Comments on Ann Brocklehurst.com: Need to Know News (NTKN) acquired by German-owned ...

I heard the same thing from some data vendors. Lev...

2010-01-11T20:42:49.034-05:00

I heard the same thing from some data vendors. Level 3 has a deal with a trading firm for exclusive latency from DC area to Chicago. Other firms are forced onto a path 0.7ms slower. Probably the only thing to be done is for data vendors not to work with the trading firm. I wonder what would happen if the SEC became interested.

Well if you think the JED NTKN Harada arrangement ...

2009-12-19T10:00:08.271-05:00

Well if you think the JED NTKN Harada arrangement was bad, I just heard another great one from an inebriated friend of a friend. Apparently a trading firm has an exclusive back scratch deal with Level 3 to get the data from the lock ups to Chicago a couple of milliseconds ahead of anyone else. Wonder what the government thinks about that!

Any suggestions of people to talk to about that?

2009-12-07T06:59:11.173-05:00

Any suggestions of people to talk to about that?

Assuming John Harada profited in this deal may be ...

2009-12-04T21:37:01.414-05:00

Assuming John Harada profited in this deal may be grossly incorrect. This may be reflective of a failure on the part of JED and NTKN to effectively profit from their collaboration.

As for MNI's reasons for buying, there may be physical infrastructures, in addition to the delivery platform, that are extremely valuable. Has anyone looked into the supply and demand of fiber optic wiring out of the DC lockup?

The big players cant have the smaller wires booted...

2009-11-30T06:06:03.463-05:00

The big players cant have the smaller wires booted out because they, like many others have no proof of any wrong-doings. Also ultimate authority rests with the Govt body whose press briefing it is. So by way of decorum, its highly unlikely major players would gang up on these botique wires or start complaining about third parties - that'll open up another can of worms. Afterall the over-riding common principle here is that they have a right to be there as much as the major players. Far from complaining, Market News shared many of the same lock-ups as these guys and were happy to make their acquisition of NTKN. I think the answer lies in the IT platforms and not the lock-ups.

Any idea why the FBI was investigating this whole ...

2009-11-26T00:06:12.471-05:00

Any idea why the FBI was investigating this whole situation?

I was told that two companies mentioned on this site-- and presumably not the obvious pairs -- were linked.

Also, why couldn't DJ, Reuters, Bloomberg get these new guys booted from the lock-ups if they were just fronts for prop shops?

Who copied the others' model/IT platform type is u...

2009-11-25T20:20:01.631-05:00

Who copied the others' model/IT platform type is unclear - all these companies sprung up at nearly the same time 2005-2006 if I am not mistaken.

You see if IT capability and speed of info is the entry point, its difficult to say who's caught-up with whom. For bigger players, if they can't catch-up and see a product offering thats good, adds value to their portfolio of holdings, they can buyout the smaller player as this recent development illustrates.

The new guys' tech advantage depends their respective whiz-kids, as for there being more - I am sure there is....otherwise so many of these wires wont spring-up. If nothing else, the NTKN development will encourage others. I see CEP making a return under a new name...or maybe it already has.

Ok, knowledgeable commenters, can I run this by yo...

2009-11-24T21:50:03.781-05:00

Ok, knowledgeable commenters, can I run this by you, and you tell me what's right and what's not?

NTKN had a technological advantage that JED used to earn quite a bit of money. Likewise, CEP (copying?) used the same (similar) super fast technology and Vigilant Futures reaped the benefits.

Reuters and DJ et al got wise and improved their technology and the new guys' technological advantage was largely lost.

Or is there more there?

My congrats goes to Deutche Bourse - great price, ...

2009-11-24T12:54:23.801-05:00

My congrats goes to Deutche Bourse - great price, sounds like they got a really good deal on this. NTKN is very tech focused which fits well with an electronic exchange.

Neither CEP, nor NTKN were a Ponzi like Dex Tv for...

2009-11-24T07:47:57.510-05:00

Neither CEP, nor NTKN were a Ponzi like Dex Tv for instance.

I think the key to NTKN's survival was not committing the stupidity that CEP News did, i.e. start believing in your own press, unrestrained expansion, prentending to be a "leading news-provider" before getting there, massive PR spin and all that rubbish and inviting scrutiny from the world at large, yet shying away from tough questions about backers/investors. There's only a limit to which you can test the patience of your financial backers, i.e Vigilant Futures & they lost it.

I mean NTKN & JED Capital connection was not a mystery - everyone knew or got an answer when asked. In DC its clear to everyone. So why was it rocket science for CEP News to hide the Vigilant Futures connection until this blog revealed it??? (At least thats where I found out)

Furthermore, I suppose in NTKN's case, with Harada being involved both with JED Capital & NTKN - meant he kept a tight grip on things at NTKN. Vigilant Futures let Marco Gomez have a free run at CEP News - the result was before all to see.

Finally, from a critical standpoint, to be fair to Gomez, fate dealt him a cruel hand. When he opened Bureaus beyond Canada - he had to attract journalistic talent at market prices overseas (even if we assume all this was for something else).

Whereas in NTKN's case, when they expanded beyond North America (much later than CEP News, i.e. Harada was setting-up as Gomez was pulling out), to UK & Germany for instance, the financial press job market in Europe was pretty messed-up. Hence, their overseas wage bill, whether they admit or not, was considerably lighter than CEP's. Reuters-Thompson merger, FT's losses, etc., etc. created some 600 redundancies in alone London. They were hiring while most were firing.

However, congrats Harada & Co. indeed, clever management, with a little dose of good fortune, triumphed over spin.

Maybe (or not) herein lies the riddle - either acquire the status of an RTT Newswires through long-term editorial goals (they came out of nowhere too and are now credible enough) or have a credible enough product offering, which may not crack the wider market against the major wires but makes business sense for a larger company to takeover your ops.

Vigilant lost their nerve & money, JED Capital quietly kept both....or so I think! That does as the last commentator said, makes them "survivors" or some description. NTKN does not constitute a vanity purchase for Market News, at least not in this economic climate.

Congrats Harada and co! Its good to see that NTKN ...

2009-11-23T17:58:14.256-05:00

Congrats Harada and co! Its good to see that NTKN made it through a tough economic time when we saw a lot of casualties. true survivors.

I confess to still being stumped by all this.

2009-11-22T20:29:50.539-05:00

I confess to still being stumped by all this.

So Harada gets what he ultimately wanted, somethin...

2009-11-22T19:26:02.000-05:00

So Harada gets what he ultimately wanted, something which Gomez wanted for CEP News but Vigilant Futures pulled the plug and didn't give him time.

It also washes away the JED Capital connection as far as NTKN is concerned. Whats in it for MNI is anybody guess, but price for additional IT input/angles on HFT is perhaps worth it for them I guess. Wonder what the sale means for NTKN staff?