Forging stories from Friday the 13th
Photo by Flickr user laverrue
Time to take a break from the plummeting dollar, the soaring unemployment rate, the roller-coaster stock market and moribund home prices.
Instead, have a little fun with a finance-oriented Friday the 13th feature.
The most superstitious day of the calendar is a good time to take a reading of consumer moods, especially halfway through the crucial fourth quarter.
The Conference Board produces one widely used survey of consumer confidence. It was down in October nationally; check with its press office to see if regional data including your territory are available. (And poke around a bit: the Conference Board Web site includes other research that might come in handy on other assignments. On Monday, for example, it posted an Employment Trends report, which indicates a slightly brighter outlook for 2010.)
If you publish or post your story on Friday, update the online version with the Nov. 13 release of the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index. Here’s a link to past releases –- helpful if you want to create a chart or graphic – but do visit the university site directly, too.
Despite what has to be among the most primitive layouts still extant on the Internet, the methodology information, once you find it, is quite informative. Of particular interest is the sample questionnaire. You might use it as a brainstorming tool and conduct your own micro-market survey of readers and viewers: take your video camera, rove around a shopping center, car dealership or supermarket parking lots and produce a local montage of consumer thoughts and patterns.
Investors needn’t indulge in paraskevidekatriaphobia, the fancy term for a morbid fear of Friday the 13th. Here’s a Wall Street Journal blog item from earlier this year about stock market performance on Fridays the 13th. The Journal’s Jason Zweig determined that the stock market actually tends to fare slightly better than average on these superstitious days.
If these don’t appeal, brainstorm some spooky or superstition-related ideas that relate to your local economy. Some ideas include:
Gamblers: Do casinos, race tracks, lotteries, bingo parlors and other venues of chance fare better or worse on “unlucky” days? Talk with gamers about their good-luck charms, fetishes and strategies.
Insurance: Poke around, talk with agents, state regulators and adjustors about quirky insurance policies (think dog bites, lightening strike, etc.) and misconceptions about insurance protection. Combine some amusing anecdotes with up-to-date consumer protection information for a fun and useful feature.
Marketing ploys: Impresarios will jump on any excuse for a party, contest or come-on. What kind of funny Friday the 13th-related promotions are going on at local radio stations, bars, restaurants, stores and the like?
Come back to Your Daily Tipsheet each morning for advice on where to find sources, background and creative ways to make financial news and trends relevant to your audience.
