“…observe that GAAP seems to be rules‐based and theoretically inconsistent.” – Timothy B. Forsyth and Michael T. Dugan, Inconsistencies in U.S. GAAP: Accounting for Executory Contracts
“About three years out of every thirteen or so, the stock market moves upward based on earnings moving upward, with no sense nor care for valuation levels. Those three years always precede the biggest market disasters.” – Joel Litman
“While CFOs caution that earnings management is difficult to unravel from the outside, they suggest a number of red flags that point to potential misrepresentation. The three most common flags are persistent deviations between earnings and the underlying cash flows, deviations from industry and other peer experience, and large and unexplained accruals and changes in accruals.” – Earnings Quality: Evidence from the Field (Dichev, Graham, Harvey, Rajgopal)
“A human being is like a seed. Either you can keep it as it is, or you can make it grow into a wonderful tree with flowers and fruits.” – Sadhguru
“In theory, a company should not keep any more cash on hand than is required for the transaction of its usual business and the possible needs that may suddenly arise. But for some years past, there has been a widespread tendency towards holding more cash than the business seems to need.” – Ben Graham, The Interpretation of Financial Statements, 1937
“Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.” – Ayn Rand
“As-reported earnings bare little to no resemblance to the actual financial performance of the firm. Those who think otherwise have not really studied the financials nor the calculation of earnings as it is reported today.” – Joel Litman
“The true investor embraces volatility.” – Warren Buffett
“Error occurs when we cling to the belief that I am ‘that.’ Truth is unveiled when we see that one has ‘that’ or does ‘that,’ instead of is ‘that.’” – David R. Hawkins
“By holding expensive securities with low prospective returns, people choose to risk actual loss. We prefer the risk of lost opportunity to that of lost capital, and agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment espoused by respected value investor, when he said, ‘I would rather lose half our shareholders…than lose half our shareholder’s money…'” – Jean-Marie Eveillard
“Overall, CFOs have come to view financial reporting largely as a compliance activity rather than as a vehicle of innovation designed to inform stakeholders and lower the cost of capital.” – Earnings Quality: Evidence from the Field (Dichev, Graham, Harvey, Rajgopal)
“Try to figure out what your skill set is and apply that to the markets. If you are really good at accounting, you might be good as a value investor. If you are strong in computers and math, you might do best with a quantitative approach.” – Edward Thorp, Stock Market and Black Jack Expert from the book “Market Wizards” by Jack Schwager
“All the powers of existence help those who are involved in good benevolent work.” – The Holy Vedas
“You know you’re in the growth stage of the bull market when people with no stock expertise are suddenly stock experts.” – Joel Litman
“Investors cannot understand the complexity of the new accounting rules, so in many cases they look for the companies to educate them so they can better understand it and better explain it.” – Earnings Quality: Evidence from the Field (Dichev, Graham, Harvey, Rajgopal)
“The higher the level of consciousness, the greater the likelihood that what is held in mind will actualize. To see solutions that ‘serve the highest goal’ is more powerful than simply projecting fulfillment of merely personal selfish desires and gain.” – David R. Hawkins
“You give before you get.” – Napoleon Hill
“A large majority of CFOs feel that earnings misrepresentation occurs most often in an attempt to influence stock price, because of outside and inside pressure to hit earnings benchmarks, and to avoid adverse compensation and career consequences for senior executives.” – Earnings Quality: Evidence from the Field (Dichev, Graham, Harvey, Rajgopal)
“Integrity…it means doing what is right. Not necessarily what is correct – no one is correct all the time. But doing what is right.” – Roberto Goizueta
“In some cases, also, arbitrary values have been placed on the fixed assets – values which bear little relation to the actual cost of their subsequent fair value… The epithet, ‘watered stock’ was commonly applied to inflated capitalizations of this kind.” – Ben Graham, The Interpretation of Financial Statements 1937