September 17, 20200Comments

Kitchen-Sink Effect In the Spotlight

A specific company example of how our cutting-edge technology sees through accounting tricks and provides our clients with a cleaner and more comprehensive measure of core earnings.

by Kyle Guske II, Senior Investment Analyst, MBA

July 15, 20190Comments

Removing the Hedge Ineffectiveness Disclosure Requirement Is Not Good for Investors

The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2017-12, reduces the disclosure requirements for companies and makes it more difficult for investors to analyze the true financial health of publicly-traded companies.

by Kyle Guske II, Senior Investment Analyst, MBA

November 30, 20152Comments

Why PE Ratios Are Not A Good Measure Of Value

We’ve pointed out the flaws in the price to earnings (PE) ratio many times before. Chief among these flaws is the fact that the accounting earnings used in the ratio are unreliable for many reasons:

by Sam McBride

September 24, 20152Comments

3 Ways Accounting Tricks Can Crash Your Portfolio

Buried in the footnotes and MD&A, you can find where reported expenses understate true costs, red flags for earnings manipulation and significant differences that need to be reconciled when comparing companies. If you want to understand the underlying economics of the company’s business, you have to understand its accounting policies.

by Sam McBride

November 15, 20110Comments

Forensic Accounting Says Avoid Energy & Financial Stocks

As one financial scandal follows another, it seems the good guys are having a tougher time catching the bad guys. Recent revelations about MF Global’s ponzi scheme are another reminder of how our regulatory and oversight systems seem to let whales pass through their net.

by David Trainer, Founder & CEO

September 7, 20110Comments

Should Directors Ignore Those One-Time Items?

I do not think so. The question, however, is not so much about what directors ignore. You cannot ignore something about which you are unaware. The real issue is that most directors and investors are simply unaware of the many one-time items because they are buried deep in the annals of footnotes in annual reports or 10-K filings.

by David Trainer, Founder & CEO

October 14, 20100Comments

Private Sector to the Rescue Part 1: The Google Price Index and Better Markets, Inc.

At a time when most of the public believes political leadership to be weak, we should not focus on finding scapegoats but rather on assuming accountability to help fix problems.

by David Trainer, Founder & CEO