Perhaps it's the sign of a fully matured, end game bull market. A good CFO is just doing his job when he knowingly cabals with the company's analysts to drive the earnings consensus lower than reality merits. Investors respond by raising their earnings standards ever higher, till even missing the whisper number means a stock takes a big hit. It's a similar ploy to the now-extinct 'sell' recommendation by brokerage houses. This is the most psychological stock market I've ever witnessed.
Investors seem to suffer from paramnesia.
They sell on good earnings, cheer a slowing economy, rally on worker layoffs, cower at Alan Greenspan's every word, and madly rotate sectors at an ever quickening pace. The analysts are totally confused, and in their obsession for details they've lost sight of the big picture , which ironically is the same as it ever was. Of course, with the establishment of the Mac Observer Virtual Stock Portfolio , I've become my own contrarian indicator. I'm waiting for a successful retest of May's Nasdaq lows before wading in any deeper. In my personal portfolio I've been dabbling in the old-economy financial, energy and utility stocks for the first time since the early 1990s.