Hold onto your wallet

St. Reagan famously said that the nine scariest words were “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Now that the Roberts SCOTUS has decided that Donald Trump is the government, Reagan’s quip takes on a new salience.

“For more than half a century publicly-traded US corporations have reported earnings at quarterly intervals, but during an early-morning wave of social media posts on Monday, President Donald Trump reignited a long-standing debate over the requirement.


“Trump is pushing for a six-month reporting schedule as opposed to the current every three-months format. Ending quarterly results in favor of a six-month reporting schedule would “save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies,” Trump said.”

Trump’s proposal would certainly mean less accountability and more volatility, two goals that describe Trump’s reign. 

“Quarterly earnings were mandated by the SEC in 1970 as part of the government agency’s decades-long push to increase transparency in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash.”

Sunlight is an effective antiseptic, so it is anathema to germs. More transparency is better in a capitalist system. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s Jonathan Golub, chief equity strategist, Seaport Research Partners:

“Capital markets and our economy in general are more productive when there’s more information and transparency. The goal of Wall Street is to provide capital; we will all do a better job if there’s more easily accessible information.”

“The market will reward those who report more openly and frequently.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-raises-alarm-trump-204336897.html

 

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