Give us a clue!

Have you ever got annoyed when you see a favourite share go down... then down some more...then down some more...
...even if perhaps the overall market is doing okay?

Yet there is no news and no news due.

You start  to wonder 'what's happening? Is there bad news on the way? Is the share just being shorted and it will soon head back up?'

It's the absence of any explanation that's irritating.

So I suggest a new rule should be brought in; any company whose share price has gone down by a certain figure since the last news was released, let's say 15%, should be forced to put out a statement.

The statement should state whether there is any reason for the fall, if there is any bad news or if the company is satisfied trading has not deteriorated.

Then at least we have something to go on. If nothing is wrong, then the shorters would close and the share go back up to where it should be.

Another thing! It's time vagueness was outlawed.

How many times have you seen an interim statement along the lines of "We are trading within our expectations..."

Well, what are those expectations in turnover and profit? These figures should be produced.

Or, even worse,  "Our profit is expected to be below expectations".

Well, how much below then?  50p or 50 million? How can we decide whether to buy or sell when we have no clue what the figures really are?

"Our profit is expected to be ahead of expectations.."  The same applies...a little ahead or a lot ahead?

I've also noticed recently share prices going down and then later on comes the profit warning.

When a company knows things are going badly they should be forced to put out an immediate statement so everyone is on a level playing field.

The statement should state why and also have a figure in it. Ie, "We have screwed up a contract so we now think profit for the year will be 10m and not the 14m we were expecting..."

For now companies seem to be able to get away with giving us little information. It's time we had some new rules in place. We want figures! And we want to know the minute anything goes wrong! (Or right!)