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In this week's (November 9) Preview Section of Barron's (subscription required) I was surprised to find that on Wednesday (11/9) it is noted that Computer Sciences (CSC), Applied Materials (AMAT), and Macy's (M) reported "profits." How do they know this?
On other days they refer to the "earnings" of various companies reporting. Perhaps I am splitting hairs, perhaps it is editorial haste (like you might find on our site), or perhaps there is no difference in some people's minds? From my perspective there is a difference between earnings and profits. Every quarter, public companies report their earnings. They do not always report a profit.
Given recent headlines of insider trading, front trading, misinformation, manipulation and outright lying in the stock market, one is certainly justified in having a large dose of cynicism while perusing the business news. It is probably just a poor choice of words. Of course in the case of good investigative journalism, you might expect some juicy tidbit of information to be uncovered. On the other hand, if this was the case, they would publish the scoop to get the maximum readership.
Although I am prone to question whatever I read, I have not yet reached such a low point as to be concerned that Barron's let slip that they know something we don't while they might be trading on that knowledge. Let's just chalk up this minor infraction to a way too optimistic view of the coming week, and if that is the case I hope they are correct.
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture and planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I do not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.
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