The Curator

Drudge’s Influence Waning. Developing…

Dale — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:01:22 +0000

The Drudge Report’s influence has peaked and is on the wane, according to several pundits who note the decline in Drudge’s ability to set the agenda. Huffington Post and Politico at times get more traffic. (TPM)

On the other hand, traffic to Drudge continues to climb, reaching 153,563,619 visits for the month of October, and 798,524,935 page views.

Recommended:

Big Media Figures Admitting That Drudge’s Influence Has Waned (TPM)
The Drudge Retort (Howard Kurtz, Washington Post’s media critic)
Wag the Blog: Does Drudge Matter? (Chris Cillizza, Washington Post’s political blog)
Overstating Drudge’s Influence For Fun And Profit (TPM)
Is Drudge Losing His Mojo? (Phil Singer, Marathon Blog)
HuffPo Beats Drudge (WSJ)
Drudge Unplugged: How His Campaign Influence Has Collapsed (Huffington Post)

Verizon Gets Fed Backing On Alltel Deal

Michael — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:53:06 +0000

The Justice Department signed off on a proposed merger between Verizon Wireless and Alltel, which will create the nation’s largest wireless company. The approval is contingent on Verizon divesting itself of radio spectrum assets in 22 states. (Washington Post)

Norris: Squeezing The Shorts [ANALYSIS]

Michelle — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:38:15 +0000

Floyd Norris of The New York Times observes that in announcing a surprise 75% stake in Germany’s Volkswagen on Monday, Porsche pulled off a clever new move: use derivatives to beat short-selling hedge funds at their own game. (NYT)

Deregulation Flurry Will Bind Next President

Dale — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:15:52 +0000

The Bush administration will lower dozens of environmental regulations in his lame-duck months and make the controversial rules difficult for a new administration to reverse. In 2001, Bush officials withdrew 254 Clinton regulations before they could take effect. (Washington Post)

Regulators To Approve Derivatives Clearing House

Michelle — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:58:53 +0000

U.S. regulators will reportedly approve a clearing house for the $55 trillion credit derivatives market in the next several weeks. Meanwhile, Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. said Friday it will help boost market transparency by releasing weekly data on derivatives trades linked to the top 1,000 companies and benchmark indexes. (CNBC, Bloomberg)

Levitt: Derivatives Necessary, Need Regulation [VIDEO]

Michelle — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:07:12 +0000

Former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Arthur Levitt defends the use of derivatives, arguing they are a “legitimate tool” to bet against the future, but concedes more regulation and transparency is needed in the market. (Bloomberg: Video)

Related:

Dinallo Calls CDS Bets “Legalized Gambling” [VIDEO]

Afghan War Deterioriating, McCain and Obama Advisers Briefed

Dale — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:51:29 +0000

Senior Bush administration officials briefed campaign advisers to John McCain and Barack Obama two weeks ago, on the grim news that the situation in Afghanistan is getting worse and a plan must be in place before January’s Inaugural. (NYT)

Consumer Spending Falls Most Since 2004

Michelle — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:48:01 +0000

The U.S. Commerce Department reported Friday that personal spending declined 0.3% in September, the steepest decline since June 2004, contributing to the worst quarterly performance in 28 years. (NYT)

Recommended:

Krugman: When Consumers Capitulate (NYT)

Obama Infomercial Drew Record 33M Viewers

Dale — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:40:21 +0000

The impact on TV ratings of Sen. Barack Obama’s 30-minute infomercial is manifest: 33.5 million viewers watched the ad, far more than the 19.8 million who stayed up to watch the last World Series game. The Obamathon pushed up ratings on all the stations that aired it (network and cable). The only loser? ABC, who did not. (NYT)

Analysts Take Grim View Of Motorola’s Plans

Michael — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:21:28 +0000

Motorola outlined plans to streamline costs through layoffs and reorganize the way it does business during an earnings call, but analysts say in so doing, Motorola may lose the scale it needs to compete with bigger rivals like Nokia. (BusinessWeek)

Related:

Sony Laptop Batteries Recalled Again

Michael — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:19:49 +0000

HP, Dell and Toshiba issued a recall of Sony-made batteries because of a risk they may overheat and catch fire. The recall is on a smaller scale than a similar recall of Sony batteries two years ago. (Computerworld)

Virtualization Saves Insurer $2.2M

Michael — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:17:36 +0000

Nationwide says it has cut the number of servers it uses in half, amounting to $2.2 million in savings, thanks to the use of virtualization software from VMware, and can also delay data center expansion for an extra 3 years. (Computerworld)

Sprint Disconnects Cogent, May Slow Web

Michael — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:14:59 +0000

Cogent Communications, the worldwide broadband provider, claims Sprint severed the connection between their networks. Cogent alleges that Sprint is in “violation of a contractual obligation” to allow “peering.” (GigaOM)

Laeven: The Cost Of Crisis Resolution [OPINION]

Michelle — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:28:33 +0000

International Monetary Fund economist Luc Laeven calculates that between 1970 and 2007 the fiscal cost of banking crises in industrialized economies averaged 15% of GDP, three times the U.S.’s $700 billion bailout plan, suggesting costs associated with the current credit crisis could rise appreciably. (VOX)

Islamic Banking Thrives As Wall Street Falters [ANALYSIS]

Michelle — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:09:55 +0000

Islamic finance, which bans interest and trading in debt according to sharia law, has held steady despite a painful global credit crisis, spurring U.S. Treasury officials to examine its features for regulatory guidance. (Washington Post)