The fiction of corporate transparency

Also interesting:

As for the potential of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "bailout" bill to actually solve our housing problem, I thought I'd pass along a few nuggets from Joel Locker of FBN Securities: Even though folks are focused on foreclosure rates, rental vacancies are just as material. As of the end of the second quarter, vacant rental units stood at 10% (about 3.94 million units), up from the 43-year average of 7.16%.

That 2.84-percentage-point difference equates to about 1.12 million excess rental units above the historic mean, which prompts Locker to ask: "Why keep people in houses they can barely afford without government (taxpayer) assistance when rental units desperately need occupancy?"

Fleck underscores the fact that earnings announcements have become manipulative dog-and-pony shows, now being disproven by reality increasingly quickly.

I think there are two main answers, same as they've ever been: (1) to play on people's fear of change, and (2) to buy votes.