DJIA:            8983.41    -3.23      (-0.04%) 
 S&P 500:         1122.70    +2.69      (+0.24%) 
 Nasdaq:          1855.40    +2.44      (+0.13%) 
 Value Line ndx    988.16    -0.47      (-0.05%) 
 30-Year Bond   104 21/32   +21/32  5.79% Yield 
 

HEROES

Ford Motor <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: F)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: F)") end if %> cruised ahead $1 15/16 to $65 1/4 while simultaneously extending cash incentives on several of the company's new 1998- and 1999-model cars and trucks for another quarter and reporting March U.S. vehicle sales that fell 2.6% from last March. Last year, Ford announced plans to discontinue five vehicles and sell its heavy truck business. Excluding these products, the company said its March U.S. sales increased 1.8%. Dropping low-volume, low-profit models such as the Thunderbird, Cougar, and Probe has cut into Ford's overall car sales, but in the long term should mean a tighter ship that hopefully will generate higher sales. General Motors <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GM)") end if %> beat its Detroit competitors with March sales up 3.5% versus Chrysler's <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: C)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: C)") end if %> 1.8% decline.

GTE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GTE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GTE)") end if %> rang up $1 to $61 7/16 after the telecommunications company announced late yesterday plans to generate $2-$3 billion by selling nonstrategic and underperforming businesses and to reduce costs by more than $500 million a year over two years through more than 1,500 job cuts and other streamlining measures. The company plans to sell its air-to-ground communications unit Airfone, some of its underperforming wireless businesses, and 5% to 8% of its local phone operations, mainly in rural areas. For the restructuring, GTE will take a first quarter charge of $0.83 per share but expects 1998 earnings before charges to increase at least 10% and "be in line with GTE's prior estimates of moderate growth compared to 1997." The company still expects EPS growth will reach 13% to 15% for 1999 and beyond. Following GTE's failed bid to acquire long-distance carrier MCI Communications <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MCIC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MCIC)") end if %>, the company said it plans to acquire several small businesses rather than one big company to enhance the services it offers.

QUICK TAKES: Gourmet-pizza restaurant operator Bertucci's <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BERT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: BERT)") end if %> shot $2 1/4 higher to $10 after receiving an outside buyout offer for $10.50 a share from closely held N.E Restaurant Corp. This bid is higher than the existing offer from management that is currently on the table... American Express <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AXP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AXP)") end if %> charged ahead $4 1/2 to $99 after announcing late yesterday that American Express Corporate Travel and ING unit Banque Bruxelles Lambert will combine their corporate travel services in Belgium and Luxembourg by next January. The companies said BBL Travel American Express will be the corporate travel market leader in the Benelux region... Merrill Lynch <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MER)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MER)") end if %> advanced $2 9/16 to $86 1/2 after The Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" column reported that Citicorp <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CCI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CCI)") end if %> Chairman and CEO John Reed last week told senior management of his interest in potential acquisitions, including Merrill and Britain's Standard Chartered PLC.

Lucent Technologies <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: LU)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: LU)") end if %> continued climbing, gaining $3 1/2 to $72 15/16 following its 2-for-1 stock split that took effect earlier this week. Separately, Philips Consumer Communications, a joint venture between Lucent and Philips Electronics <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: PHG)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: PHG)") end if %>, expects its 1998 sales in Latin America will increase to about $300 million from less than $50 million the year before, according to Reuters. Lucent owns a 40% stake in the venture... Morgan Stanley upgraded its ratings on Fannie Mae <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: FNM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: FNM)") end if %> and Freddie Mac <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: FRE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: FRE)") end if %> to "outperform" from "neutral," sending Fannie Mae up $1 9/16 to $66 3/16 and Freddie Mac up $1 1/4 to $48 15/16... Aircraft engines precision metal components maker Kreisler Manufacturing <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: KRSL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: KRSL)") end if %> jumped $5/8 to $9 5/8 after late yesterday reporting Q3 earnings of $0.20 per share, up from $0.04 in the year-earlier period. Sales increased to $3.5 million from $2.5 million the year before...

Sweden's telecommunications products manufacturer Ericsson <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ERICY)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ERICY)") end if %> rang up $3 to $52 3/16 after its Ericsson OMC Ltd. subsidiary won a $204 million satellite phone manufacturing contract from Globalstar LP <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: GSTRF)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: GSTRF)") end if %>... Globalstar also awarded wireless telecom equipment and software provider Qualcomm Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: QCOM)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: QCOM)") end if %> some $117 million in contracts for the manufacture of both handheld and fixed Globalstar satellite telephones, sending Qualcomm up $2 1/4 to $55 3/4... SCB Computer Technology <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SCBI)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SCBI)") end if %> leapt $3 to $26 1/2 after the information technology management and technical services company announced a 2-for-1 stock split. The new shares will be issued on April 27 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 13.

DSC Communications <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DIGI)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DIGI)") end if %> regained $2 5/16 to $19 1/4 on heavy trading of more than four times its 30-day average volume as the telecom equipment and software provider announced that its chairman, president, and CEO James L. Donald intends to retire from his job as president and CEO. He will become a non-employee chairman and director of the company... Letchworth Independent Bancshares <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: LEBC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: LEBC)") end if %> added $3 1/8 to $61 1/2 after the thinly traded bank proposed a 3-for-1 stock split, which will be voted on at the company's May 7 annual meeting... Rental equipment company U.S. Rentals <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: USR)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: USR)") end if %> climbed $1 1/4 to $28 3/4 after Legg Mason Wood Walker started coverage of the company with a "buy" rating and predicted the stock will hit $38 in 18 months. Legg Mason said that unlike its competitors, the company has been able to maintain earnings through good times and bad.

Family Golf Centers <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: FGCI)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: FGCI)") end if %> hit a birdie, scoring $4 1/16 to $44 1/16 after the driving range and pro shop operator announced a 3-for-2 stock split payable on May 4 for shareholders of record on April 20. The company also is acquiring Eagle Quest Golf Centers for about 1.15 million shares of common stock... Omega Protein <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: OME)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: OME)") end if %> pumped up $2 1/16 to $18 1/16 after the marine protein products maker completed an initial public offering of 8.5 million shares at $16 a share.

GOATS

Sunbeam Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SOC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SOC)") end if %> was knocked down $10 5/16 to $35 1/4 after the appliance maker said it will report a fiscal Q1 loss due to costs related to its recent acquisitions of First Alert <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ALRT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ALRT)") end if %>, Signature Brands USA <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SIGB)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SIGB)") end if %>, and The Coleman Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CLN)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CLN)") end if %>. Sales for Q1 will be approximately 5% lower than levels recorded in the same quarter a year ago, due mostly to disappointing sales of its outdoor grills -- which resulted in the firing of the chief of Sunbeam's consumer products division. In a conference call today, the firm's colorful CEO, "Chainsaw" Al Dunlap, said the markets had "significantly over-reacted" to the news. He admitted, however, that the initial earnings warning last month "did not adequately communicate" the one-time charges associated with the mergers. Those charges are estimated at about $0.40 per share for the quarter. With Sunbeam now armed with a portfolio of great consumer brands and still looking to cut costs, investors may want to check it out at 17 times forward numbers.

Natural Microsystems Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: NMSS)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: NMSS)") end if %>, which designs hardware and software products for computer telephony service providers, slumped $8 1/8 to $30 1/4 after saying it expects fiscal Q1 EPS of $0.18 to $0.20, short of the First Call mean estimate of $0.23. Last week, the company's CEO joined analysts in reassuring investors that rumors of delays by the firm's suppliers were "unfounded." The rumors were associated with the firm's Fusion 2.0 telephony product introduced last month, according to First Albany analyst Herb Tinger. Since the product is available and is currently being shipped, the suppliers appear to be doing their jobs. The problem is that customers are delaying their purchases of the product, Tinger said. "I thought there was pent-up demand (for Fusion 2.0), but that does not appear to be the case." That misjudgment prompted him to lower his rating on the stock to "buy" from "strong buy."

King of the semiconductor assembly, or "back-end," market Kulicke & Soffa Industries <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: KLIC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: KLIC)") end if %> was thrown for a $3 loss to $20 3/4 after saying an order cancellation by an unspecified but "major" client for its new wedge bonder product will cause fiscal Q3 revenues to come in below analysts' expectations. Because the order was expected to ship in Q3, the company is forecasting a net loss for the period, missing the First Call mean EPS estimate of $0.36. Analysts said Intel Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") end if %> was the customer that rained on Kulicke & Soffa's parade, adding that it may have some more thunderstorms in store for other companies relying on the chip giant for a sizable portion of their business. "[Kulicke & Soffa] said other companies are going to see pushouts and order cancellations" from Intel, analyst Michael O'Brien of SoundView Financial told Bloomberg News. Kulicke & Soffa often is looked at as a leading indicator for a decline in demand, because companies generally only order back-end equipment if they want to expand their operations.

QUICK CUTS: Copper fiber optic cable maintenance firm MasTec Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MTZ)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MTZ)") end if %> fell $4 3/4 to $28 9/16 after the company was downgraded by NationsBanc Montgomery Securities to "hold" from "buy"... Food products trucking firm Simon Transportation Services <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SIMN)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SIMN)") end if %> fell $5 15/16 to $9 1/8 after saying it expects to post a fiscal Q2 loss of $0.24 to $0.36 per share. The Street had been expecting earnings of $0.11 per share... Computer game joystick maker ThrustMaster Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TMSR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TMSR)") end if %> was burned $3 1/4 to $9 after announcing that lower-than-expected orders and higher rates of product returns will result in a fiscal Q1 loss of about $0.20 per share. The Street had been expecting the company to earn $0.07 per share in the period.

Physician practice management firm EquiMed Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: EQMD)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: EQMD)") end if %> lost $4 7/8 to $13 5/8 after the company said it received an extension to file its fiscal 1997 10-K annual report from the SEC. The company added that it is considering writing off expenses from setting up its international operations and establishing a reserve for "certain contingent liabilities"... Biopharmaceutical company Centocor Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CNTO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CNTO)") end if %> slipped $1 to $43 after being downgraded to "hold" from "buy" by Hambrecht & Quist... Identix Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: IDX)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: IDX)") end if %> dropped $3/8 to $7 1/4 after the fingerprint identification products company received downgrades from Salomon Smith Barney and Hambrecht & Quist... Mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price Associates <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TROW)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TROW)") end if %> fell $1 5/32 to $71 7/16 after Putnam Lovell downgraded the Cash-King Portfolio component to "hold" from "buy."

Semiconductor system level verification (SLV) products maker Quickturn Design Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: QKTN)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: QKTN)") end if %> lost $3/8 to $10 1/8 after announcing that slowdowns in Asia and in U.S. markets tied closely to the region will cause a fiscal Q1 loss of $0.09 to $0.11 per share, below the Street estimate of $0.14... Computer telephony and voice-processing systems supplier Active Voice Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ACVC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ACVC)") end if %> slid $7/8 to $12 3/8 after forecasting a Q4 loss of between $0.29 to $0.31 per share, missing the Street estimate of earnings of $0.11 per share... Enterprise software developer Landmark Systems Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: LDMK)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: LDMK)") end if %> slipped $1 3/4 to $8 after saying order delays by its customers will result in fiscal Q1 EPS of $0.07 to $0.08 per share, which is short of the First Call mean estimate of $0.10 per share.

Viasoft Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VIAS)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VIAS)") end if %> tumbled $9 5/16 to $18 1/16 after the Year 2000 problem solver warned that slowing sales at its British operations will lead to Q3 EPS below the Street estimate of $0.26 per share. Deutsche Morgan Grenfell lowered its rating on the stock to "accumulate" from "buy"... Database software company Oracle Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") end if %> fell $2 to $28 1/8 after the Wall Street Journal, picking up on a Dataquest research report published yesterday, reported that some companies have recently switched from using "network computers" for some of their operations to using PCs and computers using Microsoft's <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") end if %> Windows platform. Rumor has it that Oracle held an analyst meeting yesterday, which might have contributed to the fall.

Customer service software provider Pegasystems Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PEGA)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PEGA)") end if %> dropped $2 7/16 to $18 after reporting Q4 EPS of $0.15 versus $0.14 a year ago. Goldman Sachs and Raymond James both downgraded the company... Spam maker Hormel Foods <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: HRL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: HRL)") end if %> choked for a $3 loss to $35 7/16 after being downgraded to "hold" from "buy" by Prudential Securities... Healthcare document management systems developer Imnet Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: IMNT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: IMNT)") end if %> dropped $6 3/4 to $15 11/16 after saying order delays by some of its customers will result in a fiscal Q3 loss of between $0.12 and $0.15 per share. The Street had been expecting earnings of $0.20 per share... The American depositary shares of British electric company National Power PLC <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: NP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: NP)") end if %> were zapped $2 1/4 to $37 1/8 after Merrill Lynch lowered its near-term rating on the stock to "reduce" from "neutral."

Air carrier Trans World Airlines <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(AMEX: TWA)") else Response.Write("(AMEX: TWA)") end if %> descended another $1 5/16 to $10 1/8 after Lehman Brothers downgraded the company to "neutral" from "outperform" yesterday... Japanese consumer electronics powerhouse Sony Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SNE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SNE)") end if %> slid $2 5/8 to $85 after the firm said its business outlook for calendar year 1998 is "very severe" due to the struggling Japanese economy and the Asian financial crisis, which will likely produce fewer orders for the firm's products... Information technology-based management consultant Diamond Technology Partners <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DTPI)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DTPI)") end if %> slumped $1 1/4 to $27. The company sold 2.65 million shares in a public offering today at a price of $26 3/4 per share, which was 5.6% below the stock's closing price of $28 1/4 per share yesterday.

Telecommunications equipment supplier Positron Fiber Systems Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PFSCF)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: PFSCF)") end if %> lost $1 3/4 to $6 9/16 after saying the delayed launch of its MIST SONAT transmultiplexer device will lead to a Q4 loss. The Street had been expecting earnings of $0.01 per share for the quarter.

FOOL ON THE HILL
An Investment Opinion
by Dale Wettlaufer

Non-Random Results

Microsoft <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") end if %> hit another new high today, perhaps due in small part to a Wall Street Journal article published today that all but described network computers, or NCs, as dead-letter devices. Oracle Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") end if %>, known for its endorsement and vision (but not revenues) on NCs, was mentioned in the article, but its stock is down today because it reportedly held a meeting yesterday to advise analysts on quarterly trends, not because Oracle shareholders have suddenly figured out that 1998 is not the year of the NC.

Sun Microsystems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SUNW)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SUNW)") end if %>, the maker of UNIX servers, workstations, chips, and software, declined $1 5/16 to $41 1/8. Sun is vehemently anti-Wintel and will continue to press ahead with its vision of the network as the computer. The problem here, though, is that Microsoft is playing Bill Clinton to Sun's Newt Gingrich. Newt Gingrich is a smart guy who was ahead of the curve on a lot of ideas, but Bill Clinton was able to appropriate them and make them his. It's Bill Gates and his team of people and business model that are basically demolishing Oracle's NC hopes, even if Microsoft's technology isn't the best. The same could be said for the legendary battle between the Mac OS and Windows. It is management and other intangible factors, not technology, that matter in generating non-random investment results.

One doesn't have to be a partisan technologist or a business model ideologue to do well in investing. In fact, both are bad for investment results. Paying more attention to the merits of technology and to the putative technology leaders than to the merits of the people who are actually running the businesses and the business models that are truly working would have you owning IBM <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IBM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IBM)") end if %> and Apple <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AAPL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AAPL)") end if %> rather than Microsoft and Intel <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") end if %> over the last 15 years. Investors should not get caught up in the next "insanely great thing" if they want to generate excess returns. They should get caught up in insanely great managements with insanely great ability to execute on intelligent business models and strategies.

Margins are one place investors look in trying to discern value and business execution. Identifying big margins is a simple matter of going to the latest income statement or string of income statements, but margins don't tell you everything you need to know to identify a well-run business or even a good business model. While margins can tell you about the value-added in a product and something about the productivity of people and capital employed by a business, the absence of huge margins isn't at all an indication of a poor quality business. What about Wal-Mart <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: WMT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: WMT)") end if %> and Home Depot <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: HD)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: HD)") end if %>? Those aren't businesses that are going to generate 60% gross margins on twine, putty knives, lumber, and other mass-market consumer goods. What these companies lack in margins they make up in volume. Volume relative to capital invested in a business is the result of superior marketing, service, capital allocation, and daily execution, all of which lead us straight back to management. What the heck does this have to do with "technology," though?

Well, margins have to be tended to. Margins can lead managements down some pretty dubious paths. Iomega <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IOM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IOM)") end if %> serves as a good example. Its recent strategy of goosing demand with marketing was supposed to generate "X" in sales, "Y" in operating profits, and "Z" in net income. Voila! Sweet bottom-line growth. Margins don't work that way, though. By their very nature, margins are the result of some line of profit divided into sales. If the sales don't materialize and you've tried to push demand past its natural point of market equilibrium, your margins go straight to hell. The Zip storage system is an insanely great technology, but you've got to have the right strategy to turn the technology into cash flows.

Some investors look at the whole of technology space and know that keeping up on what's hot and what's not is best left to those in the industry and those writing Tired/Wired. If I'm an investor who is investing the capital that I generated from the sale of my general contracting business, what the heck do I know about digital subscriber line modulation, epitaxial wafers, chemical vapor deposition, RTP reactors, and object-oriented relational database tools? I'd rather attempt to identify things that are identifiable in a reasonable amount of time and then spend the rest of my time playing golf in Scotland, visiting the grandkids, and reading a good book. The identifiable things are fairly constant in business: Quality and integrity of management are two huge ones. These are fairly nebulous, but one thing that captures these characteristics is how well a management team has executed on its plans.

That's why it's important that investors be given access to conference calls. Without an idea of the goals for the coming quarter and a discussion of how the company plans to achieve those goals, an investor has far less of an idea how well things went at the end of the quarter just by looking at the sometimes meager numbers in the run-of-the-mill press release. The intangibles available on a conference call, such as "do these people sound like they have a good grasp of their business" and "how intelligently are they assessing themselves and their opportunities" aren't available in the press release. Some fresh-faced 26-year-old MBA graduate saying "this management is great" in an analyst research report doesn't always match the experiences of a retired loan officer listening in on a conference call as an individual investor.

According to Ben Graham and David Dodd's Security Analysis, the financials of a company are supposed to show the quality of a company. To a large extent, that's true. But when a company is priced at 12 times revenues and 70 times earnings, huge margins and insanely great technology don't tell the whole story for the investor who is looking to establish a position in such a company. Assessing intrinsic value (and make no mistake, despite the observations of kibitzing columnists, a company can be priced beneath intrinsic value at 12 times revenues and no P/E ratio) requires a number of different data inputs, some of which are intangible. Just selecting neat technology, huge margins, a hot sector, and the right theme without the real data inputs that an investor in a private-market situation would require doesn't cut it when it comes to generating something other than random investment returns.

CONFERENCE CALLS

Please see the Motley Fool's Conference Calls page for call information and links to synopses.

WE DELIVER - Get The Evening News delivered
to your e-mailbox every evening!

ANOTHER FOOLISH THING

See something moving a stock that we didn't cover?
E-mail the Fool News Team
and we will start working on the story.
Unfortunately, we cannot answer every e-mail
or respond to individual questions.

Yi-Hsin Chang (TMF Puck), a Fool
Brian Graney (TMF Panic), Fool Two
Alex Schay (TMF Nexus6), Fool, too
Dale Wettlaufer (TMF Ralegh), Final Fool
Contributing Writers

Brian Bauer (TMF Hoops), another Fool
Jennifer Silber (TMF Amused), Fool at last
Editing