Gates: "Where are the computer science students" 4167

alexy

Something appears to be garbled in translation. I wasn't referring to MS but another company closer to home. I went through its financial reports for a period of several years and, for most of that time, the numbers were out to lunch. Only recently have things improved but not enough for me to want to put money into it.

Actually, I believe those are reported as separate items, but you're right in that they may be accounted under a different entry. The main difficulty in sorting this stuff out is whether the report gives any indication of this.

No wonder some companies get away with bogus figures.

That's a point made in Benjamin Graham's book "The Intelligent Investor". If one owns stock in a company, one is a part owner of that firm, and should treat that stock accordingly. That's why one should sit down and try to make head or tail of these reports, and it's not hard to do. It takes some time and patience and there is lots of information available on how one should examine and interpret financial reports.

Having been stung a few times in my younger days, I don't hesitate to do some digging and ask companies about something in their financial numbers that looks fishy to me.

I'm enbreastled to do that as a potential employee and a potential investor (if I don't already own some of its stock). It also tells me how much the people I meet with know about what's going on in their companies and how those firms function. It's rather amusing to see a shocked reaction when I mention something that they think is hush-hush or that they didn't even know about. ("Hey, this guy knows more about this company than we do and we work here!")