understanding the psychology of behavior

for YouTube and being such a downer? (article) Mark Cuban = Debbie Downer
What is with his consistent bashing of the company? Why does he believe the average person that uses iTunes will all of the sudden stop using it? Why does he assume the majority of people will execute a relatively complex action to upload piss poor quality music (even though he claims it is OK)?

CUBAN… people use iTunes due to its ease of use and quality, hence they pay for that ease of use and quality. People don’t need to use ur 3rd party software to get free music.
GIVE IT A REST, ur becoming a Psycho Old lady that keeps bitching about nothing.

Man oh Man are the shorts fighting (and earning) their pay today.

Here is a look at the weekly chart, thanks to LaymanInvestor.org

DNDN needs to close above 4.77, and it then has officially broke its negative long-term trend.

In the AM it looked like longs had no problem doing it, especially with the positive PR today. But the shorts are a persistant bunch, and mo-fo at that. The stock traded as high as 5.77 before they took control… no doubt with the help of some quick day trading longs looking for the quick 5-10% trade.

Hold tight longs, the next few weeks should be interesting. If your looking to get in, wait for an oversold condition to develop (should be a few days) then take advantage.

‘Tech Trader Daily has a nice sum up of the top cell phone players and their growth… Sony Ericsson ranks as the fastest growing. (article)

Palm is using their play book, and i’m hoping it works.

Ever since the Apple CC the threat of the iPhone is now very real. This is nothing new. Every blog (and their mother) has been writing about this for a few years now. But now may be a good time to worry… why… cost per units maybe low enough. (depending on what they want… but if Apple is going to be ‘hippie’ about their iPhone and allow wifi, it may be too costly and carriers may not push it.)
IMO, I think the hardware for the iPhone will be nothing more than a ‘me too’ product w/the exception of Apple’s touch sensitive ‘ipod like mouse’ that will be apart of the phone. But what will greatly separate it will be the ease of use regarding navigation and operating system that Apple is greatly known for.

PALM by far, very far, has the best smartphone design, and depending on the series, internal hardware as well. (And since Palm has a patent on the design, i doubt Apple will produce anything better.) But they have been lacking on driving enough innovation with their 3rd party OS developers.

I know the 680 has some innovation (to PALM) applications, like threaded txt messages and easier navigation, but PALM will need to keep driving new innovation via software. (I know they keep calling themselves a software company, but now they have to PROVE it… because i really don’t see the software they are doing other than assisting and guiding -not driving- the MSFT and Access.)

“Mr Bush told ABC News that it could be right to compare Iraq’s situation to the 1968 Tet offensive, widely seen as a key turning point in the conflict.” (article)

Now I’m no fan of war, but I do realize when your in one, you should be in it to win it.  A revealing look done by Frontline points out some of the key factors that potentially led to the mistakes that may have cost of this attempt. (Watch it - highly recommended.) The most important mistake, imo, to to allow the veteran generals to retire.  Also to not have the appropriate levels of troops.  (To any hard core righties out there, against anything PBS, the documentory does do an excellent job blaming the Generals for not specifically telling Bush more troops are needed… although anyone w/the ability to read and watch the news a few months into the war could of told you more troops were obviously needed.)

Although the one bright spot in all this, quality people are starting to speak up… ie the retired generals (Who, imo, allowed the mess to occur by retiring right after the offensive, and now have the luxury to speak up.)  Also, James Baker is now getting involved.

Hopefully things can get turned around ASAP.

The terrorists we are dealing with do not care of your religion.  They only want power, their way, or you die.

An Italian Journalist was kidnapped in Afgan, and they want the converted Christian that escaped to Italy as an exchange. FYI, the Italian Journalist is a Muslim. (article)

Muslims are willing to kill Muslims to get their way. (Iraq has already been proof of that… and I do understand the difference in the Muslim sects that promote this willingness.)  This fight of Terror is not about religious extremists… it is about a group of people wanting power in the guise of religion.

A BBC article today states N. Korea is to declare war if/when sanctions are imposed. (article)

I’m still trying to figure this out.  N. Korea (already one of the most sanctioned countries in the world) will declare war because of ’more’ sanctions?  Also, who will they declare war on… the UN? (The UN has an army w/gun, but are prohibited to fire bullet and engage.)

N. Korea better watch its step because I’m sure we are not the only nation (ie China) to take immediate action if they are connected to anything stupid. (They can be literally annihilated. Seriously, the whole country will be a crater if one nuke goes off somewhere in the world, and it is linked toward them.)

Well here is just another reason as to what caused the market to go down today.

1. core PPI

2. global instability continues.

Palm’s current strategy is to go after topline growth (revenue) and market share, while potentially allowing profits to suffer. Well Sony Ericsson attempted a similar strategy w/in their mobile phone space, and it appeared to have worked not only in it primary objectives, but toward profits aswell. (article)

Maybe Palm can have similar results. With their announcement of the 680 Treo, Palm is no longer depending on other mobile phone companies to expand the smartphone space, and are taking a more offensive role.

As a shareholder, I’m hoping this strategy to work. But I also think the product is good enough to expand the market for those needing a planner w/a mobile, but can’t afford or need the features in the 700 series.

The EU growth has been revised down. (article)

While the article states this was expected, to me, their action is more telling.  ECB is choosing to fight inflation.  Did they need to raise rates, maybe. Will they raise rates again, imo, yes.

Each time they reduce liquidity, it will affect global investors. Now it may be a non-event, but their actions should be watched closely, just like in Japan.

Alright, so he makes a few hundreds of millions of dollars in the internet game, and is a very good owner of a sports team, but his current views on the web are just WAY OFF! And he just keeps stating wrong, worst case scenario situations that make me wonder if his arrogance is making him lose sight of what is really going on.

In a recent MarketWatch article he is quoted as saying there is a “online video bubble”, obviously sparked by the purchase of YouTube. I grossly disagree, simply because I see how the audience can be used, and how traditional media can use it.  (i wrote about it in the past)

Another reason I like YouTube is the ability it has given to the little guy to became a famous producer.  The unkown individual that would of rarely struck a deal w/a major network of studio can now become popular enough to gain serious attention that can lead to deals w/traditional media. (Albeit easier said than done, but the potential is there for the serious little guy producer.)  my fingers are crossed and i’m still hoping

This is why i disagree w/his statement…

>Cuban thinks that the “losers” are the small content providers who invest to create great content. “Producer, editors, and posters who want to make money from their creations are going to be few and far between. Most will make less than minimum wage, much like we have seen with Podcasters.” <

I’m not going to pretend I know more about the internet than Mr Cuban, but as per common logic I simply find his wrong. (To compare Podcasters w/ vBloggers is grossly wrong.  There has never been a vehicle to popularize Podcasting the way YouTube has popularized vBlogging.)

This could be a break from the last quarter. From the RIMM and PALM CC I got the impression that the market did not grow.

“BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion continues to command the PDA market with 13.5 percent year-on-year growth, but Palm’s share fell as the company shifted its focus to sales of its Treo smart phones, which accounted for 57 percent of Palm’s mobile device shipments in the first half of 2006, according to principal Gartner analyst Todd Kort.” (article) keep in mind, when they say Palm’s share fell, it refers to their traditional PDAs.

Another interesting hint of information in the article is how popular Linux phones are in China. Motorola is the fastest growing Smartphone provider out there because of Linux. IMO, this justifies as to why PALM needs to get into Linux and target China specifically. (On a Positive note toward PALM, MOT’s non-Linux smartphones sales are lackuster.)

Here is a nice article concerning Palm and Linux. (article)