SUMMERTIME FUN

Revshark with some talk this afternoon about why he thinks the markets have gone steadily down over the past few weeks. He may be correct:

"About two weeks ago, the major suppliers of earnings estimate data started adjusting their numbers to reflect stock-option expenses. If you have read any earnings reports recently, you know that it is now a requirement that option expenses be accounted for each quarter.
The numbers are not insubstantial. For example, Broadcom (BRCM:Nasdaq) had earnings estimates of $1.47 per share for 2006 and $1.66 for 2007 before option expenses. Reuters and First Call are now including option costs that reduced the estimates for BRCM to 90 cents for 2006 and $1.12 for 2007. There are plenty of other examples of companies where estimates have been similarly reduced. Is it just a coincidence that this change in earnings estimates started to appear right as the market began to break down? I'm not sure there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship, but I would hypothesize that this has helped keep buyers on the sidelines."


And one more quote from the realmoney.com folks. Any guesses as to who penned this gem as the markets closed on Tuesday afternoon as the markets made their bird flu bottom? Yes, correct, Jimmy Cramer wrote this a little after 4:00 eastern time as the markets cratered on the news of the birds in Indonesia. As I have said a few time, you can't make this stuff up.


"Worst of all possible worlds: an afternoon fade out! Oh my, that means we are back to being the worst market in the world!

I kid you not. That's what the U.S. is. We are the place that simply doesn't work. Our tech stocks are awful. Our mineral stocks are second-rate compared to those of Australia and Latin America and Canada. Our drug companies are doing worse than the European drug companies. Our banks can't rate versus theirs. Even our telcos are worse than theirs."