There seems to be no place in media to hide as estimates continue to fall and no signs of recovery in advertising or other key revenue drivers is apparent. One stock that largely avoids the potholes in media is Dreamworks Animation. The company is vulnerable on DVD sales but has no advertising exposure. In the […]
https://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gif00Steve Birenberghttps://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gifSteve Birenberg2009-01-20 08:53:392009-01-20 08:53:39Dreamworks Animation is Relative Safety in Media
In big news for media and telecom, major media outlets are reporting that President-elect Obama will nominate Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Genachowski was technology adviser to Obama during the campaign. According to the Wall Street Journal, he put together detailed plans for Obama “that expressed support for open Internet or […]
Northlake’s monthly Market Cap and Style models favor Small Caps and Value for January. As a result, client and personal accounts have a position in the Russell 2000 (IWM or IJR) and the Russell 1000 Value (IWD or IVE). These positions are unchanged from December. In fact, the small cap signal has been in place […]
Over they years I have expanded my universe from media to telecom as the two industries have converged. Technology advancement has triggered the convergence as broadband wireline and wireless networks have changed the business of content creation and distribution. Telecom stocks performed better than the S&P 500 in 2008 although breadth was poor. SNL Kagan’s […]
https://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gif00Steve Birenberghttps://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gifSteve Birenberg2008-12-31 10:24:442008-12-31 10:24:44Telecom: 2008 Year In Review
It’s been a rough year for investors. My own performance has been mediocre with most Northlake clients plus or minus a couple of percent relative to the S&P 500. I think I could have done better but I use a fully invested strategy so it was a very tough to make much progress. Further complicating […]
https://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gif00Steve Birenberghttps://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gifSteve Birenberg2008-12-30 10:37:122008-12-30 10:37:12Media: 2008 Year In Review
This is the first of new series of column I will write. Each Monday, I will review media news and notes from the prior week which slipped past my other commentary but may be material for the companies and stocks involved. Let’s call it “Monday Media Musings.” New York Times Red Sox stake for sale […]
https://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gif00Steve Birenberghttps://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gifSteve Birenberg2008-12-29 14:44:222008-12-29 14:44:22Monday Media Musings: December 29, 2008
I believe the reporting of Apple’s withdrawal form MacWorld after 2009 and Jobs lack of appearance this year was misreported. There is little doubt that it had a major negative impact on Apple shares, however. Here is my take on the situation. The stock reacted very negatively to the MacWorld announcement, immediately falling about $4 […]
AT&T was downgraded to neutral form buy by Goldman Sachs today offsetting the good news from Friday when the company increased its annual dividend by 2.5%. Yes, that is a token amount but it is still a message about the strength of the company’s financial position and the resiliency of its cash flow relative to […]
As noted in Part One, the main message coming out of the conference that was that advertising continues to deteriorate and visibility into 2009 is minimal. This means that for most media companies the risk remains to the downside for earning estimates. Part One contained a reasonable positive review of Time Warner and Discovery Communications, […]
https://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gif00Steve Birenberghttps://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gifSteve Birenberg2008-12-15 08:59:552008-12-15 08:59:55UBS Media Conference Part Two
I spent Wednesday in NY while sitting at my desk in Chicago. In a sing of the times, I skipped the UBS Media Conference in a cost saving measure. I’ve gone many years in a row to this well run event. Fortunately, modern technology means I can still “Attend” although the upside in these soirees […]
https://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gif00Steve Birenberghttps://northlakecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/nl_logo.gifSteve Birenberg2008-12-15 08:56:242008-12-15 08:56:24UBS Media Conference Part One
Dreamworks Animation is Relative Safety in Media
There seems to be no place in media to hide as estimates continue to fall and no signs of recovery in advertising or other key revenue drivers is apparent. One stock that largely avoids the potholes in media is Dreamworks Animation. The company is vulnerable on DVD sales but has no advertising exposure. In the […]
New FCC Chairman Presents Risk
In big news for media and telecom, major media outlets are reporting that President-elect Obama will nominate Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Genachowski was technology adviser to Obama during the campaign. According to the Wall Street Journal, he put together detailed plans for Obama “that expressed support for open Internet or […]
January 2009 Model Signals
Northlake’s monthly Market Cap and Style models favor Small Caps and Value for January. As a result, client and personal accounts have a position in the Russell 2000 (IWM or IJR) and the Russell 1000 Value (IWD or IVE). These positions are unchanged from December. In fact, the small cap signal has been in place […]
Telecom: 2008 Year In Review
Over they years I have expanded my universe from media to telecom as the two industries have converged. Technology advancement has triggered the convergence as broadband wireline and wireless networks have changed the business of content creation and distribution. Telecom stocks performed better than the S&P 500 in 2008 although breadth was poor. SNL Kagan’s […]
Media: 2008 Year In Review
It’s been a rough year for investors. My own performance has been mediocre with most Northlake clients plus or minus a couple of percent relative to the S&P 500. I think I could have done better but I use a fully invested strategy so it was a very tough to make much progress. Further complicating […]
Monday Media Musings: December 29, 2008
This is the first of new series of column I will write. Each Monday, I will review media news and notes from the prior week which slipped past my other commentary but may be material for the companies and stocks involved. Let’s call it “Monday Media Musings.” New York Times Red Sox stake for sale […]
Apple Exits MacWorld
I believe the reporting of Apple’s withdrawal form MacWorld after 2009 and Jobs lack of appearance this year was misreported. There is little doubt that it had a major negative impact on Apple shares, however. Here is my take on the situation. The stock reacted very negatively to the MacWorld announcement, immediately falling about $4 […]
Goldman Downgrades AT&T to Neutral
AT&T was downgraded to neutral form buy by Goldman Sachs today offsetting the good news from Friday when the company increased its annual dividend by 2.5%. Yes, that is a token amount but it is still a message about the strength of the company’s financial position and the resiliency of its cash flow relative to […]
UBS Media Conference Part Two
As noted in Part One, the main message coming out of the conference that was that advertising continues to deteriorate and visibility into 2009 is minimal. This means that for most media companies the risk remains to the downside for earning estimates. Part One contained a reasonable positive review of Time Warner and Discovery Communications, […]
UBS Media Conference Part One
I spent Wednesday in NY while sitting at my desk in Chicago. In a sing of the times, I skipped the UBS Media Conference in a cost saving measure. I’ve gone many years in a row to this well run event. Fortunately, modern technology means I can still “Attend” although the upside in these soirees […]