Forget About It

Wall Streeters, and as the food chain goes, the analysts who are the whipping boys for the fast talking investment bankers, who are the go-to guys for top management, have an interesting way of pretending that their business is so complicated that a customer needs them, if for nothing else, but to decipher the underlying words of the acronym that symbolizes the latest government entity.

For decades brokers have been telling clients that their analysts have lowered or increased the earnings estimates for this or that company for the next quarter or year; that the money supply, the GDP, the beige book, that have been staples in the game of alpha numerics that Wall Street makes a living in motivating people to buy or sell because of their unique ability to dissect something out, of what appears to be nothing.

During 2008 and early 2009 what was apparent for all to see was that the banker's new cloths, were non-existent.

This is a little nugget of wisdom worth tucking away. For certain companies the next quarter or year, probably the next 5 don't matter. When your computer's architecture is required to boot up with an Intel processor (NASDAQ: INTC) or you will not be able to access a host of essential software programs you can bet that the Intel's stock is valuable regardless of whether your broker likes the first quarter earnings complexion or not. When the company you work for or own accesses the internet, and heaven know that everyone does, through a Cisco network (NASDAQ: CSCO) it doesn't take special knowledge to know that Cisco Systems is a must own stock. When you turn on your computer and are barraged with pop-up ads and emails that are derived from your last surf of the net you don't need to be particularly bright to know that every one from the IRS to your local florist is accessing stored information to hunt you down or to market a service or product and that EMC (NYSE: EMC) is the prominent source of the storage software and devices, is a stock that need not be measured quarter to quarter. Oh, Apple Computer (NASDAQ: AAPLE), well is it really necessary to talk about the Iphone or the MAC or how AT&T was reinvented by Steve Jobs.

The next time your broker wants to impart a little intelligence on a something that is as plain as day, just say "Forget About It".