We have previously mentioned our fondness for the acid tongue of Jeff Matthews (see 2005’s Why We Love Jeff Matthews).
With Q3 earnings reporting nearly over, Jeff explained analysts’ penchant for the word Upbeat — translating that as well as numerous other Wall Street Weasel words for the reader.
Jeff:
“Upbeat” = can mean anything from “Wildly optimistic” to “Grinning and
bearing it.”Other
coded words and phrases in the tribal language of Wall Street’s Finest,
with translations provided by NotMakingThisUp, include:1. “Management was cautiously optimistic” = management has no clue
2. “Earnings were in-line” = the company barely made the number
3. “We are tweaking our estimates” = we will be slashing our numbers next time
The much-dreaded mother of all loaded phrases:
4. “Our thesis is still intact” = sell every share you can, right now
Thanks, Jeff. Great quarter!
Barry,
That’s “penchant”, not “pension”.
Another recent one sure to become a classic:
“The effects are contained.” = I’m selling, and so should you!
Damn voice recognition software!
I’ll fix above . . .
the hedge funds relying on commodities for this qr will need more than cute phrases in
their year end letters if the economics backing up today’s prices are correct
rgds pcm
Dislocated markets = “our models haven’t come unglued from reality, its the markets!”
Dislocated markets = “our models haven’t come unglued from reality, its the markets!”
“The Fundementals are still postive” = OMG the sky is falling run for the hills…
“The job situation is still strong” = I have a job.
“Incomes are rising”= I got a nice raise this year.
I am showing that real earnings for the S&P 500 will be down y-o-y after Q4. Can someone confirm the same?
I also show that the S&P 500’s P/7-yr. MA(E) is approaching 20 for the first time since 2003. Ben Graham considered 15-20 a suitable range for equity investment. I start dipping my toe in when S&P 500 reaches 1420.
“Markets are trading on irrational fear, not fundamental value” == My job is to talk my corporate book, not dispense sound advice.. of course, all of my personal holdings in that stock were sold a long time ago.
“Markets are trading on irrational fear, not fundamental value” == My job is to talk my corporate book, not dispense sound advice.. of course, all of my personal holdings in that stock were sold a long time ago.
“Volitility will Continue”= The market is going to fall off a cliff.
Here’s one: “adjusting estimates” = I have a buy rating and am slashing my forecast.
That said, Jeff Matthews certainly is good at whining about analysts but I’ve never seen anything constructive on his blog. He writes a blog and manages money? Really?
To be fair, analysts have to balance a lot of competing demands–keep their bosses happy (in some cases their bosses are paid indirectly by the companies that the analysts follow), keep management at least happy enough to continue taking their calls and participating in the analyst’s conferences and one-on-one meetings, keep clients happy (the actual, real paying type not Mr. Matthews), and do all of this without lying or writing something that they don’t believe–keep the SEC happy. This can lead to some contorted language that real portfolio managers are adept at drilling through. Unfortunately, not all readers of the reports are that swift. And the contorted language is easy for whiny or just stupid observers to twist in unintended ways.
Jeff’s track record speaks for itself . . .