I...

Fast Company on Apple, Jobs and the
limits of innovation

Fast Company on Apple, Jobs and the
limits of innovation 12/24/2003 12:39 AM
Fast Company's cover story this month looks at Apple and Steve Jobs, and whether or not the company's unparalleled innovation actually makes a difference at the end of the day...

If He's So Smart... Steve Jobs, Apple,
And The Limits Of Innovation

If He's So Smart... Steve Jobs, Apple,
And The Limits Of Innovation 12/23/2003 06:55 PM
The battle over digital music is just another verse in Apple's sad song: This astonishingly imaginative company keeps getting muscled out of markets it creates. So what does Apple have to tell us about innovation? By Justin Wood (Fast Company via MyAppleMenu)

Fast Company | If He's So Smart...Steve
Jobs, Apple, and the Limits of
Innovation

Fast Company | If He's So Smart...Steve
Jobs, Apple, and the Limits of
Innovation 12/23/2003 02:10 PM
Fast Company's Heath Row was kind enough to point out this article about Steve Jobs. He says:

The battle over digital music is just another verse in Apple's sad song: This astonishingly imaginative company keeps getting muscled out of markets it creates. So what does Apple have to tell us about innovation?

It's less an anti-apple piece, which is how one reader pegged it, and more an analysis of what innovation really means to an organization. Can you build a company on innovation alone?

Link

"Fast Company | If He's So Smart...Steve
Jobs, Apple, and the Limits of
Innovation"

"Fast Company | If He's So Smart...Steve
Jobs, Apple, and the Limits of
Innovation" 12/24/2003 09:20 PM

Local Sioux Falls, SD Home Mortgage
Business Increases Leads and Revenue by
100% - Cody Belitz of MorNorth Mortgage
Shares his Business Boosting Strategy

Local Sioux Falls, SD Home Mortgage
Business Increases Leads and Revenue by
100% - Cody Belitz of MorNorth Mortgage
Shares his Business Boosting Strategy 06/05/2005 11:17 PM
The MorNorth Mortgage office of Sioux Falls, SD processes at least one loan application per day, and approximately thirty applications per month. This is a 100% increase in applications since they began using a vanity 800 phone number in their advertising efforts, starting in September 2004. [PRWEB Jun 2, 2005]

Freddie Mac's Former CEO Presses Lawsuit
(AP)

Freddie Mac's Former CEO Presses Lawsuit
(AP) 05/19/2004 10:22 PM
AP - Leland Brendsel, ousted as Freddie Mac's chief executive because of widespread accounting problems, is suing the company's federal regulator over $53.7 million in withheld compensation, charging the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight with overstepping its enforcement powers.

Feds Fine Freddie Mac $125 Million

Feds Fine Freddie Mac $125 Million 12/11/2003 12:34 AM
Reuters via Wired News Dec 11 2003 0:07AM ET

Freddie to star in computer-generated
film

Freddie to star in computer-generated
film 04/19/2004 04:20 AM
Ananova Apr 19 2004 8:42AM GMT

Freddie Mac 2003 Earnings at $5.2
Billion (Reuters)

Freddie Mac 2003 Earnings at $5.2
Billion (Reuters) 06/15/2004 07:38 PM
Reuters - The regulator of embattled U.S. mortgage finance enterprise Freddie Mac provided a taste of the company's unpublished 2003 earnings on Tuesday, estimating them at $5.2 billion for the year.

Ears to Freddie Prinze Jr.; Web fails to
ID voice of Delgo star

Ears to Freddie Prinze Jr.; Web fails to
ID voice of Delgo star 04/18/2004 10:46 PM
USA Today Apr 19 2004 3:11AM GMT

Two Top Execs at Fannie Mae Forced Out
(AP)

Two Top Execs at Fannie Mae Forced Out
(AP) 12/22/2004 01:21 AM
AP - The chief executive and top financial officer at mortgage giant Fannie Mae were forced out of the company Tuesday as the nation's second largest financial institution struggled to deal with revelations of serious financial reporting problems.

Cherry-Picking Fannie

Cherry-Picking Fannie 04/07/2005 03:03 PM
Fannie Mae is now accused of keeping its most promising loans and selling the rest. That's a shock.

Top Fannie Mae Execs Step Down (Reuters)

Top Fannie Mae Execs Step Down (Reuters) 12/22/2004 01:21 AM
Reuters - The chief executive and chief financial officer of U.S. mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae stepped down late on Tuesday after regulators exposed accounting errors that are expected to force a massive earnings restatement.

U.S. Regulators Question Accounting at
Fannie Mae

U.S. Regulators Question Accounting at
Fannie Mae 09/22/2004 12:31 PM
A government review into the nation's top mortgage lender asserted that it used inappropriate accounting practices.

Stocks Drop on Oil, Brokers, Fannie Mae

Stocks Drop on Oil, Brokers, Fannie Mae 09/22/2004 04:19 PM
Reuters via Wired News Sep 22 2004 7:45PM GMT

Fannie Mae investigation turns to trusts

Fannie Mae investigation turns to trusts 04/05/2005 04:26 AM
Seattletimes.nwsource.com - Mon Apr 4, 05:31 pm GMT

Forty years after Fannie Lou Hamer

Forty years after Fannie Lou Hamer 07/28/2004 09:54 PM

Regulators Order Fannie Mae to Fix
Accounting Problems Now

Regulators Order Fannie Mae to Fix
Accounting Problems Now 09/23/2004 03:57 PM
The regulator said broad problems raised questions about the reliability of the mortgage finance company's management.

Ousted Fannie Mae Chairman Awaits
Pension (AP)

Ousted Fannie Mae Chairman Awaits
Pension (AP) 12/27/2004 07:54 PM
AP - Franklin Raines, who was forced out as Fannie Mae's chief executive after five years, is slated to receive a monthly pension of more than $114,000 for life, according to documents the mortgage lending giant filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Legendary Soul and R&B Singer
Freddie Scott Sings With Ellis Hooks,
Presented By Steven Calapai

Legendary Soul and R&B Singer
Freddie Scott Sings With Ellis Hooks,
Presented By Steven Calapai 01/02/2004 09:38 AM
Steven Calapai at MPI is proud to announce that Legendary Soul and R&B Singer Freddie Scott Sings with Ellis Hooks on his new album, Up Your Mind and for Van Morrisons Vanthology.(Brown Eyed Girl). New album completed and ready for distribution. Prepared For Google News/Entertainment

Fannie Mays new owner uses web site to
keep brand alive

Fannie Mays new owner uses web site to
keep brand alive 06/02/2004 08:14 PM
InternetRetailer.com Jun 3 2004 0:58AM GMT

Crude oil prices hover near $44 a barrel
Report: Regulator focuses on Fannie Mae
pay Consumer spendi

Crude oil prices hover near $44 a barrel
Report: Regulator focuses on Fannie Mae
pay Consumer spendi 12/25/2004 05:28 PM
Seattletimes.nwsource.com - Thu Dec 23, 05:50 pm GMT

Few brokerages making predictions for
2005 Fannie Mae board meets to talk
shake-up Kia Spectra gets

Few brokerages making predictions for
2005 Fannie Mae board meets to talk
shake-up Kia Spectra gets 12/22/2004 01:30 AM
Seattletimes.nwsource.com - Mon Dec 20, 11:38 am GMT

Chief executive, commander-in-chief,
talk-show host

Chief executive, commander-in-chief,
talk-show host 08/10/2004 07:16 PM

Two top execs at Fannie Mae forced out
Tokyo market's main index climbs Crude
oil futures edge lower

Two top execs at Fannie Mae forced out
Tokyo market's main index climbs Crude
oil futures edge lower 12/25/2004 05:28 PM
Seattletimes.nwsource.com - Wed Dec 22, 11:45 am GMT

Optimize Your Mortgage

Optimize Your Mortgage 01/22/2004 03:33 PM
Take a minute to see if you can benefit from even lower interest rates.

Bubble or no bubble, that is the question

The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry: "switching jobs""fannie""freddie" fed chief wants limits on mortgage giants