Is Tumblr Yahoo's Next Big Mistake?
by Stuart Newman and Monique Lewis

Yahoo! Really Only Paid $262 Million For Tumblr
A lot of shouting and hyper-ventilating about Yahoo!'s (YHOO) purchase of Tumblr today.

Yahoo! And Tumblr: An Argument Waiting To Happen
Following a speedy stream of rumors and speculation, Yahoo! was able to coax ultra-hip blogging platform, Tumblr, into bed. It’s a bold play for access to younger markets and relevance in a social media landscape dominated by Facebook, Twitter, Google and others but it’s also a complicated scheme in which, for the deal to ultimately prove worthy of the price, a lot has to go right. Yahoo! has about 700 million users worldwide. Tumblr is reported to have an audience of about 300 million. By the numbers the marriage seems like a good idea, assuming the estimated 50% audience growth or better comes to pass, but the monetization aspect of the union could create some rifts between the two entities. Tumblr’s ultra-simple, minimalistic and attractive blogging platform is the product of CEO David Karp, who famously turns away from advertising to focus on quality and usability. The result has been a traction-grabbing site that’s soaked up users and venture capital while earning minimal profits (the company generated $13 million in revenue last year). Now within the fold of Yahoo!, Karp is going to really have to leverage his army of users for profits and though they may be singing kumbayas now, he and Yahoo! brass may find differences when it comes to making the sausage. According to FORBES reporter Jeff Bercovici, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer has said that ads will begin to appear in Tumblr’s dashboard and on popular blogs. Other monetization angles include integrating Tumblr data into search. Will the blogging platform’s multitude of users stand for that? Some are not even waiting to see what will happen under Yahoo!’s ownership, if WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg is to be believed. According to a post Mullenweg released on his blog Sunday evening, upon the revelation that the Tumblr – Yahoo! deal would go through, WordPress imported over 72,000 blogs from Tumbler in a single hour. Strangely , what makes Karp’s company so compelling for users – it’s highly visual layout and eye for the artistic – may not be convincing in a mobile format with ads piled on. Given these issues, Mayer’s vow to “let Tumblr be Tumblr” sounds nice but how this newly formed team operates in the marketplace is still a question mark. And let’s be clear here: it is not really a team. Karp may have negotiated to let his 170+ employees keep their jobs (including his own), maintain its New York City location and operate “independently,” but that does not alter the fact that Yahoo! paid for Tumblr, Karp signed the dotted line and the final say, for better or worse, belongs to Mayer and the Yahoo! board. The $1.1 billion sale price was the biggest move yet by Mayer and investors, it would appear, are a little bit skeptical (so far, anyway). That’s fair, but though there are some questionable aspects to this deal – FORBES contributor Peter Cohan says it fails in four aspects – you can’t blame Yahoo! for looking to grab a hot social player. The 18-year-old search company is not going to find its way back into the light of international relevance without some big moves— sitting on its hands is not an option.

Baseball Asking For Trouble With More Replay, Unless It Gets Rid Of Other Delays

Detroit's Shinola Brings Watchmaking To The Motor City
“When you think about making engines in the U.S., where do you go? You go to Detroit,” says Jacques Panis, director of strategic partnerships at the fledgling Detroit-based watch brand Shinola, making the natural comparison between watch movements and automobile engines. Fossil founder Tom Kartsotis launched Shinola with the aim of restoring quality American manufacturing in the economically battered industrial capital of Detroit, my hometown. Shinola takes its name from the mid-20th-century American shoe polish that was popularized in the expression, “You don’t know shit from Shinola.” This no-nonsense Midwestern attitude also comes through in retro-tinged designs that evoke an era when “Made in the U.S.A.” was a badge of quality and reliability.

MLPs: High After-Tax Income... But Avoid A Common Mistake
MLPs-- Master Limited Partnerships-- are back in style.  Born in the 80s to incent investment in domestic energy infrastructure, Congress showered them with impressive tax benefits. Like their contemporaries, acid washed jeans and Swatches, they were forgotten for a while, but are du jour again.

So You Missed The Top In Gold And The Bottom In Housing -- So What?
A lot of investors who love to buy at the bottom and sell at the top are kicking themselves these days—for missing the market peak in gold and the nadir in housing.

A Credit Card Built Community-Strong
At the annual Lithium Technologies LiNC conference in April, I heard about an innovative approach to credit cards in the Banking industry that is built on the core ideas of social business: a community-driven credit card from Barclaycard USA. This is a solid business product that makes sense to customers, supports the business, and combines financial responsibility with the engagement of its customer community.

85-Year-Old Graduates From College -- And Finds A Job
By Jane Gross, Next Avenue Contributor

Bank Cannot Issue 1099-C And Subsequently Try To Collect
Banks are required to notify taxpayers and the IRS about debt discharges by filing Form 1099-C.  It is less than crystal clear as to exactly when the banks are supposed to file 1099-C.  A recent bankruptcy decision in the case of William and Elaine Reed has made the issue even more challenging  for the banks.  Tentatively, I'm looking at this as a win for the little guys.