Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
Since the end of the financial crisis, economists, analysts, and the Federal Reserve have continued to predict a return to higher levels of economic growth. As I showed in my discussion of the Fed’s forecasts, these predictions have continued to fall short of reality.
Some companies rely on non-GAAP EPS gimmicks to make their earnings looks pretty; others rely on stock buybacks to reduce the number of shares outstanding; a third group of companies merely adds back everything it believes is not part of SG&A to boost its bottom line... and then there is IBM which does all three at unprecedented levels.
Recall that last quarter, just as IBM's revenue was plunging, the company "beat" courtesy of a collapsing tax rate. This is what we reproted last quarter:
While today's drift lower in NFLX shares was widely attributed to AMZN's more aggressive expansion into the streaming video space, some wondered if there was more to it. Moments ago, the answer was revealed and it was a resounding yes.
It's crazy pills time - no doubt... Doha was a dud and Morgan Stanley's 52% crash in earnings was better-than-expected...
Did you really expect anything else...?
Submitted by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity,
This week, President Obama and Vice President Biden held a hastily arranged secret meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen. According to the one paragraph statement released by the White House following the meeting, Yellen, Obama, and Biden simply “exchanged notes” about the economy and the progress of financial reform. Because the meeting was held behind closed doors, the American people have no way of knowing what else the three might have discussed.