poor poor rupert murdoch, looks to be forced into selling his deflating assets, to raise cash to pay his bills. it looks like his beliefs have bitten back:)Dow Average May Change Name as News Corp. Explores Index Sale
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deflating assets, to raise cash to pay his bills. it looks like his
beliefs have bitten back:)Dow Average May Change Name as News Corp.
Explores Index Sale
lets hope this turns into a route, you live by the sword, you die by
the sword.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aN4.JYFjONHk
Dow Average May Change Name as News Corp. Explores Index Sale
By Sarah Rabil and Lynn Thomasson
Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average may get a new
name after 113 years, if News Corp. follows through on selling its
stock-index business.
The Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corp. since 2007, reported
yesterday that the company is exploring a sale of the unit, citing
unidentified people familiar with the matter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
was hired to evaluate deals that may fetch $700 million and prompt a
new moniker for the flagship index, the newspaper said. MSCI Inc., a
former unit of Morgan Stanley, NYSE Euronext and Bloomberg LP, the
parent of Bloomberg News, are potential candidates, according to the
Journal.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a 30-stock benchmark for the U.S.
market referred to as the Dow, was created in 1896 by Dow Jones co-
founder Charles Dow. News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Rupert Murdoch bought Dow Jones, which also includes the Wall Street
Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, in 2007 for $5.2 billion. News Corp.
wrote down the value of unit’s goodwill and intangible assets by $2.8
billion in 2008.
“It would be hard to imagine the Dow being called anything else,” said
Eric Marshall, who helps oversee $700 million at Hodges Capital
Management in Dallas. “It wouldn’t surprise me, given how much the
media industry has changed, that someone would want to spin off
ownership of the Dow.”
Sybille Reitz, a spokeswoman for Dow Jones, and Teri Everett, of News
Corp., declined to comment. Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael Duvally
also declined, as did Bloomberg spokeswoman Judith Czelusniak, MSCI
spokesman Pen Pendleton, NYSE spokesman Richard Adamonis and Standard
& Poor’s spokesman Dave Guarino. Jill Mathers, a spokeswoman for FTSE
Group, didn’t immediately return a phone call or e-mail.
‘Clear, Straightforward’
The Dow was first made up of a dozen stocks, including U.S. Leather
and American Sugar. General Electric Co. is the only one of the
original 12 that’s still in the index today. The measure, which
includes Exxon Mobil Corp. and International Business Machines Corp.,
is intended to “provide a clear, straightforward view of the stock
market and, by extension, the U.S. economy,” according to the
company’s Web site.
“It’s the 30 largest industrial stocks and it’s been around forever,”
Marshall said. “If someone asks you, ‘What is the market doing?’ You
say up or down 100 points and you know they’re referring to the Dow
without even thinking about it.”
The Dow added 184.56 points, or 2 percent, to 9,505.96 this week. It
closed at the highest level since Nov. 4 yesterday and has rallied 8.2
percent in 2009.
130,000 Indexes
Dow Jones, which runs more than 130,000 indexes, is also part-owner of
the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index, a benchmark for European equities. The
business may be worth about $700 million, based on its 2007
performance and MSCI’s valuation, the Wall Street Journal said. The
process could result in a joint venture or other combination, the
newspaper reported. Goldman Sachs also advised Dow Jones on the sale
to News Corp. in 2007.
Founded in 1882, Dow Jones began by delivering handwritten bulletins
of stock and bond trading news in New York. An afternoon newsletter
started the next year and went on to become the Wall Street Journal.
News Corp. and its subsidiaries compete with closely held Bloomberg LP
in providing financial news and information.
To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Rabil in New York at
sra...@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in New York at
lthom...@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: August 21, 2009 19:50 EDT
AZDuffman
> poor poor rupert murdoch, looks to be forced into selling his
> deflating assets, to raise cash to pay his bills. it looks like his
> beliefs have bitten back:)Dow Average May Change Name as News Corp.
> Explores Index Sale
>
> lets hope this turns into a route, you live by the sword, you die by
> the sword.
Just looks like good business to me. More money to let FNC bury CNN
and PMSNBC.