NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by Maybach

-- Internet Sites Take the Gold With Performance and Availability Averages of More Than 99 Percent -- Mobile Web Sites Capture Silver with Performance Averaging No Less Than 96 Percent -- Sites Measured Included Sports-Focused Outlets, Major News Portals and Worldwide Sponsors of the 2008 Olympics

Seattle-based Billing Revolution is coming out of stealth today to unveil a billing platform that’s designed to cut mobile operators out of the revenue stream for both digital and physical goods. The company also has an advertising twist. I got a sneak peak of the company’s plans a couple weeks ago after talking to SVP and co-founder Mike Dulong, who previously co-founded Third Screen Media, the mobile advertising platform bought by AOL (NYSE: TWX). Billing Revolution was also started by CEO Andy Kleitsch, who previously founded WeddingChannel.com and worked at AT&T (NYSE: T) Wireless. The opportunity: Today, when people buy things on the phone, like ringtones and wallpapers, the charge appears on the phone bill, and the carrier takes a percentage of the revenue. Billing Revolution allows people to use their credit card, cutting the carrier out of the picture. Although the platform works for digital goods, including mobile content or even e-tickets, Billing Revolution also is positioning itself to assist in the sale of physical goods. With more Web-capable phones being adopted, the company believes it’s a matter of time before people find it natural to go to Expedia and buy a $300 plane ticket, or go to Amazon.com (NSDQ: AMZN) and buy a DVD. The billing platform: Currently, sites like Amazon.com allow you to make purchases from your phone if you enter your username and password, where you’ve previously stored your credit card information from a PC. But you can’t enter your credit card info directly on the phone. Billing Revolution allows users to use their credit card on a WAP site. Once a user enters the correct info, they receive a SMS, which they must click to authorize the purchase. After their first purchase, Billing Revolution stores your credit card information, providing for one-click purchases from there on out without having to enter a username or password. Billing Revolution makes money by charging a percentage of the cost of the transaction, much like the credit card company does. The advertising component: Dulong provides an example of how advertising plays a role. Without providing names, he said they are currently helping a content company sell their mobile application by negotiating performance-based ads. The content company only pays for the ad if a user clicks on the banner and buys the app using Billing Revolution. Dulong: “The challenge of the ad market is that the audience is growing so quickly and the advertising spend is not growing at the same rate...We are going to try to fill up the remainder with performance-based ads, and at the same time solve the commerce problem.” Competitors and customers: Dulong said they don’t compete with advertising platforms because they are buying up excess inventory that would otherwise not get sold. Competitive billing systems include the carrier’s networks, which typically impose price maximums of $20, and Bango (AIM: BGO) in some circumstances. The seven-person company has a substantial list of partners and customers, but it’s not naming them just yet. For now, the list includes: JumpTap, Buzzd, Quattro Wireless, Wcities, Ad Infuse, Movaya and Ascendo.

The trouble with Google's Omnibox.

Seattle-based Billing Revolution is coming out of stealth today to unveil a billing platform that’s designed to cut mobile operators out of the revenue stream for both digital and physical goods. The company also has an advertising twist. I got a sneak peak of the company’s plans a couple weeks ago after talking to SVP and co-founder Mike Dulong, who previously co-founded Third Screen Media, the mobile advertising platform bought by AOL (NYSE: TWX). Billing Revolution was also started by CEO Andy Kleitsch, who previously founded WeddingChannel.com and worked at AT&T (NYSE: T) Wireless. The opportunity: Today, when people buy things on the phone, like ringtones and wallpapers, the charge appears on the phone bill, and the carrier takes a percentage of the revenue. Billing Revolution allows people to use their credit card, cutting the carrier out of the picture. Although the platform works for digital goods, including mobile content or even e-tickets, Billing Revolution also is positioning itself to assist in the sale of physical goods. With more Web-capable phones being adopted, the company believes it’s a matter of time before people find it natural to go to Expedia and buy a $300 plane ticket, or go to Amazon.com (NSDQ: AMZN) and buy a DVD. The billing platform: Currently, sites like Amazon.com allow you to make purchases from your phone if you enter your username and password, where you’ve previously stored your credit card information from a PC. But you can’t enter your credit card info directly on the phone. Billing Revolution allows users to use their credit card on a Wap site. Once a user enters the correct info, they receive a SMS, which they must click to authorize the purchase. After their first purchase, Billing Revolution stores your credit card information, providing for one-click purchases from there on out without having to enter a username or password. Billing Revolution makes money by charging a percentage of the cost of the transaction, much like the credit card company does. The Advertising component: Dulong provides an example of how advertising plays a role. Without providing names, he said they are currently helping a content company sell their mobile application by negotiating performance-based ads. The content company only pays for the add if a user clicks on the banner and buys the app using Billing Revolution. Dulong: “The challenge of the ad market is that the audience is growing so quickly and the advertising spend is not growing at the same rate...We are going to try to fill up remainder with performance-based ads, and at the same time solve the commerce problem.” Competitors and Customers: Dulong said they don’t compete with advertising platforms because they are buying up excess inventory that would otherwise not get sold. Competitive billing systems include the carrier’s networks, which typically impose price maximums of $20, and Bango (AIM: BGO) in some circumstances. The seven-person company has a substantial list of partners and customers, but it’s not naming them just yet. For now, the list includes: JumpTap, Buzzd, Quattro Wireless, Wcities, Ad Infuse, Movaya and Ascendo.

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) closed yesterday at $15.46. So far the stock has hit a 52-week low of $13.50 and 52-week high of $19.20. Time Warner stock has been showing support around 14.82 and resistance in the 16.62 range. Technical indicators for the stock are Neutral and S&P gives TWX a neutral 3 STAR (out of 5) hold rating. TWX appears on the Investors Observer Analysts Favorites list. For a hedged play on this stock, look at a Jan '09 15 covered call (TWX AC) for a net debit in the $13.96 area. That is also the break even stock price for this trade. This covered call has a 134 day duration, provides 9.70% downside protection and a 7.45% assigned return rat...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

Although WPP Group and its ad holding company rival, France’s Publicis Groupe, have been concentrating more in Asia and other emerging markets for their digital acquisitions lately, there are still a few independent targets to be found in the U.S. it seems. One of the remaining ones was Seattle’s PBJS, which was just picked up by Publicis. Terms weren’t disclosed. The five-year-old shop concentrates on on “multichannel events” and branded entertainment, including webcasting and video production. The main thing that drew Publicis to PBJS was access to the agency’s biggest client: Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT). That could bring more closeness between Microsoft and Publicis, which is working with the software giant, as well as Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and AOL (NYSE: TWX) on an open source ad network. The 26-person PBJS will continue to operate independently, though it will exist within Publicis Events Worldwide unit. Founder and CEO Bob Bejan will remain in that role, reporting to John Farrell, President & CEO of SAMS. Release (PDF)

Online advertising, as a successful platform that facilitates the buying and selling of advertising space on websites ; continues to grow rapidly as it attracts more and more web-surfers through the promotion of goods, services, and ideas. Like modern fin[More...]

Online advertising, as a successful platform that facilitates the buying and selling of advertising space on websites ; continues to grow rapidly as it attracts more and more web-surfers through the promotion of goods, services, and ideas. Like modern finance, this critical financial internet-component, which now accounts for almost a seventh of all advertising [...]

Filed under: Conventions and conferences, General Electric (GE), Time Warner (TWX), Marketing and advertising, News Corp'B' (NWS), Presidential elections

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is about to enter the "No Spin Zone."

The Illinois senator is due to be interviewed by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, host of the "The O'Reilly Factor," on Thursday, the final night of The Republican National Convention, according to TVNewser.com. I am sure executives at Fox parent company News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) were high-fiving each other when that interview was secured. The clash between the suave Obama and the bellicose O'Reilly will make for interesting television. It will be like a car accident on the highway that people can't help themselves from gawking at.

Maybe Obama views it as a chance to show his supporters that he is not afraid of O'Reilly, who is a pussy cat compared with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. It's also quite a contrast to the strategy of Republican John McCain, who is keeping the media at an arm's length. His campaign even canceled an interview the candidate had scheduled with CNN's Larry King because it did not like the tough questions anchor Campbell Brown asked its spokesman about the qualifiicaitons of his running-mate Sarah Palin.

Both the Democratic and Republican conventions have been a dream come true for the cable news channels. More people tuned into CNN, which is owned by Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), for Obama's acceptance than for Fox, MSNBC and the broadcast networks. The address got more viewers than the American Idol final, the Oscars, or the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Fox, though, continues to attract more viewers overall, especially during the Republican get-together in St. Paul. General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) MSNBC is gaining viewers too, though some may be curious to see if its feuding on-air personalities will break into a fist fight. All three of the cable news networks are raking in major bucks from those annoying 30-second TV spots that are an unfortunate part of American political life.

A winner has already emerged from the Obama-O'Reilly confrontation before a single punch has been thrown: News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch. The media baron lusts for the power to set the nation's political agenda. Come Thursday night, that's exactly what he will be able to do.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Deals, Apple Inc (AAPL), Time Warner (TWX), Coca-Cola (KO), Market matters, H and R Block (HRB), Boeing Co (BA), ConAgra Foods (CAG), Costco Wholesale (COST), Staples Inc (SPLS), U.S. Steel (X), Economic data, United Technologies (UTX), Oil, Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Federal Reserve

Stock futures were lower this morning as investors digested the decline in commodity prices and awaited a slew of economic readings. Data on employment, manufacturing and auto sales will be reported during the morning and throughout the day. At 2:00 p.m., the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which gives an overall picture on the economy will be released.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) said it is offering $2.4 billion for China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd., triple Huiyuan's market value. This is Coke's largest acquisition by value to date in China and gives the company a leg in the fast-growing and dynamic Chinese juice market. Coke also said that it expects to buy back a total of $1 billion of its stock for the full year.

The Boeing Co.'s (NYSE: BA) workers are prepared to vote Wednesday. Union members are scheduled to cast two ballots: one regarding Boeing's latest offer, which union leaders are recommending to reject, and another on whether to begin a strike. Results of the vote are expected Wednesday night.

More information is coming out regarding Korea Development Bank interest in Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH). According to reports in The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's largest mass-circulation daily, state-owned KDB has made a proposal to acquire 25% of U.S. Lehman for as much as 6 trillion won ($5.3 billion). HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) and an unnamed Chinese bank are said to be vying with the KDB for the Lehman stake.

Continue reading Before the bell: Stocks lower; KO, BA, LEH, CAG, ABK, COST ...

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Filed under: Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), Stocks to Buy

Ladies and gentleman, this fund investor grew tired of watching his family's portfolio get pummeled by double-digit percentage points and decided to become a stockholder. So, I snapped up a tiny position in Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS).

Before now, I avoided individual equities for several reasons, including that I was prohibited from owning them because of my previous job. I also felt uncomfortable owning stocks since I write about so many of them. My financial planner also discouraged us from taking positions in individual stocks, saying funds are a better way to go.

But after taking a quick look at my last brokerage statement, which showed my portfolio is down about 10 percent, I soon got over my unease. I realize that it's foolish to chase short-term gains but I thought something had to be done. One of the funds we owned seemed to be heavily weighted with gambling and leisure stocks, a sector that I don't expect to come back for a while. We got rid of it and added an ETF that covers the tech sector, which should be among the first to rebound once the economy starts to improve. Still, I wondered if I could do better.

Disney caught my eye a year ago when I labeled it a "slacker stock" because it was such an underachiever. The shares have barely budged this year, moving down about 3%, which in the current market is not bad. Moreover, Disney is outperforming peers such as Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), both of which are down double digits. The stock is trading at forward multiple of 13, which appears cheap to me considering it's lower than Time Warner and unlike Viacom pays a dividend.

Continue reading Why I took a chance on Disney

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Schaeffer's Laura Houser takes a look at activity on the Street ahead of the market open

Tammy DeRosier, Sue Morrison, and Jay Gragnani Talk About Investing in the Moment

Schaeffer's Colleen King takes a look at activity on the Street ahead of the market open

Guest: Felix Salmon, Condè Nast Portfolio.com. Microsoft and Yahoo!, airlines and media stocks and a dose of the world economy. Felix brings a fresh perspective on the markets and world economy. Andrew asks Felix if bloggers are here to stay or simply a pest that will fade into the nothingness. Find out which is Andrew's favorite airline to cross the pond. Who has the best warm nuts?

Colleen King takes a look at news on the Street before the market open.