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Matters Financial |
28 July 2003
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Earnings Season Follies
Markets are clearinghouses for information according to many popular theories. Price is the distillation of
all-known data into a single number. As a definition, its value hinges on the qualifier "all-known." What
happens when something that isn't known turns up, or when something that is known turns out to be
wrong. On Wall Street, that is the fun of earnings season, when the market shows the analysts who is
boss. Click here to read more.
British Unions Shooting Own Feet
God love the British unions. The introduction of an electronic entrance pass sparked a wildcat strike
against British Airways and has led to fears of official strikes by unions including the Transport and
General Workers Union, Amicus and the GMB. The beauty of it is that management has to please all
three, and all three are in competition for members at all times. Moderation is not likely, and best of all,
they are fighting over the wrong things. Click here to read more.
Microsoft Thinks Recovery Coming
Microsoft announced last week that it planned to hire 4-5000 new employees, most of them in the US, and
to boost its R&D budget by 8% while holding onto its $49 billion pile of cash. The quality of Microsoft
products may be debated ad infinitum, but the business acumen of the top people cannot be.
They are exceedingly good at making Microsoft shareholders money. So, some tea-leaf reading is in order
based on these snippets of information to see what they see in the economy. Click here for our view.