Is Zillow Another Bad Precursor for the Financial Information Market?

Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) is getting crushed today after the company said that revenues would be soft in the quarter ahead. Zillow is supposed to be a housing market winner and housing is supposed to still be recovering. The company operates a real estate information marketplace in the United States.

So how can this stock be down 19% at $27.80 on the day? Maybe this is really just the same issue that hit Bankrate, Inc. (NYSE: RATE). Bankrate aggregates rate information on approximately 300 financial products and other personal finance Websites. It seems counterintuitive, but it sure seems as though more consumers are going directly to information at the source rather than sites about information. Can this be any coincidence?

Move, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOVE) operates an online network of Websites for real estate search, finance, and moving and home enthusiasts. Its shares are down 1% at $7.70 against a 52-week range of $4.05 to $10.06. This one might seem at risk as well but its earnings and guidance were in-line.

Is it possible that readership of things tied to finance and money is suffering from election panic? Or is it information overload? It seems that reading about information, as counterintuitive as it seems, may be taking a holiday.

JON C. OGG