Why we launched The Wall Street Dispatch?

The idea for the Wall Street Dispatch is not new. I have had this in mind for a while – I actually registered the domain name wallstreetdispatch.com back in May 2005 (by comparison, Henry Blodget’s first site, Alleyinsider.com, was registered in April 2007 and AOL’s 247wallst.com in May 2006). It was not the lack of ideas that held me back but rather it was the preoccupation with running a new business that took all of my time.

Financial content online has rapidly mushroomed since 2005 with the majority of those being news sites, news aggregators, personal soap boxes, and some analysis sites. In the midst of what many call the over cluttering of the web, I believe less is more. There is less of a need for sites that are all things to all people and more need for not only niche sites but super niche sites. With the explosion of popularity of social media, the need for websites that deliver “news” is becoming slowly less relevant as more news now breaks on Twitter (albeit in a short headline) before it breaks on the major news outlets. If there is a need for a new website that covers the financial markets, it is certainly not another news website that aggregates and regurgitates what people already get from the top 5 financial news sites online. The need certainly is for more analysis of the news particularly when it relates to financial markets, stocks, bonds, and the like. But even those types of sites are available out there. What I think is really missing is a site that delivers intelligent analysis and ideas but does so in a clear, uncluttered and well presented manner with an emphasis on appealing visual design. So intelligent analysis + clear presentation + attractive design are key ingredients here. Since intelligent analysis is easier wished for than attained, we will be tapping our extensive network of financial professionals to contribute to the Wall Street Dispatch. Social media and crowd sourcing would also be an integral part of generating content ideas.  One of the downside to websites that rely on outside contributors is that anybody with an opinion – no matter how unintelligent – can write for them. That would not be the case here. In addition to regular writers such as yours truly, we will reach out to other very select contributors who will enrich the site with their own analysis and ideas.

So what will the Wall Street Dispatch cover? Primarily we will cover the financial markets, stocks, bonds, the economy, and any other areas that are relevant to investing and the investing public – be they professional traders or individual investors. By simple and clear presentation I mean that we will provide content that focuses on the key areas that we believe are A) of high importance to investors and B) not very abundant elsewhere on the web. Basically, we will organize content in the 5 following areas (for now):

1)      Portfolio Strategy:  As the title implies this will be about how, and where, to position one’s investment portfolio primarily written by investing practitioners and professional investors

2)      Grey Swan Trades:  Borrowing from the bestselling book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a Grey Swan trade is a trade that is based on a low probability event but has a huge asymmetric return if the event does indeed take place. Individual losses are often likely for these types of trades but the potential returns from the few that are profitable should more than compensate for the losing ones.

3)      Noteworthy:  A category that discusses a micro, macro, or a sector trend that is, or should be, “noteworthy” for investors.

4)      Look ahead: A category that discusses what is important to “look ahead” for in the near future such as the next day, or the coming few days, in terms of economic reports or company or sector news.

5)      You Asked: In order to make the Wall Street Dispatch as interactive as possible, we will solicit and answer select questions from our social media community. While the stocks in the S&P 500 are well covered by traditional financial media, the stocks making up the bottom half of most Midcap and Small cap stock indexes (such as the S&P Midcap 400 or SmallCap 600 for example) are hardly covered as effectively. Explaining major movements in a particular stock or simplifying a complicated investing phenomenon would be a regular topic of this category.

So the emphasis will be on quality of content rather than its quantity. Do not expect 10 articles a day to be published but the hope is that whatever is published is of high quality and impact. With that I will hope that you visit the site often and that we deliver relevant information and analysis to you.

I realize that typing wallstreetdipstch.com into your browser is a long process and can be a chore. To alleviate that, you can reach the website by typing www.wallstreetD.com. Wall Street is short enough and D is rather memorable for Dispatch. Incidentally, WallstreetD is also our twitter handle so it would be great if you can follow us there www.twitter.com/wallstreetD

If you are not on Twitter, now would be a good opportunity to join!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you come back again often.