FinancialMedia.org

Who's that CEO in Ironman 2?

Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), makes a cameo appearance in the movie IronMan 2 opening this weekend in the U.S.  The plot includes Oracle sponsoring a fictional Stark Expo, a tradeshow about cloud computing.   Back in the real world, the software company borrows the Marvel superhero theme and sets up a webpage on its corporate website.

Top 5 Financial Media Observations of 2008

#5 The Wall Street Journal expanded its editorial coverage to better compete against the New York Times while WSJ.com gets a darker look just in time for the economic downturn.  Meanwhile, a new glossy magazine offers lifestyle articles for those who are still employed on Wall Street.

#4 BATS Trading started offering free real-time market data through CNBC, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Google Finance and Quote.com. However, Nasdaq and NYSE would counter that the data is drawn from trades that represent less than 10% of the total dollar volume of traded securities.

#3 News aggregators and citizen journalism stumbled after two separate business stories triggered panic selling. Google News inadvertently retrieved a 2002 headline about a United Airlines bankruptcy and displayed it as a new Sun-Sentinel.com story. An anonymous post about the supposed hospitalization of Steve Jobs sent shares of Apple into a tailspin.

#2 It seemed like Forbes.com was rolling out new features every month. However, the one thing that the financial website still hasn't done is to offer better-looking stock charts.

#1 Without any major innovations or new features, Yahoo Finance started and ended the year as the number one financial portal.

Minyanville Wins the Emmy

Minyanville Media has won the Emmy for "Minyanville's World in Review with Hoofy and Boo" which was honored by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the New Approaches to Financial Reporting category.  Its groundbreaking weekly show features the animated icons of finance, Hoofy the Bull and Boo the Bear.

Minyanville Nabs Emmy Nomination for Animated Business Show

Minyanville Media has been nominated for an Emmy in the business and financial category for "Minyanville's World in Review with Hoofy and Boo."  Reportedly the world's first and only animated business news show, the Fox Business Network regular is also featured on Yahoo Finance.

CNBC.com and Google Finance Offer Real-Time Stock Quotes from NYSE

The New York Stock Exchange has begun offering real-time stock quotes to major financial portals.  CNBC.com and Google Finance will be the first to join the pilot program, each paying up to $100,000 a month to display the data free of charge to its users.   The program awaits final approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

What's the Ticker Symbol for Stark Industries?

The movie Iron Man features a scene with Jim Cramer of Mad Money appearing as himself as he tells his viewers to sell the fictional Stark Industries.  If Stark Industries were a real company, it would trade on the NYSE with a market capitalization of at least $50 billion under the ticker symbol, SIA.   According to Forbes 25 largest fictional companies, the company has estimated sales of $20.3 billion.   Of course, Marvel Entertainment which made the movie and trades under the very real ticker symbol of MVL does not own any shares of Stark Industries.  Meanwhile, we wonder if it's too late to splice a scene with Suze Orman into the movie version of Sex and the City later this month.

Have Lunch with Financial Media Celebrities

Donate to charity by bidding for an encounter with your favorite financial media celebrity at CharityBuzz.   Have a 10-minute phone conversation with Suze Orman for $650.  Enjoy dinner in the wine cellar of Malcolm Forbes' townhouse in Greenwich Village for $3250.   Attend a taping of Mad Money with Jim Cramer for $10,000.  Finally, get the undivided attention of Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell over tea and crackers for a mere $16,000.

AOL Launches Technology Network

AOL has announced the launch of the AOL Technology Network to cross-market its popular technology blogs, including Engadget and Switched.  The latest development comes under the leadership of Marty Moe, senior vice president of AOL Money & Finance and Weblogs.

John Hancock Launches $26 Million Ad Campaign

John Hancock Financial Services has launched its new Cursor advertising campaign with three ads showing family members and friends using the latest technologies and communication tools to talk about money.  Boston-based Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos created the $26 million campaign which includes 30-second television spots that will debut beginning today on cable television networks including: CNN, ESPN, Discovery, A&E, History, Travel Channel, and Fox News.  Full-page, four-color ads will appear in Money Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, and Real Simple. Online ad banners will apper on AOL, SmartMoney, Time, and CNN Money and customized microsites with AOL, Dow Jones and FoxNews.  John Hancock Financial is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation.

Kass Goes Bullish... April Fool's!

The financial media fell for an April fool's joke when dedicated short fund manager Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners Short LP announced that he had become bullish.  The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, Bloomberg and Marketwatch all reported it as serious news.  Kass also announced he would host a new CNBC show, called The Mad Bull, which turned out to be true.  CNBC program director Bill McChesney said that the station had already test marketed the idea and that the program will begin airing in June.