How To Take The Perfect LinkedIn Profile Photo | ||
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Having a LinkedIn profile picture makes you 7 times more likely to be clicked on by an employer. Don’t have a profile picture? Or need to take a new one? Here’s a step-by-step guide to taking the perfect LinkedIn profile picture. Produced by Devan Joseph. Narrated by Matt Johnston. Follow BI Video: On Facebook Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Facebook Is Stealing A Huge Chunk Of YouTube’s Audience (FB) | ||
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It has not even aired on TV yet, but John Lewis' latest Christmas ad is already huge sensation. It is always a huge annual event in the UK — the retailer treats it like a Super Bowl commercial — but this year's tale of a boy arranging a mail-order love match for his toy penguin friend has gone bigger online than any of John Lewis' previous festive efforts on their first day. Why? It looks like Facebook video has given the UK department store an extra helping hand. Stats show Facebook has stolen 40% of the online audience for the video, which would previously have belonged entirely to YouTube. The shift is dramatic: Until very recently, Facebook was simply not a destination for video. Now, the social network is slicing off large chunks of YouTube's business for itself. As of 9 a.m. Friday, just over 24 hours after John Lewis unleashed its latest holiday campaign on the internet, the video had been shared 202,953 times across social media, according to data from social video marketing company Unruly. At the same point last year, John Lewis' 2013 "Bear and the Hare" ad had 198,244 shares. That might not seem like a massive leap, but what's interesting is that last year John Lewis didn't upload its Christmas ad direct to Facebook, it just shared the YouTube link. YouTube still dominated in terms of views — 4.1 million views to Facebook's 2.8 million views. But even so, that still means 40% of John Lewis' views are now on Facebook, when last year there was none. This time around, Facebook is actually dominating in terms of social media shares. As of 9 a.m. Friday, the Facebook video had been shared 156,063 times, while the YouTube video had only been shared 46,890 times. So Facebook attracted 76.9% of the shares in the first 24 hours.
And for marketers, sharing is a far more important engagement metric than a view. If someone shares a video it's a sign of endorsement; something they'd be proud to be associated with (even if they're criticizing the video in their comments, the fact that a video has elicited some sort of emotional response is still a bonus for a marketer), rather than just passively viewing something. So the fact that 5.66% of the people that watched the video on Facebook went on to share it on social media, compared with 1.14% of YouTube viewers, is likely to speak volumes to John Lewis about where it should prioritize placing its next piece of video content: Facebook. If early stats on the John Lewis Christmas ad are not enough to convince marketers of the power of Facebook video, last month researchers at Socialbakers found content creators were migrating from YouTube to Facebook in their droves. YouTube’s share of the number of video posts has dwindled throughout 2014, while Facebook’s share is on an upward trajectory.
Similar patterns have also followed for the share of video interactions.
In September The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook was trying to poach some of YouTube's hottest stars in a bid to get them to publish direct to Facebook and take a cut of some of the associated advertising revenue. It has been made very clear in recent months that Facebook is placing video at the heart of its growth strategy, having announced in September that since June this year its platform achieved more than 1 billion video views each day. Facebook currently has only a modest video advertising business, having only launched its first video advertising product in December last year. Facebook has repeatedly insisted that it wants to roll out autoplay video ads "deliberately slowly" to get users used to the idea of them appearing in the News Feed, rather than overloading them with content from brands right away. But while video advertising makes up just a small chunk of its advertising revenue currently, organic video is key to building engagement on Facebook. The more time users spend on the platform, the more valuable those users are to advertisers. More ads can be served to them and the price of Facebook advertising goes up. Result. That's not to discount YouTube. It is still, by far, the biggest video platform, with a 73% share of the US visits to multimedia portals (ahead of Netflix with 5.6% and Bing videos with 3.3%), according to Statista. Its owner Google is also increasingly using the same method TV broadcasters use — upfronts — to secure major upfront advertising commitments for YouTube. But as Unruly CEO Scott Button told Business Insider: "[The John Lewis stats are] no surprise to us as it shows that posting an ad on YouTube alone isn't enough to make an ad go viral...the proliferation of online video platforms, which exploded in 2013 with the launch of Vine and Instagram Video, shows consumers' growing appetite for choice when they are watching and discovering videos across the open web." SEE ALSO: Google Just Confirmed It's Coming After TV's Money Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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How To Take The Perfect LinkedIn Profile Photo | ||
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Having a LinkedIn profile picture makes you 7 times more likely to be clicked on by an employer. Don’t have a profile picture? Or need to take a new one? Here’s a step-by-step guide to taking the perfect LinkedIn profile picture. Produced by Devan Joseph. Narrated by Matt Johnston. Follow BI Video: On Facebook Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here Comes The Jobs Report... (DIA, SPY, QQQ, TLT, IWM) | ||
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Jobs Day is here. The monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is set for release at 8:30 am ET. From Shane Ferro's full preview of the report, here's a quick recap of what Wall Street is looking for:
Another number that the market will keep and eye on is the labor force participating rate, which last month fell to 62.7% from 62.8%. On the whole, though, September's report beat expectations, as nonfarm payrolls grew by 248,000 and the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since July 2008. Both numbers beat expectations. And while the headline job gains and unemployment rate will be the first numbers the market focuses on, there will also be a big focus on any signs of wage growth. Last week, the employment cost indicator showed that in the third quarter overall compensation rose by 0.7% and wages grew by 0.8%. And in its last monetary policy statement, the Federal Reserve said that ahead of its most recent meeting, "Labor market conditions improved somewhat further, with solid job gains and a lower unemployment rate." Following this statement, Chris Rupkey at MUFG wrote that the Fed's statement indicated it would focus on labor market improvement, specifically wage gains, as it looks to raise interest rates for the first time. In a note to clients ahead of Friday's report, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics wrote that he expects payroll gains to come in at 275,000, well above expectations. Shepherdson sees the underlying trend in payrolls picking up, likely boosting Friday's number, and added that October will be the first month since April not constrained by the seasonal adjustment. Keep it here, as we'll have complete wall-to-wall coverage of the numbers when they hit. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Traders Are Hearing 'Many Whispers' About How The Jobs Report Could Smash Expectations... | ||
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Good Morning! US Futures are opening flat, as the world awaits our payroll number (the Survey is 235k, High Estimate 314k - Of the 10 Bloomberg “Top Forecasters” 8 of them are all below 235k, but many whispers expecting a big beat based on Seasonality, Weekly Claims Data, and tax Withholding Receipts. Also remember many retailers are “pulling Forward” the Holidays, so Seasonal Hires may come sooner than normal). In Europe, Markets are softer as more Ukraine/Russia escalation headlines hit – and Banks are underperforming as we may see fines for Currency Manipulation Next Week. Spain is getting hit worst, off 1% ahead of this weekend where Catalans will hold an unofficial independence vote in defiance of a Spanish court ruling. Over in Asia, despite the Rouble suffering biggest weekly loss since the fallout of the 1998 Russian crisis, the MICEX is near YTD highs. Nikkei popped 50bp as $/Y stayed thru 115 overnight; Continue to see Tech shares underperforming as Hang Seng lost 40bp - while China was off small. Aussie was the standout winner, as Basic Materials jumped 2% on hopes China will restart Steel Mills next week post APEC. Global Sovs Yields are higher – and even the PIIGs are tighter, despite the weakness in Europe. Feels like a continuation of yesterday’s “Strong NFP” trade, where Yields closed on highs, and we saw sharp strength in Economically Sensitive sectors like Industrials, Retailers and Builders (nice spike off 200dma). The DXY is stronger as well, just above 88 and near yesterday’s peaks, causing a headwind for commodities. That said, WTI continues to rally, up 50bp on Export hopes and oversold conditions – Natty Gas is finally taking a breather after leaping 14% this week – and we still see little life in Metals, with Silver, Copper and Gold around unch/slightly lower – It’s early, but the Miners (GDX/GDXJ) have recovered from that 30mln share dump on the close, and are marked higher again this AM – following yesterday’s sharp outperformance against the Metal. Aside from the aforementioned – keep an eye on the Banks – They are lagging early into Next Week’s Fine announcement, but the 3M5Y curve is steeper, so tailwinds are blowing. Keep an eye on Oil’s impact to HYG – HYG has been weighed sharply by carnage in the Energy HY Sector (15% overall) – and stability may cause a sharp rebound. We have seena reversal lower this week in High Beta – and IBB/XBI start with a major headwind in SLXP (#15 Holding IBB, 1.9% Fund). Scheduled Catalysts include our Employment report at 8:30, Fed's Evans Speaks on Economy at 9:15, Fed's Yellen Speaks on “Policy Since the Crisis” at 10:15, At 1pm we get the Baker Hughes Rig Count - then Fed's Tarullo Speaks on Community Banking at 2:30. 3pm brings Consumer Credit, and the week wraps with the “Commitment of Traders” data at 3:30. SEE ALSO: 10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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JonesTrading's Dave Lutz has a roundup of what traders are chatting about right now. US, European police swoop on Tor 'dark markets' | ||
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The Hague (AFP) - European and US police have arrested 17 people running online "dark" markets selling illegal products and services in a joint operation against the supposedly anonymous Tor network. Police from the United States and 16 European countries, including France, Germany and Britain, on Thursday "undertook a joint action against dark markets running as hidden services on Tor network," European police agency Europol said in a statement. Tor is an online encryption service that protects a computer user's unique identifying IP address, used to set up private web connections in what has become known as the Darknet -- a hidden network used for both licit and illicit activities. "The action aimed to stop the sale, distribution and promotion of illegal and harmful items, including weapons and drugs, which were being sold on online 'dark' marketplaces," Europol said on Friday. The operation seized virtual Bitcoins worth one million dollars (800,000 euros), 180,000 euros in cash as well as unspecified drugs. "We are not 'just' removing these services from the open Internet," said Troels Oerting, the head of Europol's EC3 cybercrime unit. "This time we have also hit services on the Darknet using Tor where, for a long time, criminals have considered themselves beyond reach. We can now show that they are neither invisible nor untouchable." US authorities on Thursday said they had shut down a reincarnation of the Silk Road online black market bazaar for drugs and other illicit goods and charged its alleged 26-year-old operator. US prosecutors say Silk Road 2.0 enabled more than 100,000 people to buy and sell illegal drugs and other contraband anonymously over the Internet after its predecessor was shut down in 2013.
Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Spanish judges drop money-laundering charges against king's sister | ||
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Madrid (AFP) - Spanish judges on Friday dismissed money-laundering charges against the sister of King Felipe VI, a court spokeswoman said, potentially saving the princess from standing trial in the royal scandal. The court on the island of Mallorca upheld lesser tax fraud charges against Felipe's sister Cristina, 49, but judicial sources said those may yet be overturned by an investigating judge.
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There's Already A Silk Road 3.0 | ||
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Hours after the FBI seized the Silk Road 2.0, the deep web's infamous illegal drug marketplace, there's already another version of the site on the internet. Blake Benthall, 26, was arrested in San Francisco on Wednesday, and is accused of running the Silk Road 2.0. Prosecutors claim that minutes after his arrest, he admitted to running the Silk Road 2.0 marketplace. That was the second version of the site, which came online weeks after the original Silk Road was shut down on Oct. 2, 2013. But hours after the latest version of the Silk Road was seized by police, another version went online, claiming to be the third incarnation of the site. Of course, with the Silk Road's track record, it doesn't look likely that this one is here to stay.
Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Facebook Is Stealing A Huge Chunk Of YouTube’s Audience (FB) | ||
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It has not even aired on TV yet, but John Lewis' latest Christmas ad is already huge sensation. It is always a huge annual event in the UK — the retailer treats it like a Super Bowl commercial — but this year's tale of a boy arranging a mail-order love match for his toy penguin friend has gone bigger online than any of John Lewis' previous festive efforts on their first day. Why? It looks like Facebook video has given the UK department store an extra helping hand. Stats show Facebook has stolen 40% of the online audience for the video, which would previously have belonged entirely to YouTube. The shift is dramatic: Until very recently, Facebook was simply not a destination for video. Now, the social network is slicing off large chunks of YouTube's business for itself. As of 9 a.m. Friday, just over 24 hours after John Lewis unleashed its latest holiday campaign on the internet, the video had been shared 202,953 times across social media, according to data from social video marketing company Unruly. At the same point last year, John Lewis' 2013 "Bear and the Hare" ad had 198,244 shares. That might not seem like a massive leap, but what's interesting is that last year John Lewis didn't upload its Christmas ad direct to Facebook, it just shared the YouTube link. YouTube still dominated in terms of views — 4.1 million views to Facebook's 2.8 million views. But even so, that still means 40% of John Lewis' views are now on Facebook, when last year there was none. This time around, Facebook is actually dominating in terms of social media shares. As of 9 a.m. Friday, the Facebook video had been shared 156,063 times, while the YouTube video had only been shared 46,890 times. So Facebook attracted 76.9% of the shares in the first 24 hours.
And for marketers, sharing is a far more important engagement metric than a view. If someone shares a video it's a sign of endorsement; something they'd be proud to be associated with (even if they're criticizing the video in their comments, the fact that a video has elicited some sort of emotional response is still a bonus for a marketer), rather than just passively viewing something. So the fact that 5.66% of the people that watched the video on Facebook went on to share it on social media, compared with 1.14% of YouTube viewers, is likely to speak volumes to John Lewis about where it should prioritize placing its next piece of video content: Facebook. If early stats on the John Lewis Christmas ad are not enough to convince marketers of the power of Facebook video, last month researchers at Socialbakers found content creators were migrating from YouTube to Facebook in their droves. YouTube’s share of the number of video posts has dwindled throughout 2014, while Facebook’s share is on an upward trajectory.
Similar patterns have also followed for the share of video interactions.
In September The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook was trying to poach some of YouTube's hottest stars in a bid to get them to publish direct to Facebook and take a cut of some of the associated advertising revenue. It has been made very clear in recent months that Facebook is placing video at the heart of its growth strategy, having announced in September that since June this year its platform achieved more than 1 billion video views each day. Facebook currently has only a modest video advertising business, having only launched its first video advertising product in December last year. Facebook has repeatedly insisted that it wants to roll out autoplay video ads "deliberately slowly" to get users used to the idea of them appearing in the News Feed, rather than overloading them with content from brands right away. But while video advertising makes up just a small chunk of its advertising revenue currently, organic video is key to building engagement on Facebook. The more time users spend on the platform, the more valuable those users are to advertisers. More ads can be served to them and the price of Facebook advertising goes up. Result. That's not to discount YouTube. It is still, by far, the biggest video platform, with a 73% share of the US visits to multimedia portals (ahead of Netflix with 5.6% and Bing videos with 3.3%), according to Statista. Its owner Google is also increasingly using the same method TV broadcasters use — upfronts — to secure major upfront advertising commitments for YouTube. But as Unruly CEO Scott Button told Business Insider: "[The John Lewis stats are] no surprise to us as it shows that posting an ad on YouTube alone isn't enough to make an ad go viral...the proliferation of online video platforms, which exploded in 2013 with the launch of Vine and Instagram Video, shows consumers' growing appetite for choice when they are watching and discovering videos across the open web." SEE ALSO: Google Just Confirmed It's Coming After TV's Money Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell (DIA, SPY, SPX, QQQ, HD, BAC) | ||
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Good morning! Here's what you need to know. It's Jobs Day. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release October jobs stats at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists estimate US companies added 235,000 payrolls as the unemployment rate held steady at 5.9%. The Bull Case. Capital Economics' Paul Dales estimates nonfarm payrolls jumped 275,000. "There’s a good chance that October’s Employment Report will send a very strong signal that, despite the recent signs of some softening in overseas demand, the US economy continues to grow at a rapid pace," Dales wrote. "[T]he fall in the number of initial jobless claims further below 300,000 appears consistent with faster job growth." Markets Are Going Nowhere. Ahead of the report, markets aren't doing much. Dow futures are up 1 point, and S&P futures are down 1 point. Most major European markets are down by less than 1%. Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.5%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 0.4%. Keep in mind that the S&P 500 closed on Thursday at an all-time high. German Industrial Data Was Weaker Than Expected. Analysts thought production would bounce back 2% after a 3.1% drop last month, but output increased by only 1.4% in September. Bank Of America Lost Money Last Quarter. Bank of America has revised down its third-quarter earnings by $400 million amid a currency probe that has forced it to add to its legal reserves. The Home Depot Hack Was Bigger Than We Thought. "Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home improvement chain, said hackers stole about 53 million email addresses in addition to customer data for 56 million payment cards previously disclosed by the retailer," Reuters' Devita Krishna Kumar reported. "The company, which confirmed the breach in September, said the files that contained the email addresses did not include passwords, payment card information, or other sensitive personal information." Auto Parts Maker Takata Got Slammed By A New York Times Article. Shares in Takata fell more than 8% on Friday after The New York Times reported that the Japanese auto parts maker had concealed the risks of potentially defective air bags. The Cleveland Fed President Says Rates Are Going Up. The Federal Reserve will most likely raise interest rates next year because inflation, while a bit low now, remains stable and should rise to target by the end of 2016, Loretta Mester said. Fracking Firms Are Holding Up Despite The Oil Price Crash. Suppliers of sand to drillers of oil shale and gas say demand hasn't dropped. Symantec Is Laying Off 2,000 Employees As It Splits. Symantec, the security software company that announced plans to split in half last month, will lay off roughly 2,000 employees, or about 10% of its total workforce over the next year, San Jose Mercury News reported Thursday. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Japan, China leaders to hold first summit during APEC forum | ||
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Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping are to hold their first summit next week, reports said Friday, after presiding over two years of animosity between Asia's two biggest economies. The countries have "agreed to arrange a summit next week" in Beijing on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, Japan's national broadcaster NHK said. Private network Fuji TV had a similar story. "Now that we have shared understanding toward a summit meeting, we will start making concrete arrangements for it," a Japanese government source was quoted as telling the broadcaster. Tokyo has long been pressing for such a meeting but Beijing has resisted, with the two sides locked in a territorial dispute and also still at odds over World War II history. As a condition for the meet, China, which has painted Abe as a dangerous revisionist, had reportedly been demanding that he swear not to repeat a visit to a Tokyo shrine that honours fallen soldiers, including a number of war criminals. It has also been calling for Japan to acknowledge the existence of a dispute over the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands, which it calls the Diaoyus, where paramilitary vessels from both sides have sparred over recent years. Japan has until now rebuffed the calls, but similarly worded statements from both countries issued on Friday suggested there had been some accommodation on the thorny island issue. "The two sides have acknowledged that different positions exist between them regarding the tensions which have emerged in recent years over the Diaoyu Islands and some waters in the East China Sea," an English-language statement from the Chinese authorities said. It added that they "agreed to prevent the situation from aggravating through dialogue and consultation and establish crisis management mechanisms to avoid contingencies."
- 'Looking to the future' -
In what appeared to be a reference to Abe's visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, the statement said: "In the spirit of 'facing history squarely and looking forward to the future', the two sides have reached some agreement on overcoming political obstacles in the bilateral relations." China has repeatedly called on Japan to "face history squarely", while Tokyo frequently urges Beijing to look to the future. Neither side's official pronouncements made any reference to a summit, while a statement on the Chinese foreign ministry website said: "As for the issue of contact between the Japanese and Chinese leaders, we hope Japan will continue to move in the same direction as China." Japan should "take practical steps and make efforts towards improving bilateral relations, to create the necessary environment for the two leaders to have contact." Speaking earlier Friday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, insisted Tokyo would not compromise on points of principle -- the disputed islands and a pledge to stay away from the shrine -- but said there needed to be dialogue. "Our country's stance has not changed," he said, according to Jiji Press. "Because there are various issues between the countries, it is important for their leaders to talk frankly." The conciliatory statements came as Abe prepares to head to Beijing, where he will be among heads of government gathering for APEC. It also comes after weeks of intense, but low profile, diplomacy between senior Chinese figures and Japanese political grandees, culminating in a meeting in Beijing between the head of the secretariat of Japan's National Security Council and Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi. Abe made brief contact with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang last month at an international gathering in Italy, followed by other meetings between senior officials of both countries and a visit to China by a major Japanese business delegation. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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