DOW JONES TAKES STOCK

When it comes to reporting, the Wall Street Journal knows its business, but when it comes to running its own financial empire, the Journal's owner, Dow Jones & Co., has fallen woefully short. Despite a banner year at the paper, the 115-year-old company announced last month that it will register its first loss since going public 34 years ago. The culprit: Dow Jones Markets, the company's crippled financial-information unit (formerly called Telerate), which has been beaten badly by more sophisticated rivals such as Reuters and Bloomberg. Recently, the company scaled back an ambitious $650 million rescue plan and began firing senior...