While it is not unusual for blogs to scoop the press when it comes to gossip like Mel Gibson's early morning anti-Semitic ramblings, it is a rare day when an independent finance blog beats the mainstream financial media to a story involving well-known companies. It seems the
Fly on the Wall blog may have been the first to report that vitamins retailer GNC was withdrawing its $400 million IPO. While we can't find the post on the blog, Dow Jones attributed its first wire report at 8:18 a.m. about the news to the Fly on the Wall. An hour later, CNBC reiterated the news. Ultimately, the reports lead the company to officially announce the withdrawal around 10 a.m.. More often than not, financial blogs write analysis or opinions about news from mainstream media, not the other way around. Sure, a few blogs like
Footnoted and
10Q Detective post news that the mainstream overlooks, but it isn't quite the same thing because they are simply reading through SEC filings. Of course, if you consider the reporting of weird sexual proclivities of money manager
Jeffrey Epstein as breaking news, than
Dealbreaker beat Fly on the Wall a long time ago. —
Matthew Wurtzel
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I think it was Ben Franklin who said: "Better to be talked about than not talked about at all. Contrary to your comments, Michele Leder & I do more than --to quote you:
"Sure, a few blogs like Footnoted and 10Q Detective post news that the mainstream overlooks, but it isn't quite the same thing because they are simply reading through SEC filings."
In addition to "simply reading the SEC filings [which in of itself takes mind-numbing hours] I do number-crunching, finacial ratios & valuation analysis--post BUY & SHORT-SALE IDEAS--which have done fairly well & I also post commentaries on the climate of the day--be it political [MIDDLE-EAST] or ETHICAL [PUMP-DUMP SCAMS].
BUT THANX FOR THE RADIO PLAY!