31 December 2008
credit score
from WSJ
Problem: You want to apply for new credit, but aren't sure if your credit is good enough. Solution: Get a free credit score. Several Web sites -- Credit.com, CreditKarma.com and Quizzle.com -- allow consumers to check their credit scores free. Although CreditKarma and Quizzle offer scores developed by the credit-reporting companies, including TransUnion and Experian, and not the widely used FICO score developed by Fair Isaac Corp., they can still provide users with a quick snapshot of where they stand. At CreditKarma.com, consumers can estimate how certain actions -- such as applying for a new card, being late on a payment or paying on time -- will change their score.
It's also a good idea to check your detailed credit reports at least once a year, which you can do free of charge at annualcreditreport.com.
Problem: You want to apply for new credit, but aren't sure if your credit is good enough. Solution: Get a free credit score. Several Web sites -- Credit.com, CreditKarma.com and Quizzle.com -- allow consumers to check their credit scores free. Although CreditKarma and Quizzle offer scores developed by the credit-reporting companies, including TransUnion and Experian, and not the widely used FICO score developed by Fair Isaac Corp., they can still provide users with a quick snapshot of where they stand. At CreditKarma.com, consumers can estimate how certain actions -- such as applying for a new card, being late on a payment or paying on time -- will change their score.
It's also a good idea to check your detailed credit reports at least once a year, which you can do free of charge at annualcreditreport.com.
02 December 2008
19 June 2008
LinkedIn valuation $1 billion
LinkedIn, the professional networking site, said it has raised $53 million from investors that places the company's overall estimated valuation at more than $1 billion
An unemployed person came to see me yesterday and asked me for names and phone numbers. This person did not ask for email addresses, nor offered one. I was so struck by the "analog" nature of the whole job search.
I recently saw Jeff Zucker interview on Charlie Rose. Zucker said his children were "born digital." Charlie loved the phrase so much that Zucker gave Charlie permission to use the phrase.
I guess I'm somewhere between analog and digital.
16 June 2008
Gift cards
I came across this entry while reading the Limited Brands 10K.
"During the fourth quarter of 2007, we recognized $48 million in pretax income related to the initial recognition of gift card breakage at Victoria’s Secret."
Victoria’s Secret had operating income of $718m that year, which means 6.7% came from these "breakages." Assuming that $48m is spread over 3 years, as much as 2% of each year's pretax income comes from gift card breakage.
This is from a retailer that sell gift cards with no expiration dates and also do not charge administrative fees on unused gift cards.
I found a couple of $50 VS gift cards for sale at $41 on Ebay, implying 18% value destruction as soon as you buy a gift card.
Why does anyone give gift cards?
"During the fourth quarter of 2007, we recognized $48 million in pretax income related to the initial recognition of gift card breakage at Victoria’s Secret."
Victoria’s Secret had operating income of $718m that year, which means 6.7% came from these "breakages." Assuming that $48m is spread over 3 years, as much as 2% of each year's pretax income comes from gift card breakage.
This is from a retailer that sell gift cards with no expiration dates and also do not charge administrative fees on unused gift cards.
I found a couple of $50 VS gift cards for sale at $41 on Ebay, implying 18% value destruction as soon as you buy a gift card.
Why does anyone give gift cards?
25 March 2008
The Prestige
I recently read the book and wanted to make some comparisons to the movie. I definitely recommend both the movie and the book.
The Prestige -
In the book, the prestige refers to the empty shell that gets left behind when Angier goes through the machine. In the movie, it is simply the third part of a magic trick, bringing it back the thing that disappeared.
Ingenieurs -
Ingenieurs play a very minor role in the book. Both magicians have them and that's all there is to it. In the movie, ingeniuers are very important. Angier's ingenieur Cutter (Michael Caine) is the star witness in Borden's trial. Borden's ingenieur Fallon is also very important.
Trial -
There's no trial in the book. Borden dies a natural death. Angier dies from injuries caused by Borden meddling with the machine's electricity. In the movie, both have violent deaths.
Julia Angier (Piper Perabo)
In the book, she has a miscarriage because of Borden. She was an actress who initially helped Angier to do memory tricks. Angier then moves on to seances and she was part of that act. Borden sees his aunt paying for a fake seance and is determined to expose the fraud. After the miscarriage, Julia goes on to have other children and lives a long life. Borden and Angier never worked together in the book and barely knew each other. In the movie, Julia drowns because Borden tied the wrong knot. In the book, there is a brief mention of how Angier himself almost drowned because of Borden's meddling and I guess the movie uses that incident.
Sarah Borden
In the book, she has a happy life, never even knows that Borden has a mistress.
Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson)
In the book, it was Olivia's idea to leave Angier to go to Borden. Borden did not know that Olivia was Angier's mistress. He only finds out when she tells him. In the movie, Angier forces Olivia to go to Borden and she tells Borden up front that she was sent by Angier.
I always found it curious that studios come out with same kinds of movies at about the same time. Less than two months apart? Did people who went to see the Illusionist also go see the Prestige?
The Prestige
Release Date: 20 October 2006, $53m US Box
The Illusionist
Release Date: 1 September 2006, $40m US Box
The Prestige -
In the book, the prestige refers to the empty shell that gets left behind when Angier goes through the machine. In the movie, it is simply the third part of a magic trick, bringing it back the thing that disappeared.
Ingenieurs -
Ingenieurs play a very minor role in the book. Both magicians have them and that's all there is to it. In the movie, ingeniuers are very important. Angier's ingenieur Cutter (Michael Caine) is the star witness in Borden's trial. Borden's ingenieur Fallon is also very important.
Trial -
There's no trial in the book. Borden dies a natural death. Angier dies from injuries caused by Borden meddling with the machine's electricity. In the movie, both have violent deaths.
Julia Angier (Piper Perabo)
In the book, she has a miscarriage because of Borden. She was an actress who initially helped Angier to do memory tricks. Angier then moves on to seances and she was part of that act. Borden sees his aunt paying for a fake seance and is determined to expose the fraud. After the miscarriage, Julia goes on to have other children and lives a long life. Borden and Angier never worked together in the book and barely knew each other. In the movie, Julia drowns because Borden tied the wrong knot. In the book, there is a brief mention of how Angier himself almost drowned because of Borden's meddling and I guess the movie uses that incident.
Sarah Borden
In the book, she has a happy life, never even knows that Borden has a mistress.
Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson)
In the book, it was Olivia's idea to leave Angier to go to Borden. Borden did not know that Olivia was Angier's mistress. He only finds out when she tells him. In the movie, Angier forces Olivia to go to Borden and she tells Borden up front that she was sent by Angier.
I always found it curious that studios come out with same kinds of movies at about the same time. Less than two months apart? Did people who went to see the Illusionist also go see the Prestige?
The Prestige
Release Date: 20 October 2006, $53m US Box
The Illusionist
Release Date: 1 September 2006, $40m US Box
14 February 2008
29 January 2008
Real estate web sites
another cut & paste from NYT article
Zillow, Terabitz and Trulia
Redfin is a slightly different story because it does not accept advertising from brokers and agents. Rather, the site competes with traditional brokerage firms to offer people a way to buy and sell homes without face-to-face contact with an agent.
Buyers and sellers communicate with Redfin's agents -- in effect, customer service representatives on the Web -- by phone and through e-mail to negotiate deals and arrange house visits, among other things. Customers pay far lower fees to Redfin than they would pay to traditional agents.
With home sales slowing, Mr. Kelman said that ''we had to get very serious about figuring out what works and what doesn't for sellers.'' The company's analysts pored through sales data and found that, among other things, listings that make their debuts on Fridays draw 7.7 percent more visitors than those introduced on Thursdays. In addition, listings priced at $351,001 receive significantly less attention online than those listed at $350,000, because of how real estate search engines filter their results.
The company began disseminating such tips to clients in December, around the same time Redfin's results began improving. Since late September, the site's share of real estate sales in which Redfin represented the buyer rose by 23 percent in Seattle, to nearly 2.5 percent, and jumped by 176 percent in the San Francisco area, to nearly 1 percent.
Zillow, which in September raised $30 million from Legg Mason Capital Management and others, attracted 20 percent more visitors in December 2007 than in December 2006, according to Spencer Rascoff, Zillow's chief financial officer.
''Our growth actually accelerated in the back half of the year,'' he said. ''In a down market, buyers, sellers and agents need more tools.''
The amount of advertising revenue that Zillow generates for every 1,000 pages on its site has more than doubled from a year ago, Mr. Rascoff said, as the site has added more sales agents and advertising products that allow marketers to reach homeowners at specific addresses. (People wishing to see Zillow's appraisal of a home type in the address).
Terabitz, which raised $10 million from Tudor Capital in July, builds and maintains online portals for real estate brokers and agents. The business only began selling its services in September, but Ashfaq Munshi, Terabitz's chief executive, said he was pleased with the progress. The company this month introduced its first six brokerage sites, including that of Century 21 Abrams, Hutchinson and Associates, www.century21ah.com, which serves Middlesex and Mercer Counties in New Jersey.
Whether the success of the newcomers will spread to more established sites is an open question, said Kenneth Cassar, an analyst with Nielsen Online. ''There's dichotomy with what's going on in this category, when it comes to visitors and advertisers,'' he said. While the number of visitors is up, the number of ads run on real estate sites dropped 31 percent last year when compared with 2006.
In past years, Mr. Cassar said, consumers who visited these sites were usually in the market for a house, a new mortgage or goods to help them complete a remodeling. ''Today, they want to understand the impact of the broader market on their local market,'' he said. And as consumers find mostly bad news on that front, they are not exactly great targets for marketers who want to sell them new couches, new homes or a new mortgage.
''But people still need to live someplace and move from time to time,'' Mr. Cassar said. ''So there will be a consistent base of activity that'll keep a number of these players quite happy.''
Zillow, Terabitz and Trulia
Redfin is a slightly different story because it does not accept advertising from brokers and agents. Rather, the site competes with traditional brokerage firms to offer people a way to buy and sell homes without face-to-face contact with an agent.
Buyers and sellers communicate with Redfin's agents -- in effect, customer service representatives on the Web -- by phone and through e-mail to negotiate deals and arrange house visits, among other things. Customers pay far lower fees to Redfin than they would pay to traditional agents.
With home sales slowing, Mr. Kelman said that ''we had to get very serious about figuring out what works and what doesn't for sellers.'' The company's analysts pored through sales data and found that, among other things, listings that make their debuts on Fridays draw 7.7 percent more visitors than those introduced on Thursdays. In addition, listings priced at $351,001 receive significantly less attention online than those listed at $350,000, because of how real estate search engines filter their results.
The company began disseminating such tips to clients in December, around the same time Redfin's results began improving. Since late September, the site's share of real estate sales in which Redfin represented the buyer rose by 23 percent in Seattle, to nearly 2.5 percent, and jumped by 176 percent in the San Francisco area, to nearly 1 percent.
Zillow, which in September raised $30 million from Legg Mason Capital Management and others, attracted 20 percent more visitors in December 2007 than in December 2006, according to Spencer Rascoff, Zillow's chief financial officer.
''Our growth actually accelerated in the back half of the year,'' he said. ''In a down market, buyers, sellers and agents need more tools.''
The amount of advertising revenue that Zillow generates for every 1,000 pages on its site has more than doubled from a year ago, Mr. Rascoff said, as the site has added more sales agents and advertising products that allow marketers to reach homeowners at specific addresses. (People wishing to see Zillow's appraisal of a home type in the address).
Terabitz, which raised $10 million from Tudor Capital in July, builds and maintains online portals for real estate brokers and agents. The business only began selling its services in September, but Ashfaq Munshi, Terabitz's chief executive, said he was pleased with the progress. The company this month introduced its first six brokerage sites, including that of Century 21 Abrams, Hutchinson and Associates, www.century21ah.com, which serves Middlesex and Mercer Counties in New Jersey.
Whether the success of the newcomers will spread to more established sites is an open question, said Kenneth Cassar, an analyst with Nielsen Online. ''There's dichotomy with what's going on in this category, when it comes to visitors and advertisers,'' he said. While the number of visitors is up, the number of ads run on real estate sites dropped 31 percent last year when compared with 2006.
In past years, Mr. Cassar said, consumers who visited these sites were usually in the market for a house, a new mortgage or goods to help them complete a remodeling. ''Today, they want to understand the impact of the broader market on their local market,'' he said. And as consumers find mostly bad news on that front, they are not exactly great targets for marketers who want to sell them new couches, new homes or a new mortgage.
''But people still need to live someplace and move from time to time,'' Mr. Cassar said. ''So there will be a consistent base of activity that'll keep a number of these players quite happy.''
Mortgage web sites
i cut & pasted from a NYT article
LendingTree.com and Bankrate.com that have tutorials on the borrowing process and the types of mortgages available, and guides for selecting products.
Other organizations, like the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Federal Reserve Board, also feature useful online tutorials. (The Mortgage Bankers' home loan guide is at HomeLoanLearningCenter.com, while the Fed's guide is at federalreserve.gov/pubs/mortgage/mortb--1.htm)
From there, Mr. Strothkamp said, consumers should choose one of two separate paths, depending on how far along in the mortgage process they are.
Those who have just begun considering a new home loan will want to get a sense of the market conditions at a glance, and for them, Bankrate.com and HSH.com are among the popular publishers of current interest rates for various mortgage products.
For those who are ready to make a home purchase or a mortgage refinance, Mr. Strothkamp recommended Web sites like LowerMyBills and LendingTree, where borrowers submit financial information and then receive loan offers, via e-mail, from lenders and brokers.
Financial counselors also suggest that borrowers consult with a broker or a lender recommended by a friend or family member, and check their local bank for deals before negotiating.
Despite the shrinking mortgage market -- the industry lost more than 100,000 jobs, or 20 percent of its work force, from late 2006 through late 2007 -- new Web sites continue to sprout. Mr. Strothkamp says he believes two of them -- MortgageGrader.com and MortgageMarvel.com -- deserve consideration.
MortgageMarvel is similar to Bankrate.com, in that consumers can get a quick look at interest rates for the loan they are considering, and then click directly to a lender's site to complete a loan application. MortgageMarvel requests basic information, including the loan amount, property value and ZIP code, then returns a list of rates offered by specific lenders. Unlike Bankrate, the site does not include advertisements, which makes it easier to navigate, Mr. Strothkamp said.
MortgageGrader is a mortgage broker licensed in New York, Florida, California and Idaho, with more states to follow this year. The site accepts loan applications and displays mortgage offers within seconds. For finding and processing the loan, the site charges a flat fee of just under 1 percent of the mortgage amount.
Unlike the Web technology used by many mortgage brokers that offer online applications, MortgageGrader's does not disclose to lenders the address of the property on which the mortgage will be taken. Jeff Lazerson, the company's chief executive, says this prevents lenders from increasing the interest rates of borrowers in marginal areas.
Mr. Lazerson's company received financing from the Ford Foundation. This, Mr. Strothkamp said, is a positive sign
LendingTree.com and Bankrate.com that have tutorials on the borrowing process and the types of mortgages available, and guides for selecting products.
Other organizations, like the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Federal Reserve Board, also feature useful online tutorials. (The Mortgage Bankers' home loan guide is at HomeLoanLearningCenter.com, while the Fed's guide is at federalreserve.gov/pubs/mortgage/mortb--1.htm)
From there, Mr. Strothkamp said, consumers should choose one of two separate paths, depending on how far along in the mortgage process they are.
Those who have just begun considering a new home loan will want to get a sense of the market conditions at a glance, and for them, Bankrate.com and HSH.com are among the popular publishers of current interest rates for various mortgage products.
For those who are ready to make a home purchase or a mortgage refinance, Mr. Strothkamp recommended Web sites like LowerMyBills and LendingTree, where borrowers submit financial information and then receive loan offers, via e-mail, from lenders and brokers.
Financial counselors also suggest that borrowers consult with a broker or a lender recommended by a friend or family member, and check their local bank for deals before negotiating.
Despite the shrinking mortgage market -- the industry lost more than 100,000 jobs, or 20 percent of its work force, from late 2006 through late 2007 -- new Web sites continue to sprout. Mr. Strothkamp says he believes two of them -- MortgageGrader.com and MortgageMarvel.com -- deserve consideration.
MortgageMarvel is similar to Bankrate.com, in that consumers can get a quick look at interest rates for the loan they are considering, and then click directly to a lender's site to complete a loan application. MortgageMarvel requests basic information, including the loan amount, property value and ZIP code, then returns a list of rates offered by specific lenders. Unlike Bankrate, the site does not include advertisements, which makes it easier to navigate, Mr. Strothkamp said.
MortgageGrader is a mortgage broker licensed in New York, Florida, California and Idaho, with more states to follow this year. The site accepts loan applications and displays mortgage offers within seconds. For finding and processing the loan, the site charges a flat fee of just under 1 percent of the mortgage amount.
Unlike the Web technology used by many mortgage brokers that offer online applications, MortgageGrader's does not disclose to lenders the address of the property on which the mortgage will be taken. Jeff Lazerson, the company's chief executive, says this prevents lenders from increasing the interest rates of borrowers in marginal areas.
Mr. Lazerson's company received financing from the Ford Foundation. This, Mr. Strothkamp said, is a positive sign
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