The Wall Street Journal's website traffic doubled in October as nervous-wreck investors tracked the economy's nosedive. But the usual WSJ advertisers — banks and luxury items such as watches — aren't buying ads to go on all those pageviews. Usually, advertisers confirm their planned holiday spending level to the Journal by October, so the paper can be sure to make space for them. This year, silence. It's the same at many other business publications. Good thing I already got laid off, so I don't have to worry about it.

Contact information for this author is not available.