Very simple answer, using the clueless methods; almost all are clue-less and follow-the-herds that could not tell the difference between an ATM switch and a kitchen fan-switch. No wonder, more than 65% of the money managers and mutual funds lag behind the simple S&P500 index. Why bother keeping money in these funds and using these analysts, just buy SPY (SPiDER)like one would buy mutual funds. Within the next three years almost all the brokerage houses will be begging for customers as most investors will be either investing their own pick of stocks, or just simply use deep-discount Internet brokerage and will be investing in a number of index related derivatives or DRs. all imo.
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By Tiare Rath, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:40 PM ET Feb 24, 1999
Renegade Reports
Tech Report
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- For all the money they move and all
the power they hold, investment banks and companies sure can be
clueless.
Thursday will be the final day of BancBoston Robertson Stephens Tech
'99 conference -- the third of its kind in four weeks.
No, the bank didn't hold three conferences. (That would be the ultimate
clueless move.) Instead, it held the final event in a month of technology
investment conferences that featured most of the same companies.
The first week of February brought NationsBanc Montgomery's
technology conference. That was followed by Goldman Sachs' the next
week. After a whopping five working days of not hearing from the tech
giants, BancBoston Robertson Stephens provided investors with that very
opportunity. See Renegade reports.
At that point, money managers and journalists were
seeing each other more than their own family
members. And investors weren't getting many new
clues about what to do with their money from
companies.
Tech overkill
Technology Overkill February begs the question:
How much can really change for companies in one
week? Answer: Not a whole heck of a lot.
By the time the Robbie Stephens event rolled
around, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) still
wasn't throwing its executives to the
money-management wolves. (The chip maker
pulled out of all three conferences and warned of a
possible loss in its first quarter.)
Most companies that did present still saw the same
"significant" growth rates or felt "comfortable" with
their businesses -- just as they had in the previous two weeks.
BancBoston Robertson Stephens Vice President Camille Lepre said the
banks don't exactly coordinate when they're holding conferences -- they
are, after all, competitors. February is often a good time because
companies are entering their fiscal years and they're coming out of quiet
periods, she said.
Not much to say
But many companies, like Dell Computer (DELL) at Goldman Sachs,
were in their quiet periods during their presentations. And others just
didn't have too much to say.
"Every conference is what you make of it," said James Renck of Renck
Capital Management, who's been following technology companies for 20
years. "You find [the news] in the hallway, not in the general
presentations."
But if investors were hearing news in the hallways, it probably wasn't
originating from the tech bellwethers. Many of the big boys pulled the
clueless move of sending to investment conferences random executives
who knew everything about tech but not a whole lot about money.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) sent the vice president of its enterprise line to
Montgomery; IBM (IBM) shipped the senior vice president of its data
technology group to Goldman Sachs; the vice president and director of
platform launch operations was sent by Intel (INTC) to BancBoston
Robertson Stephens.
Kudos, on the other hand, to companies like Micron Technology (MU)
and Excite (XCIT), whose chief executives decided it was worth their
while to talk to investors.
Cisco Systems didn't return a call explaining its decision, though Micron
spokeswoman Julie Nash was more than happy to tell why it sent
Chairman and Chief Executive Steven Appleton: "Mr. Appleton likes to
keep in touch with the analyst community," she said.
It would be nice if more companies' top-tier executives felt the same way.
And it would be great if, on top of that, they could review their businesses
once every month or two, rather than every week.
Those two efforts would help give shareholders more insight into their
investments -- and would make banks and companies look much less
clueless.
Not everyone is making money. There are actually investors, believe it or not, who
buy or sell a stock, commodity, piece of art or security at the wrong time. CBS
MarketWatch readers, if you have a five-paragraph tale of clueless adventures,
email it to the CBS MarketWatch newsroom. |
