Newspaper doomsayers a bit premature?

Now this is perverse. A stock analyst predicts newspaper ad revenues will decline 8 to 9 percent in 2010 and the value of major newspaper chains' stock goes up.

After Wells Fargo Securities analyst John Janedis made that forecast, New York Times stock jumped nearly 10 percent, Gannet bounced 7 percent in a day, Scripps rose more than 3 percent and A.H. Belo went up almost 4 percent.

The values have held steady since.

This is what MediaDailyNews had to say this past week:

"Of course, it's unusual for stock prices to rise after the forecast of an 8% to 9% revenue drop, but the bounce is a testament to just how dismal the outlook for newspapers has been, and how low newspaper stocks have sunk.

"After eight straight quarters of double-digit percentage declines in ad revenue, during which newspaper stocks lost up to 95% of their value, the forecast of a single-digit decline -- suggesting that the steepest part of the slide may be coming to an end -- is actually a positive sign."

And maybe the analyst heard about this survey of businesses in the UK that found print advertising is twice as effective as TV and more effective than online.

The Microsoft Advertising survey, as reported by TimesOnline, found, "Every £1 spent on print advertisements yields £5 in revenue, compared with £2.15 for television and £3.44 for online advertising, a study of 26 leading UK retailers found."