Newspaper Analysts Pack It In

Wall Street newspaper analysts are going the way of -- ahem -- the print product. Reuters reported last week that it's becoming as hard to find financial analysts who specialize in newspaper stocks as it is to find newspaper reporters.

Could it be because newspaper stocks have plummeted so dramatically that they have descended into hell? (Take McClatchy newspapers, please. Its stock has dropped 77 percent!) Could it be because there is no newspaper "performance" to rate anymore? Could it be because maybe - just maybe - nobody cares anymore? Just asking.

When Wall Street decides that an industry is not worth covering -- or shall I put it more delicately, is not worth dedicating resources to it -- it's a sure sign that industry is about to disappear. Or at the very least enter a deep freeze. Brrrr.