Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JD who wrote (18463)	1/11/2000 5:53:00 PM
From: Rande Is	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57584

. . . . . . Rant on Whisper Numbers. . . . . . . Who is it that does this whispering? And isn't that illegal? I mean if it isn't illegal, why else would it have to be whispered? And since it is whispered? Who is doing the whispering and who is doing the listening? And if the numbers they are whispering are so confidential, why are they published so the whole world can see them? I guess they figure in some cockeyed way that if the whole world knows, then it would no longer be illegal. Whisper numbers are always stated in a range. . .like 13 to 19 cents. . . as though passing a secret down the bench of a cafeteria . . . starting at 13 cents, it gets passed on from person to person . .so that the last person in line hears .19 cents. "Hey, what did you hear?" "I don't know. . .the guy whispered. . . it sounded like 'finthrateen' cents." And what is wrong with the expected number? It was the company itself that projected it. Shouldn't they know best? And why are whisper numbers nearly always above the expected earnings number? I can't tell you the last time someone whispered below the expected number. If a stock warns disappointing earnings, it is never whispered. It is screamed. Front page headlines and a string of analyst downgrades lead the way saying, "I told you so.". . . . and heaven help anyone that tries to sell into that panic. If this is all sounding anal. . . consider this. . . .The stock price can drop in half if the company misses its earnings expectations by just one penny. Or it can rise 30 points and continue higher should the company beat that expected number. Fortunes are made and lost as people who once were investors, start gambling large portions of their portfolio that the number will be either higher or lower than is expected. . .as though they were picking one number while someone spins a roulette wheel. . . or selecting a set of numbers for a lottery ticket. Play your birthday. Who knows! Why? What turns an investor into a gambler anyway? What makes him think that his information is any more accurate than anyone elses. . or that he knows for sure what others merely speculate? Or is he just playing the odds. . .or playing a hunch? SHHHHhhhhh h h . . . <someone is listening.> . Rande Is