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Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts

Location: Blogs Bob O'Brien's Sanity Check Blog    
Posted by:   bobo 3/31/2006 4:00 AM

From Herb's latest apologist bit of revisionist history:

"From hallucinations department: The latest in Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne's strange fantasy world is his attempt to smear private research firms for sharing their reports with journalists. In this case, he is trying to make an issue out of the online access I once had (but barely used) to reports from Gradient Analytics, which is being sued by Overstock (OSTK ) . (Truth be told: As is, I have too many passwords and user names to remember, and tapping in to these sites is a hassle. Besides, I get enough ideas on my own.)
 
So let me make this clear: There is no law against reporters having access to private research reports, if the research firms make them available. Business reporters regularly see research reports of all types from all kinds of sources. I don't care if the report had originally been requested by one of the firm's clients -- and they didn't tell me. All I care about is the quality of information.
 
Lucky for my readers: the few Gradient reports I've quoted in my column, especially the one on Overstock, were top notch."
 
Would that be the weird fantasy world where 8 affiants have come forward to corroborate the account of Gradient colluding with hedge funds to negatively impact stock prices? As to the top notch comment, you have got to be kidding.
 
Really, Herb? Top Notch? How about the one on NFI from Feb. 14, 2005, which you used as the basis of your article OF THE SAME DAY, wherein Gradient omitted the income from the portfolio (about $100 million), and multiplied the preferred dividend by the number of common shares, rather than the preferred shares, resulting an error of about $50 million?
 
Is that what you consider top notch? One that basically eliminated $150 million of income "by mistake" to make its point that the company is bad?
 
Please. Really. Puhleeese.
 
And ad far as the "I have too many passwords" excuse, that is honestly the lamest thing I have heard this year. Quit while you are behind.
 
It is true that there is no law against having access to private research reports. Nobody is saying there is. Even if the factual quality is below abysmal.
 
There are rules against publishing those reports if you have taken money from an issuer, and aren't reporting that you did so as a work for that issuer - and a hedge fund is an issuer.
 
There is also no law against lying. There is no law against being stupid, or sloppy, or shoddy.
 
There is a law against engaging in a stock manipulation scheme. I think that is more germane than the other items.
 
Don't you?

 
Copyright ©2006 Bob O'Brien
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Comments (21)
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By Rube Waddell on 3/31/2006 9:35 PM
Sounds like Lickspittle Wormtongue's latest attempt to spin the story away from the real issue. He must think the public is stupid if they're buying his load of crap. We know his bosses are stupid for keeping him on the air.
Hey bunnyman, where does the naked shorting tie into the Biovail story? It's never mentioned.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By bobo on 3/31/2006 9:40 PM
I'm not sure that there is a tie-in, per se. It isn't on the list. This is just pure, good old fashioned market manipulation, which is of interest to many here.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By Rube Waddell on 3/31/2006 9:54 PM
Hey, we've got a ringside seat and we're thirsting for blood.
Thumbs already down.
This is the best show around.

Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - We will have to rename him. By cutty on 3/31/2006 10:41 PM
Rube,
I am really not sure about

To the contrary, I think that they are clever. You will see, soon we will have to change lapdog to something else, like Herb the lightning rod, or Herb "decoy" Greenberg.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - We will have to rename him. Take two By cutty on 3/31/2006 10:45 PM
Rube,
I am really not sure about We know his bosses are stupid for keeping him on the air.

To the contrary, I think that they are clever. You will see, soon we will have to change lapdog to something else, like Herb the lightning rod, or Herb "decoy" Greenberg.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By hwh on 4/1/2006 12:10 AM
Pulling up on a person's arms while you foot is across their throat is not an attempt to rescue.Advising them to remember to breathe during the recovery attempt is not meaningful revival technique.

There are theatrics and there are intentions. Properly replicating the scene of the purported crime is the most effectual means of derriving truth. A proper "set" & director with knowledge of the facts and their chronology weeds out the herrings and thea-tricks. All that this "on-set" mock trial is accomplishing is ensuring no one from Wall Street(your peers environment) will be in the jury box at trial. The court may have to be held in small town Nebraska, Indiana, or Wisconsin to find an impartial jury. You will play hell finding a sympathetic ear there...hwh
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By dave on 4/1/2006 3:56 AM
Herb is too dumb to realize he is being set up.

I bet when this all comes out, it will turn out it too really small dollars to corrupt him.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By dave on 4/1/2006 3:58 AM
Herb's lawyer's advice: "shut the f up".

I wonder why he won't take the advice. It's fun watching these guys incriminate themselves in public.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By Honkytonker on 4/1/2006 5:01 AM
NY TImes this morning has a Nocera disinformation piece regarding the 60 Minutes piece. FYI.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By gregcable2002 on 4/1/2006 5:52 AM
there is a law against lying,ask Martha Stewart,she lied and that lying is what got her sentence enhanced.Actually your right there is no law against lying,lying only gives the judge a reason to make the jail time a little longer.Don't bend over in the shower to retrieve the soap.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By bocaboob on 4/1/2006 6:51 AM
You didnt mention that the Gradient spokeswoman on CNBC said that journalists have to wait 4 to 6 weeks before they can access a report, so if both HG and she are truthful, would mean HG is not a journalist. Truth finally prevails.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By gregcable2002 on 4/1/2006 7:13 AM
it seems like everytime they open their mouths they stick their foot in,don't they know that everything that gets printed or said on tv will be used against them in a court of law? What irks me is the arrogance these people show towards the law and the ordinary investor.The light is shining in a dark place and that dark place has no way of defending itself against it.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By Sledge on 4/1/2006 7:19 AM
Herb and others are doing the 'Bunny Hop' daily. Hop to the left. Hop to the right. Now HOP HOP HOP! lol

Keep up the good work Bobo.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By n-tres-ted on 4/1/2006 10:39 AM
They keep talking because they believe their only chance is to avoid being charged and tried, and that their best tool for achieving that objective is the pen rather than "lawyering up." IMO their use of the pen and television appearances is hopeless, as the problem has approached or surpassed critical mass.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By n-tres-ted on 4/1/2006 10:50 AM
Did you see this Forbes coverage?

http://snipurl.com/oitw
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By InTheKnow on 4/1/2006 1:57 PM
We seemed to have lost track of the naked short issue! These malcontents will get theirs but its about time we get back to the issue at hand:

NAKED SHORTING, SHO, GRANDFATHERING, VOTING RIGHTS, FAILS TO DELIVER, COUNTERFEIT STOCK!
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By anon on 4/1/2006 4:02 PM
3 questions

Camelback/Gradient was founded in 1996. What companies were they ferreting out as problem companies that were manipulating their earnings into the bubble?

"Their machines looked for patterns, based on formulas created through years of academic research to find companies bending accounting rules to make their earnings look good." USA Today

Who was using their research?

What year was the StockScouter/proprietary algorithim implemented?

http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/us/2006-03-27-gradient-scrutiny_x.htm

"Their computerized approach caught on quickly. Gradient, formerly known as Camelback Research, created a stock-grading program for MSN called Stock Scouter and helped build the background systems that generate the Stock Meter at USATODAY.com."
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By mhelburn on 4/1/2006 6:02 PM
The latest spin is a beaut! Vickrey specifically told me in an e-mail that there was a difference between quantitative and qualitative reports. Now they are trying to make people believe that their reports (qualitative) are generated by computer. Another lie from his hometown of Total Crap, Arizona. This is the Chewbacca defense at its finest. What does a computer have to do with downloading the information directly from SAC and Rocker. Typing monkeys collect the most biased, dishonest and erroneous slander and it is chummed to Herb and his bilge-pumping compadres after the front-running hedge fund criminals have their puts and shorts in place.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By n-tres-ted on 4/1/2006 6:51 PM
I just read the Nocera piece in today's NYT. Left column, all the way from top to bottom of the Business section front page; continued inside clear across the top third of a page. He goes out of his way more than once to diss Lesley Stahl, obviously a CBS star, which is really quite remarkable. All to admonish LS for failing to understand that shorting stock and then publicly bashing it is simply the way the markets work. The point he makes is dubious at best, and yet he takes the risk of spending that much ink to whack a media "big." Makes me think that Nocera or someone at the NYT has some skin in the game. He also says that he regards holding a research report while a client gets a short position built as "sleazy, if not illegal." If you going to bash someone like LS and CBS, he ought to know what he's talking about. That kind of stock manipulation scheme designed to enable profiting off stock purchases/sales is illegal. So Nocera contributes nothing to the realm of ethics or law by being willing to call it sleazy. Note, however, that nothing at all is mentioned about naked shorting. Once it come out, I suppose Nocera wil say "oh, that is terrible! I didn't know about that!"
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By atteboy on 4/2/2006 7:57 AM
Bob, Wondering if the ex-Gradient employees have said anything about HG or other reporters calling Gradient or discussing any of these reports? I haven't heard, have you? Would'nt surprise me, though. If so, maybe HG fears that little item might be discovered.

Re: usernames and passwords. Who doesn't have too many to remember? I keep a secret file which is password protected to keep track of them. Who is he trying to convince of his honesty by using such a weak reason as to why we should believe him.
Re: Lapdog sighting at Marketwatch - bemoaning the fate of all the poor analysts By Majordanger on 4/2/2006 10:18 AM
Bob,
All these references to hallucinations by Herb and Fantasy World by you are giving me flashbacks to Disneyland in the 60's. At least there in Walt's Wonderful world of Color you knew it was all play pretend.

It appears they do play loose with the reality there in CNBCland. Very colorful though.

A bit more gray and drab here in TheSanityCheck because you are forced to continually hammer and repeat the same FACTS over and over .
Makes for bad TV but I love it.

FACT: Herb did front run NFI stories
FACT: Large Hedge funds do sell stocks they don't have and never intend to borrow
FACT:Large hedge funds launch FUD campain against shorted companies through media , class action suits, and rumours of SEC investigations.

FACT: DTCC can't keep track of stocks or just won't tell us

FACT: There are more shares of Overstock in circulation that can be accounted for.

Bob, You used to be that annoying little growler that they couldn't shake off thier pant leg. But FINALLY we are starting to see a little color ...Blood Red
Keep it up Bobo


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