Bad Credit News Means Good Tidings for Analysts

The Bear Stearns crisis was bad news for many, but it was good news—or at least good business—for financial analysts at London-based Breaking Views. The credit crunch is increasing demand for the company’s financial insights, offered online and, through various partnerships, in print. Breaking Views is seizing the moment, courting more newspapers and offering free online columns, the Guardian reports.

The company has 15,000 paying subscribers, and outlets including the Wall Street Journal run its columns. Breaking Views plans to maintain its subscription model—risky in online news, where consumers are used to reading free. In that quest, financial woes are a boon: "Our renewal rate was 90% last year and it has gone up again," says the founder. (More online news stories.)