Thank you, Peter,
I hate to mount a soapbox, but Enron and Lucent, to name a couple of unfortunate examples, just don't get it yet. Cisco and Applied Materials OTOH, do get it. Expect a press release from AMAT a couple of weeks prior to an important news release such as an earnings release and conference call or a significant "analyst meeting" inviting the entire world to listen in to the webcast, so they can conveniently schedule it in. In other words, these companies obey both the letter and the spirit of our securities laws governing disclosure, so integral to maintaining the integrity of our capital markets.
Could this be part of the reason why Cisco and Applied Materials have outperformed their peers and sell at relatively high price/earnings ratios?
Last year, NASDAQ entered into a contract with Broadcast.com (now owned by Yahoo!) to have quarterly earnings conference calls of NASDAQ-100 companies webcast and made available to the public. This is important because it is not just the widely disseminated earnings number that moves stock prices, but the visibility and other issues concerning future projections that are routinely addressed in the important question-and-answer session with analysts. Now we all hear this important information at the same time as the analysts, as long as it is a NASDAQ-100 company.
Maybe the NYSE should try a similar approach. If not, we "little guys" will have to cajole them. If not, perhaps the Investor Relations Board. If not, ... then, of necessity, the SEC.
Cheers,
Sam |
