In reverse order: I’m paid by my employers, Dow Jones and CNBC. I have no agenda. Neither I nor any member of my family is short the stock. And hammer away? I’d say it’s more like shed light on a company that issued a press release about a good quarter without any detail in the face of a slumping stock as owners who are forced to file Form 144s are are selling like there is no tomorrow.
As I responded to one reader: I'm still waiting for an answer to my question about a discrepancy between the company's statement in public comments and filings that its investment in China Natural Gas is generating "substantial cost savings" for Bodisen via a customer of China Natural Gas. The company now says it's an "indirect" savings. What is meant by that? How does an investment by Company A in Company B produce a cost savings from Company C? If the company can't answer that question, or offer a good explanation, I would wonder what else might be exaggerated or not quite right.
As a commentator, part of my job is to point out red flags -- and this is clearly one. I find it remarkable that investors protest when journalists and others try to pull back the curtain. Good investors want to see all sides to the argument; mostly, they want to know why people are on the other sides of their trade so they can do further research to either confirm their reason for investing or cause them to re-think it entirely.
Thankfully, in this country, journalists are free of censorship to write about public companies, which despite their "public" nature don’t get all of the scrutiny they deserve. Sometimes the critics are right; sometimes they are wrong. But at least, as an investor, you wind up being fully informed.
