Paul,
I see it the same way, but I'm getting pretty shy about
trusting management comments after OXHP and CREAF. The funny
thing is that when I started writing professionally, I
maintained talking to the company in any but face-to-face
situations colored my analysis of the numbers, so I didn't do it. But
this is journalism, not buy-side analysis - it's my job to get
quotes from the company and the analysts. And guess what, it colored
my analysis. When you have Creative's head Tech engineer
telling you how "incredible" the products are, it's hard say
wait, how about these inventories...
Down the slippery slope of cynicism. It's one
thing when you read about others getting lied to, but
when they mislead you to your own face...
I think I might add the "Lie" factor to any further analysis
I do - the more analysts in bed with management, the greater
the likelihood of funny business in the financial statements. GNT's
Lie Factor is pretty high.
Good Investing,
Mike |
