Week in Review: No Quick Convalescence for Stock Markets

Heading into a day full of meetings, so I’m pre-emptively emptying my link-box: Good cleantech learning curve data in this Morgenthaler presentations ( Morgenthaler ) McKinsey has a lengthy and interesting new report on increasing energy productivity ( McKinsey ) $50m for Manhattan condo passed hedge fund manager Dan Loeb’s record ( Observer ) Clarence Thomas is, measured by word count, the anti-Mary Meeker ( Detroit Free-Press ) Biotech busines... more

On a Friday CNBC appearance I opined that the advertising is the tech sector. Far from being some lonely outpost, it is the enchilada. Sure, we still do lots of other things, in tech, from selling hard-drives on outward, but there have always been sideshows (I use that term advisedly) in the tech sector . Today, however, ads are the feature act in the center ring. I was reminded of the preceding by this para in a NY Times article today: In the first quarter of this year, AT&T sp... more

If you haven’t read either of Rory Stewart’s books -- on Afghanistan and Iraq respectively -- you really should. While taking somewhat unusual perspectives on both countries, they are painfully personal narratives that communicate more of the tragedies in these two broken countries than you will get almost anywhere else. Anyway, the current New York Review of Books contains the transcript of a recent Q&A with Stewart from an event in New York. It’s a street-level vie... more

The first quarter of 2007 was the best first quarter in seven years, so my "Return of the IPO" thesis looks ever better. Q1 IPOs by Industry 2007 2006 # IPOs Value # IPOs Value Financial services 23 5,152.6 7 753.0 Technology/infocom 12 2,423.9 8 1,562.6 Healthcare 10 903.1 9 777.2 Energy 7 ... more