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Print looking good in liquidity squeeze
August 27, 2007

It's always bothered me that the investment community has had such a poor opinion, or even no opinion, of print. These analysts are the ultimate practitioners of group think. They move with all individuality of lemmings and the grace of a buffalo stampede. This becomes quite apparent in periods of market stress, as in the current sub-prime lending crisis.

Their world view must be colored by the insularity of their lifestyles. Krispy Kreme and Starbucks, good; manufacturing, bad. Dot-com pipedream, good; brownfield factories and capital equipment, bad. 

Interestingly, investors are taking a fresh look at the printing industry. Suddenly it's emerging as an appealing, if predictable, refuge from more speculative ventures. It will be nice while it lasts.

While their group think anticipates the demise of newspapers and printed books ("oh, no one under 30 reads newspapers anymore" they will smugly advise) we think another generation can be sold on the advantages of print as a communications medium. As long as publishers, that is, move with the times, and provide printed content that is fresh and distinctive from the Internet version. (We suggest The Onion as a good model.)

Posted by Bill Esler on August 27, 2007 | Comments (0)