24/7 Wall St.

If you regularly use MarketWatch, you’ve probably noticed some additional offerings and additional features of late.  If you haven’t noticed you probably will soon.  MarketWatch has added "First Take" for more original in-house commentary about breaking news, and this is around the same time as the new features that have been added with its "Portfolio" investment tools.

As the News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) buyout of Dow Jones (NYSE:DJ) nears its closure date, there continues to be a push for more financial news and information.

First Take is an effort that is meant to tag original commentary generated by MarketWatch itself about breaking news.  In short, Reuters outsourced news regurgitation factory in India won’t be doing this (not out of India anyway).

MarketWatch apparently tested this over the summer and decided to make it a product after it became a consistently successful draw and a major traffic driver for our readers.  I also asked our sources inside MarketWatch what the best use would be for traders and investors.  First Take is aimed at putting breaking news in context and perspective to help readers inform their investment decisions.

It is unclear if this is the first of many new efforts or if this will have to be tested alone for some time.  Our sources inside MarketWatch say this is the result of ongoing innovation in news coverage (e.g., Subprime Today) and investor tools (e.g., Portfolio) driven by reader demand.

The driving force behind this was you.  First Take came about as the result of reader demand for something to complement our breaking news coverage.

With more than 6 million monthly unique visitors, this new section has the potential of being one of the go-to sources for independent commentary and analysis outside of basic reporting and conflict-free compared to brokerage firms.

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2007