This is a fascinating interview by Scoble with the people from Proximic.  Its hard to follow, but worth the effort, if you want to get a sense of the potential for internet search, and advertising.  Once you get into the demo, after about 10 minutes, their product quality really springs out, and the real value becomes apparent.  Proximic :: Home The Proximic Platform is an open contextual ecosystem to connect publishers, bloggers and end-users by delivering related news, articles, background information and ads in a better way. Some key attributes here: Google Adsense is keyword based Proximic is theme based … … Continue reading Search and advertising, beyond Google

In a follow up to this Fridays post on the sub-prime situation, it appears that certainly in Canada, the markets remain dysfunctional, as the impact of three record days of liquidity injection by the Bank of Canada, failed to create the desired result. reportonbusiness.com: Third BOC injection in three days reveals ‘clog in the system’ The trickle-down effect does not seem to be functioning.… Banks are reluctant to lend to each other, and credit spreads are abnormally wide as a result, he said. Relevance to Bankwatch: Its clear that the Banks’ have a serious problem, and the degree of the … Continue reading Canadian markets exhibit ‘clog in the system’

American Banker have redesigned their site, and although the main content remains behind a subscription, they have a free trial available. I had anticipated that they might follow the Economist model, with some articles freely available to all, but apparently not. Nice redesign though. However, I am honoured to have Bankwatch featured in their new blog area, alongside some others, including as Jim, Trey, and a few other well known bloggers. [I guess that makes Trey an honorary banker now] The Banker’s Blog Watch – American Banker Blogs We’re Watching: GonzoBanker Nouriel Roubini’s Blog Javelin Strategy & Research Blog The … Continue reading American Banker redesigns, and adds a ‘Bankers Blog Watch’

Citi represent the apparent majority view, amongst Banks, and the antithesis of Wells Fargo, and RBC. What intrigues me about this comment from the Citi CMO is that she must be unaware that the conversations she fears are already taking place online.  Here are a set of examples on Youtube.  My take …. why not embrace the madness, and get out there and join in the conversations.  Find ways to dip toes into the water. MediaPost Publications – Citi Cautious About Advertising On Social Networks – 10/01/2007 She added that allowing consumers access to Citi logos and other materials related … Continue reading Brand managment will exclude social networks | Citi

One of the trains of thought for me, following the sub prime mortgage crisis is that of globalisation, and new ripple effects we can expect to appear from unlikely and unanticipated situations.  For example Northern Rock in the UK being put out of business, by high risk mortgage lending in the US.  We all knew about globalisation, and the framework of international finance, but I am sure no-one saw Northern Rock, or BNP coming. Anyhow, that led me to different books and I came across this one today, which it turns out is written by a Canadian, and with contributions … Continue reading “The Upside of Down” | catastrophe and creativity

Nice thoughtful read for the weekend. Joe talks about, and provides examples of how we are moving to new age, beyond the Information Age. joeandrieu.com » Blog Archive » Leaving the Information Age We move from one great age to another when, as a Society, we let go of the trappings of the previous age and begin to define ourselves in new terms, absent the defining elements of yesteryear. We no longer think of ourselves as farmers or factory workers… the Information Age has knowledge workers, and we largely define ourselves by the information accessories in our lifestyle: our iPod, … Continue reading Leaving the Information Age | Joe Andrieu

Brilliant quote from the Big Picture blog. The Big Picture | Real Estate I like this quote from Christopher Wood, chief strategist at the broker CLSA: “This is not a sub-prime crisis. Sub-prime has merely exposed the bigger scam of structured finance; a scam that is about pretending that bad credit is good credit.” Technorati Tags: sub+prime Continue reading Crisis, what crisis?

Ed over at Wells, asks about Mint, who were at TechCrunch40 this week.  Pertuity | another way to look at your finances « The Bankwatch What do you think of Mint, the latest “Communal Finance” tool in this space? I had thought I would give them time to get some customers, and see how they do.   It seems kind of like a Quicken with a touch of Wesabe.  We know that Quicken was too complicated, and appealed to only a narrow group, so its refreshing to see Mint promote simplicity.  After all the aggregation talk in 1999, we also know … Continue reading How refreshing is Mint?

Great article in this weeks Economist on algorithms.  The theme lies in the mind numbing amount of data avalable now, and how mathematics can help solve complex problems, varying from the UPS driver and plane scheduling to Tesco product targetting. Algorithms | Business by numbers | Economist.com It works by assigning attributes to each of the products on Tesco’s shelves. These range from easy-to-cook to value-for-money, from adventurous to fresh. In order to give ratings for every dimension of a product, the rolling-ball algorithm starts at the extremes: ostrich burgers, say, would count as very adventurous. The algorithm then trawls … Continue reading Ostrich burger, and a medium mortgage to go …