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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RGinPG who wrote (12311)	2/20/1998 11:41:00 PM
From: davep	Respond to of 95453

OSX has done nothing positive w/upgrades lord help it if downgrades start coming-analysts change their opinion on a dime.Sadam will get nuked by tuesday.

To: RGinPG who wrote (12311)	2/21/1998 3:05:00 AM
From: Czechsinthemail	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Ron, I was talking about revisions of earnings estimates rather than ratings, though in looking at my post I realize it might have been confusing. I agree that ratings are in the eye of the beholder, and earnings revisions give you something more quantifiable to work with. On the other hand, earnings surprises are often reflections of how high or how low the estimates have been set. They can also be influenced by accounting decisions such as how and when a company chooses to realize expenses. For example, a driller's decision to upgrade its rigs can reduce revenues and produce additional expense in the short run that enhances the future value of its fleet. It can reduce reported earnings, yet arguably it improves the company's position over time. The best thing about earnings surprises is that they alert you to situations in which the company has been underestimated and may appreciate to more accurately reflect its performance. Not perfect, but useful. But also useful can be appreciating situations in which companies appear to underperform while they are taking positive steps to enhance the long term value of the company. Problems with earnings analysis cause some analysts to use cash flow analysis instead to get more meaningful performance comparisons. Baird