Tech can tick you off
After hearing that Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) was scaling back its proprietary content, I'll admit that I was surprised to see that it went ahead and launched its Yahoo! Tech area for consumer electronics. You want to know what really floored me about the rollout, though? CNET Networks (NASDAQ:CNET), a Rule Breakers recommendation that should be threatened by a major portal launching a similar information and reviews site like its signature CNET.com destination, is actually onboard as a Yahoo! Tech contributor.
Man! I've heard of sleeping with the enemy, but isn't this like waking up the next morning and making breakfast for the enemy, too? The truth is that we just don't know whether the new Yahoo! site will gain traction. There's just so much going on at Yahoo! these days that it remains to be seen the kind of marketing muscle that the popular search engine will put behind its techie venture. CNET is actually doing the right thing here, keeping its foot in the door to make sure that it isn't forgotten along the way as an original source for sharp critique on the latest techno gadgetry.
Rest well, Rukeyser
Financial journalism pioneer Louis Rukeyser died this week. He was 73. Even though the past few years found him ailing and a rather nondescript contributor to General Electric's (NYSE:GE) CNBC, he was at the top of his game for most of his run from 1970 to 2002 as the host of Wall $treet Week.
I had mixed emotions in eulogizing Rukeyser earlier this week. The Motley Fool and Rukeyser weren't on the best of terms in the 1990s, although things eventually turned reconciliatory. His show may have had some shortcomings, but he was personal finance's first rock star, and by getting people to talk about stocks, his impact will last forever. All of the "elves" agree that he was a visionary revolutionary.
A Homestore by any other name
It's official. Homestore.com is now Move.com (NASDAQ:MOVE). The company's business isn't really going to change, although one may think that fears of a housing bubble wouldn't sit well with the "homestore" moniker given that the company has a thriving business catering to folks moving for many different reasons.
From rentals to sponsored mailings for new home owners to its beefy Realtor.com home listing site, Move will always be Homestore to me. Even MIVA (NASDAQ:MIVA) is still FindWhat.com to me. You better believe that Wachovia (NYSE:WB) is still First Union around my home. Names don't change the facts, though I should point out that I was a big fan of Homestore before this change.
It's why I'm still a fan of Move. Doh! I fell for it.
Until next week, I remain,
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz recommends windshield wiper fluid when trying to look back. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
