Written by: Zack Miller | August 3, 2008
I’ve just begun writing about the New Rules but part of the thesis is that expert communities can and will play a bigger role in investment decisions and idea generations for savvy investors going forward. We’ve only just begun, as has MarketGuru, a new site focused on providing New Rules-type functionality for a community of experts. I had a chance recently to chat with the founder and CEO of MG, Gili Beiman.
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Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Gili Beiman, Founder and CEO: I was the founder of the largest groups site in Israel, Tapuz, which we sold a few years back. lived in the States for 3 years. Like any good American, I opened an etrade account and 2 things stood out as problems in the whole data acquiring process, meaning trusted data and content that I could invest on:
- too much information: There is a ton of information out there. But if you don’t have a ranking system on all the content, I can’t really tell what to think – if I see a guy who’s writing a great blog on Apple, I have no idea whether he’s been right or wrong in his analysis. There was no rational order or hierarchy in this information.
- generic information: I find it interesting to know that the biggest source of financial content is via subscription newsletters, which is a $6.5 billion industry. What an anomaly to think that all this content is generic, meaning newsletters are making recommendations to people they don’t know. Your picks may be great but they can also be really risky — certainly not suitable for a retired school teacher.
So, where does MarketGuru come in? (Continue »)
U.S. investors have tried for the past few years to access the growth in the Israeli market without a true index vehicle for doing so. The Amidex35 is probably the most accurate vehicle for those looking to get exposure to Israel as a whole. It’s an interesting index, splitting total market cap between Tel Aviv and the U.S (around 60/40). So, you get local Israel exposure with some growth-y tech companies layered in. Kudos
to Amidex’s Cliff Goldstein who shared some time with us on CNBC recently talking about Israeli companies and the market opportunity as a whole. We interviewed Cliff a couple of months ago and it’s worth reading that interview again here. (Continue »)
Written by: Aaron Katsman | March 17, 2008
Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com
With the bailout of Bear Stearns (BSC), the US Dollar sinking against most major currencies, crude oil and gold prices up near all time highs, the question for investors is what they should do? I spent today with my ear glued to the telephone as client after client called up wanting to know what they should do with their investment portfolios. Obviously, no one can predict the future, but with all the bad news out there today, isn’t it interesting that the stock market didn’t crash.
Anyone who watched the news today would have thought that the end of the financial markets, as we know them, was at hand. But that didn’t happen.
No one can predict a market bottom, but there is an old investing adage that says that, “when there is blood in the streets,” that is the time to invest.
Could things get any worse?
Disclosure: Author has no position in any other stock mentioned as of 3/17/08.
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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.
Written by: Zack Miller | February 14, 2008
Using a similar framework to O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 definition, let’s first define what Mobile 2.0 is all about. Once we define what is is, we can discuss applications for social network over mobile.
Mobile 1.0 vs. Mobile 2.0
ringtones, ringbacks <—> Vringo (video caller ID)
reading <—> publishing/participating
pull <–> push
connected to PC enivonment <–> connected to my web environment
411 <–> Google411
GPS <–> Google Maps
p2p <–> p2community
Dodgeball <–> facebook, android
casual gaming <–> networked gaming
(Continue »)
