Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Wednesday | Oct. 8 | Got news, or a question?
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53 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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I'm back in San Francisco, and have a lot of catching up to do.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back.
ReplyDeleteThe pied piper won the debate. Let's continue to follow him and he will lead us to prosperity and his government will solve all of our problems.
ReplyDeleteWe are about to have an unchecked Democrat in the White House and probably a filibuster proof Democrat majority in Congress. At least the Supreme Court is set with a minority of activists who also happen to be the oldest; unless someone dies, there will be no net change there.
Just what the doctor ordered to rejuvenate conservatism, after all Carter begat Reagan.
Pied piper? I love how folks continually denigrate Americans as too stupid to think for themselves.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a very real phenomenon known as "groupthink."
ReplyDeleteThis is why I hate politics and politicians.
ReplyDeleteGannett stock is $14.97 right now.
ReplyDeleteHowz yr 401k doin'?
11:45 AM wrote: "Pied piper? I love how folks continually denigrate Americans as too stupid to think for themselves."
ReplyDeleteAND 11:47 AM wrote: "Yeah, it's a very real phenomenon known as 'groupthink.'"
In our profession it's pack journalism.
11:58, I haven't looked at mine since the 777-point nosedive. I can't even touch mine for another 20 years, so I can't get upset about it right now. Moving it around just locks in the losses. If I sit tight, I have hope of salvaging something years from now.
ReplyDeleteIt's about inevitable that the One will be elected. Throughout history in times of crisis, radical ideals have filled the power vacuum. This is happening again today, as a consequence of the fetes of the high-functioning moron that currently occupies the White House. This man has near-singlehandedly brought down conservatism and Reagan ideals. The republican brand is stale and needs this injection of Democrat-run government for the next 4 or 8 years to come back with a vengeance.
ReplyDeleteFrom 20smoney.com
ReplyDeleteI want to discuss what moves the market. In the short term, markets are driven mostly by emotion. Today, that emotion is fear. Fear is driving the markets lower. In some cases (financials), the fear is valid. In others, it isn’t and over time the fundamentals of that business will win out over emotion. This means you can potentially pick up some great stocks at a great price since fear is driving the prices lower. Remember, Buffett said to be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy.
If fundamentals in certain businesses warrant long-term value, buying these stocks in a fearful environment might be a good investment. I recently wrote an article on the next bull market. Perhaps, there are indications of what the next bull market(s) will look like. Buying into these sectors today might turn out to be a fantastic investment. However, in some cases, you might have further to go down before it goes back up. This is why we build positions in chunks. I strongly recommend implementing this approach towards stocks, especially if you are investing in individual stocks.
Stay Focused On The Long-Term
I wish to offer encouragement to you when it seems the stock market is the last place you want your money from here on out. Over the long-term, stocks are a great place to invest. Also, just think, wouldn’t you rather be in stocks now than a year ago when the Dow was at 14,000 and had only one place to go (down)? Buying now is a better buy than a year ago. This doesn’t mean there isn’t more pain to come, but stay focused on the long term and you should be great. Stick to your strategy, and try to keep your emotions in check. I wish you the best and happy investing!
To borrow a line from Micheal Keaton in the movie GUNG HO regarding management's ability to think outside the box (and not like laywers & bean counters).
ReplyDelete"Quite frankly, I don't see, I don't get it, I'm not impressed."
From the POSTS related to Craig Dubow's "Silence", It amazes me this man is so weak-willed that he can't come clean with us.
ReplyDeleteWhen he took over in July-2005 GCI was $72.00 Per Share, now it's $14.50 Per Share. GANNETT has LOST $13,110,100,100.00 on Craig Dubow's watch.
I don't blame him for all of this loss, Hell no one saw the magnitude of the economic collapse, but for Christ's sake Craig step up to the plate (like those airline C.E.O.s did last spring when fuel was destroying their company's and they laid-off Thousand to survive) and take a 50-or-60% pay cut to demonstrate that ,like George Washington, your a leader who is in front of his troops in battle; not hidden in a bunker somewhere. That would get you a huge improvement in morale.
If Dubow took a 50% pay cut he'd still make $70,000.00 PER WEEK. If he and the wife & kids can't get by on that, he shouldn’t be running a lemonade stand.
I wish I could hear Dubow's and the Compensation Committee's DIRECT justification for paying him $145,000 PER WEEK fro the last 169 WEEKS while over the same 169 WEEKS GANNETT'S MARKET VALUE has DROPPED $77,570,000 PER WEEK.
Have any other LAID-OFF/BOUGHT-OUT people thought about doing something about getting paid for unpaid Over time?
ReplyDeleteEveryone was so scared to put real hours down for fear of losing jobs. Now we've lost the jobs.
All the supervisors and higher ups "know" about the time sheet frauds but it was no big deal when times were good. Now its different...very different.
Can we do a group litigation against Gannett for the unpaid over time?
ReplyDeleteDo a civil lawsuit!!
ReplyDeleteI'm a lawyer. You will never win that one.
ReplyDeleteJim the MPA,(that Magazine Publisher Association for the donkey,who wrote the gannettblogsucks) has a convention in S.F. this week, why don't you go and check it out?
ReplyDeleteHow is it that GCI stock is a Top 5 "Advancer " stock today according to marketwatch?
ReplyDeleteAs crazy as it sounds, even with the loss of classified ads, the fundamentals seem to be strong and keep the investors coming back.
Can anyone explain it? Not more criticism...but a knowledgable explanation for those of us invested it GCI.
It's pretty simple actually. GCI has long been thought of as a bellwether and microcosm of the quintessential U.S. company among analysts. Generally (there are exceptions), GCI's stock tends to track with the larger market. Today we have a rate cut and another fall in oil prices, so the market is going up, and GCI is benefiting from that. GCI is also one of the diminishing amount of companies that still pay a dividend. In economic theory, it is believed that those who pay dividends are essentially more shielded from gyrations in the market and that even in down times you still make money on the stock. Of course, year over year top line revenue losses negate the dividend effect.
ReplyDeleteFinally, analysts aren't stupid; they carefully try to match a CEO's words with deeds, thus the respect given to McCorkindale a few years back, and (maybe) coincidental higher stock prices. You can't underestimate how Dubow looks on Wall Street, deservedly or not.
At the end of the day pricing is about the flow of information into the market and investors are continually trying to price in risk or stability into a given stock via bidding.
The prevailing notion on Wall Street is that GCI has not done nearly enough to offset revenue reductions as ad dollars either dry up or migrate as well as the notion that newspapers are becoming more and more obsolete in the age of the internet.
2:00 pm I can't explain it, but am also watching Media General and Lee. Both are up by good percentages today.
ReplyDelete2:16 PM,
ReplyDeleteThank you, very well said.
2:16 thank you. It's refreshing to get some useful information on this blog and not just complaining. Look, we all want to blame and vent and so this blog can serve that purpose. But we also need to help each other out so useful information is appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI would also imagine that Wall Street analysts have done a good job estimating Gannett's earning and have accounted for the drop in revenue from last year to this year. The stock reflects how well Gannett manages to those expectations.
So even if revenue is down, if it succeeds wall street's expectatons, the stock stays strong.
No problem. I would just add one point about pricing in for meeting expectations: this is generally true in the stock market, but a few things unfortunately work against GCI.
ReplyDelete(1) There have been so many consecutive year over year losses in revenue that expectations are low and GCI is not getting any points for hitting those expectations. Essentially, hitting expectations has become a hygiene factor for GCI and must be done in order to maintain or slow the decline -- nevermind increase -- the price of the stock.
(2) More importantly, GCI's investment "brand" right now is one of a company on the downturn. The widespread perception among outsiders, insiders, investors and employees is the the company is struggling greatly and shifting management around in a frantic stab at getting the right team in the right spots to affect change. This is why layoffs do little to the stock price. No one believes that the company will save it's way to prosperity.
Thanks for the input from 1:58, but he may be a Gannett lawyer or Gannett manager, so we should still look into a litigation.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness...did u hear?
ReplyDeletemeanwhile, in indy:
ReplyDelete"Oct. 7, 2008
To fellow union members and all covered "bargaining unit" employees:
On Aug. 25, the Indianapolis Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA 34070) grieved the layoffs of five coworkers, arguing that the company did not follow the terms of our collective bargaining agreement, Article VI, Section 1, which requires reductions in force be done by seniority. Filing a grievance and waiting for the company's response is a mandatory step before going to the next, more aggressive "binding arbitration" stage.
The company today officially rejected our grievance, which is their right. We notified them as well we are filing for mandatory arbitration, which allows an impartial third party to decide the
matter.
In August, and in virtually every meeting we have had with management, the Guild implored the company to explore the idea of "volunteers" for the impending layoffs. We know of coworkers who are interested in an early exit, and who wanted to spare other employees who are earlier in their careers and want to stay.
As the result of our action today, we expect the company to threaten to lay off by a "last hired, first fired" policy if we win this arbitration. As distasteful as that is to us, abandoning seniority would 1) subject the union to legal action from anyone improperly laid off (because we would be accused of not providing "fair representation") and 2) make anyone, irrespective of seniority, susceptible to arbitrary and capricious layoffs, dismissals and reductions in force.
Speaking of news stocks rising, Gatehouse is up almost 7 percent -- to 31 cents. Another 2537 percent and I'll be even!
ReplyDeleteAs long as this blog descended a bit into politics and the economy, allow me to recommend an explanation of what happened to the markets by This American Life:
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=365
You've heard that credit default swaps are like insurance, but that doesn't even describe the horror that happened.
In an nutshell, Company A borrows $1 million from Company B, which goes to Company C and says "I'll give you $10,000 if you pay me the $1 million if Company A can't."
So far, that's like typical insurance.
But the horror occurred when Company X said to Company Y: "Hey, I'll give you $10,000 in exchange for $1 million if Company A can't pay Company B."
In the end, the credit default swap market was "insuring" $60 trillion on $10 trillion of loans.
You only needed a few no doc, no down payment loans on speculatively-priced houses to blow up for the entire thing to take $2 trillion out of our 401ks.
Although the radio show doesn't mention this, some really bad Company Xs used short sales to drive down the stock of Company A, forcing them to violate lending covenants and default on the original loan. This drove A's stock down further meaning X got richer on the short sale and collected on the "insurance policy."
What a country.
@3:06: did we hear what????
ReplyDeleteNo I am a First Ammendment attorney but I always encourage you to seek your own legal council.
ReplyDelete3:02 PM
ReplyDeleteHave you called you state's wage and hour department for assistance and advice? Mine was no help, unfortunately. They told me all news reporters in the state are ovetime exempt.
No, not yet, what state are you in that list all news reporters exempt and what if you are not a reporter? still exempt?
ReplyDelete7:23, what does being a First Amendment attorney have to do with a labor dispute?
ReplyDeleteActually, I don't want to say what state, other than that it was way down south, for fear of getting Gannett HR all excited about something that's probably not true anyway. I'm not sure the wage and hour person knew what he was talking about. I was a non-exempt employee per Gannett's handbook---and I was a reporter.
ReplyDeleteto 11:34 am - You saw the best that the GOP has to offer last night stumbling across the state and talking in his whiny voice.
ReplyDelete"Friend" let me tell you, he doesn't stand a chance!
The web headline writers in Louisville need a little help.
ReplyDeleteThe girls' state golf championship was held on a rainy day, and this screenshot was what they came up with:
http://i33.tinypic.com/352kv91.jpg
(evidently, someone caught it)
http://tinyurl.com/3nvbje
Welcome back, Jim! Bet it sucks to be back in the broke ol' USA.
This tickled me:
ReplyDeleteThe police found someone dead in a car. So the paper reported that it was being treated as a fatality!
I'm not a lawyer, but I'd guess that if you wrote on your timesheet that you worked 40 hours/week even though you really worked more than that, you wouldn't have a case.
ReplyDeleteDid a manager ever explicitly tell you to lie on your timesheet?
Indirectly by saying that all OT needed to be approved in advance.
ReplyDelete7:23- if you're a lawyer, wouldn't you know it is spelled 'counsel' in this case?
ReplyDeleteI worked over time for six years at a Gannett paper in Asheville and never got paid for it. At least an hour and a half, give or take every day. I was told I could not right it down on any time cards and could only put the hours I was hired to work. 37.5. Yes, I worked over 40 hours every week.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing was when I turned in my two week notice, they insisted on paying me for the overtime I worked the second to last week. And the last week they would not let me turn on my computer to begin work until 8am even though I came in at 7am.
Looks like someone trying to avoid a lawsuit.
Did anyone else notice that 7:23 spelled counsel wrong? If he/she were truly an attorney, I'm thinking he/she would know the difference.
ReplyDeleteI see 4:57 noticed the "council" error also. Didn't read down that far before I made my comment. No attorney on earth would make that mistake!
ReplyDelete9:38, did you notice that 4:57 noticed it first?
ReplyDeleteAlso, not everyone knows how to spell, so I wouldn't put too much stock in that typo proving that the poster isn't really a lawyer. (He/She spelled Amendment wrong, too.)
Besides, what does it matter? Seeking your own counsel is good advice.
I'm curious about Anon 8:41 who claimed to work over time every day (1 1/2 hours) for six years. Was it your decision to work these hours (i.e. unapproved overtime) or were you scheduled to work this time? Why didn't you bring this to the attention of HR or the publisher as this is clearly a violation of Wage and Hour laws if you in fact worked this time. Just curious.
ReplyDelete9:55 am
ReplyDeleteSometimes the overtime is not pre-approved, but the work still needs to get done. Each crew's workload and timing is dependent upon another department getting their information in on time.
In order to get the paper out on time, one delay in one department WILL delay the entire process up until the press begins running.
The Gannett model has three items...
ReplyDelete1. Do more with less
2. Pay advertising reps more for doing less
3. Pay Dubow and his puppets big bonuses to drive down the stock price.
"Sometimes the overtime is not pre-approved, but the work still needs to get done. Each crew's workload and timing is dependent upon another department getting their information in on time."
ReplyDeleteEveryone has to get over this kind of thinking. You are paid for 40 hours (give or take) and not allowed overtime. The work gets to you in a timely manner or it doesn't get done. Period. Delays are not your problem. If getting the paper out on time is such an issue, the company needs to pony up with OT, more personnel, or less work. Whatever time I work gets put on my time-sheet, NO EXCEPTIONS. If you don't work your 40 hours (+/-) you put that on your time-sheet, right? Do you think Gannett would pay you for hours not worked? Then why give them extra? If you get called on the floor for it, take it higher. If you lose your job because of it, go legal. But don't just sit there and take it!
The company is not your friend. Your boss is not your friend. Where I am, we used to consider ourselves family. That has changed. I realize it. You need to, too.
9:55
ReplyDeleteI was not scheduled at all. I could come in early but I had to stay until my designated quitting time. The work would pile up because of poor management of other employees in the department. If you were having lunch at your desk and you were approached you were expected to do the work right then. This was how the other departments were trained. Everybody in my department and management knew I put in a lot of hours in order to get the most work done and help the paper. We all did and I am sure some still do. Especially the news room.
They just overlooked it because I did a lot of work in a short amount of time and that's including the overtime.. More Bang for the Buck Yes, I should have pressed them to pay me, but I have litigated before and it was not worth the trouble. I needed my job.
It doesn't matter what you put on your time sheet. if you are non-exempt you must be paid for all hours you are at work. The Labor Department would want to know if you worked more hours than you were paid.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Law!
I WORKED OVERTIME AND DIDN'T GET PAID!
ReplyDeleteStop bitching and crying about in now, and go out and find a job. What happened to personal responsibility? You knew way back then that the company was treating you like shit, but you stayed anyway. SHUT UP YOU PUTZ!!!!!
I agree with 2:48 poster - please, get out of gannett... I did and the world is a better place outside of the stiffling, snearing environment. Also, the poster who said Gannett believes that ad reps should be paid more for less work - that is correct. The dirty little secret is that ad reps often make more than the managing editor at the paper... after bonuses and commission.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the media in general loves Barack Obama, and they should just admit it. They love him ... their "do-gooder" mentality and "diversity" training has kicked in in addition to the natural leanings of newsrooms to love the Left. It's like trying to get a reporter to write a story that is critical of a teacher - these young journalists worship teachers, mentors, liberals.... anyone that makes them feel better about themselves. Truth be damned!
ReplyDelete