Optimist CEO Surprises
by ilene - November 8th, 2010 9:31 am
Optimistic CEO Upside Surprises
By Barry Ritholtz – The Big Picture
It turns out its not just the wealthy who are feeling more optimistic. According to a Bloomberg analysis, more companies are raising earnings forecasts versus those who are cutting them. The gap between the two is as large as its been since Bloomberg began tracking the data.
More U.S. executives than ever are increasing earnings forecasts compared with those lowering them, helped by almost $2 trillion of Federal Reserve spending and a recovery in the global economy.
EBay, UPS, and 196 other companies raised profit estimates above analysts’ projections versus 130 firms that cut them. This is the biggest gap since Bloomberg began tracking the data in 1999.
Companies are raising the outlook for U.S. profits at the same time the Fed is trying to prevent deflation and reduce unemployment by purchasing an additional $600 billion in Treasuries. The last time executives were this optimistic, stocks climbed 39% over the next 3 1/2 years, data compiled by Bloomberg show . . .
More via The Big Picture.
20 Examples Of Corporate Doublespeak You Need To Know During Earnings Season
by ilene - October 18th, 2010 8:17 pm
20 Examples Of Corporate Doublespeak You Need To Know During Earnings Season
Courtesy of Vincent Fernando, CFA and Gus Lubin at Business Insider
We’re all pretty used to business-speak these days, whereby real meanings are coded into vague euphemisms in order to sound better.
It’s all part of business spin.
Forecasts aren’t reduced, they’re adjusted.
Workers aren’t laid off, they’re right-sized.
Here’s a list of twenty business euphemisms and what they really mean, as found in financial statements, conference calls, and in the board room.
According to the firm that compiled them, Audit Integrity, the more you hear, the more likely a company is a governance risk. As we run through earnings season, you’ll likely see each of them at least once.
MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS – CEO Buying
by Insider Scoop - August 10th, 2010 11:10 am
Update: Another large insider buy filed today, Aug. 10, though the purchase was on Aug. 6th:
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The CEO of MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS INC (WFR) bought 51,227 shares of WFR at an average price of $9.76 ($499,976.00) on Aug. 6th. It was filed today, Aug. 9, with the stock trading higher at around $10.20.
Here’s a screenshot of the recent insider buying:
Apparently, It Took Actual Research To Figure This Out
by ilene - July 27th, 2010 12:37 pm
TLP: Apparently, It Took Actual Research To Figure This Out
Courtesy of Jr. Deputy Accountant
DealBook has a shocker:
Corporate boards appear to routinely use compensation peer groups to artificially inflate pay for their chief executives, helping to contribute to the cascading increases in executive compensation over the last several years, according to an academic study on corporate governance.
While the rate of pay increases was nearly 11 percent in one recent year, the study highlights one of the various ways that corporate boards go about determining huge compensation packages for executives.
Executive pay has increased substantially over the last few years. For example, in 1965 chief executives at major American companies earned 24 times more than a typical worker, while in 2007 they made 275 times more, according to the Economic Policy Institute. This sharp increase in income for chief executives, coming as wages for ordinary Americans remained relatively flat, has become one of the more perplexing questions in social science and business. Are chief executives that much more valuable now than they were 45 years ago?
Social scientists have looked at a number of reasons for the disparity in pay, with many believing that it has something to do with weak corporate directors simply giving into the demands of management, which are often leading the boards.
The common answer as to why chief executives are paid so much money is that boards want to “retain talent” and fear losing their chief executive to a competitor. Compensation committees on boards hire consultants to advise them on how much other chief executives at rival companies are paid to make sure that they are not undercutting their own top executives.
For the full circle jerk, check out ScienceDirect.
GDWheee Friday – Could be a Wild Ride!
by phil - April 30th, 2010 8:30 am
Attention ladies and gentlemen:
The stock market will soon be leaving the station, please secure all personal items, pull down the safety bar (our Disaster Hedges) and keep all body parts inside ride at all times. Well you know you can follow all of the safety instructions and STILL get smacked in the face with a black swan (like our friend Fabio, pictured here) which is why we elected to get back to cash ahead of this report. The markets were just too insane this week and who the heck knows if Europe will still be a Union on Monday or what the GDP number is going to be (but I do think it's a miss).
Since our biggest weekend fear is financial panic in Europe, our cash US dollars will become more valuable in a crisis and if the market drops, all the better as we can ride back in and do some bargain hunting. If the market takes off on good GDP and Greece is "fixed" and Spain is "fixed" and Portugal and Ireland are not really a problem (especially for MS and JPM) and the CRIMINAL charges against Goldman look beatable and and the Financial Reform Bill doesn't disrupt the market with a disorderly breakup of the big banks and the Bank of International Settlements Report continues to be ignored and the run on the Greek banks doesn't spread to other STUPID counties – well, then we can BUYBUYBUY because, if all this doesn't matter, then it's very likely that the entire planet Earth could explode but Wall Street will keep ticking higher.
Yep, I can't wait to ride this baby mindlessly higher! After all, what can go wrong? BIDU is ONLY $710 a share, BLK is $190, CMP is $76, GOLD is $84, BUCY is $65, FAST is $56, MMM is $90, FOSL $40, F $13.50, DECK $149, SHOO $55, TPX $35, LZB $14, CTB $22, NOG $16, CEO $176, FTI $75, CLB $150, CIB $46, BBD $19, TD $75, BCA $45, BAP $87, ITUB $22, EDU $94, WYNN $93, FFIV $72, CY $14, CREE $77, UPS $70, UNP $78…
These were stocks I was looking at last week, when I told members I thought it was easier to construct a Sell List than our usual…