Some folks in the investor relations community are bothered – even angered – by Warren Buffett’s recent verbal jabs at IR people and the profession as a whole. March 15 Update: a few additional thoughts here. Maybe I’m thick-skinned. I don’t think we need to feel threatened by what the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway says about [...]
February 28, 2011 – 2:12 pm
If you look at the history of financial regulation in the United States, one of the things you notice is that almost all regulation of financial activity at the federal level comes as a result of some form of financial scandal or abuse. This goes al…
February 17, 2011 – 10:52 am
Readers of this blog will know that I am somewhat of a skeptic when it comes to the use of social media in investor relations (and yes, I recognize the irony of that statement when written in a blog). It’s not that I think there is no use for twitt…
December 19, 2010 – 5:15 pm
ONE of the hottest discussions over the past week in the Investor Relations Executives Group on Linkedin asks whether investor relations pros send out holiday cards to their covering analysts and biggest shareholders. Most of those contributing to the thread do send out holiday greetings cards, and offer various reasons for doing so. Those who [...]
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December 17, 2010 – 10:14 am
As a commentator, one of the best things you can find to write about is when you come across someone being totally disingenuous; it’s almost as good as when companies do something really stupid (for which see “How Not to Run a Conference Call” …
November 30, 2010 – 11:52 am
There’s an old French proverb, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”, which translates into “the more things change, the more they stay the same” and that’s the way I feel about insider trading. Every few years, the topic seems t…
September 29, 2010 – 12:41 pm
There’s been a bit of a kerfuffle lately about virtual, online annual shareholders meetings. It seems that Symantic Corporation recently held an audio only, virtual meeting where they took only two questions from shareholders. This angered a number…
September 20, 2010 – 1:52 pm
Chatting with colleagues last week, someone tossed out the phrase “the new normal.” And a co-worker shot back: “What is the new normal, anyway?” Ever so conveniently, then, on Thursday and Friday I attended the client conference of DeMarche Associates, a Kansas City-based investment consultant. The theme: “The New Normal and How It Affects Investment Strategy.” [...]
September 14, 2010 – 1:22 pm
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit once characterized the exchange of information between corporations and investment analysts as “a fencing match conducted on a tightrope”. If investor relations officers are going to be su…
September 7, 2010 – 12:42 pm
There is a famous Latin saying, “Cui bono?” that was used in Roman trials to help determine the underlying truth of a matter. The phrase translates into “To whose benefit?” and is meant to suggest the possibility of a hidden motive or that th…
