WSJ taps two to write for “Heard on the Street”

Spencer Jakab, deputy editor of the “Heard on the Street” column at The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following announcement on Thursday:

Please welcome two new Heard on the Street columnists. The hires are part of an expansion of the Wall Street Journal’s financial and economic analysis column. Watch this space for more Heard news in the coming months.

Laura Forman joined the team last month in our San Francisco bureau following an actual career on “the street.” She already has made her mark with some smart and pun-filled takes on Facebook, Yelp, Blue Apron and, last but not least, dating site Match. A former track star, Laura held positions in equity research and sales at Piper Jaffray, Leerink Swann and Bear Stearns. Her career at Bear was cut short by the bank’s failure, but she assures us it was nothing she did. Laura also worked in investor relations and co-founded a digital fashion company. In her spare time, she managed a masters degree in journalism from Stanford and is helping to raise two young sons. You can follow Laura on Twitter at @DoubleLJSquared.

For those of you not already following our newest columnist Mike Bird on Twitter (his handle is @birdyword), where have you been? Self-described as “Just a lad from Leeds with a lust for markets, economics and history,” Mike’s musings on finance, food, travel and much else have attracted twice as many followers as the editor of our whole, entire paper. While working in our London bureau, Mike won the 2016 Harold Wincott Award for young financial journalist of the year. He recently relocated to Hong Kong and, in his very brief tenure with Heard on the Street, has already contributed smart stories explaining why it is so difficult to sell Chinese stocks short, that 20 years of zero interest rates in Japan haven’t been stimulative enough and how the coronation of Japan’s next emperor may cause chaos in the global foreign exchange market.

Please join us in congratulating Laura and Mike on their new roles.