Sorry, Guys
I wrote a column in yesterday's National Post in which I argued that trading in Nortel Networks should be suspended and that analysts covering the company were doing their clients a disservice because they were working with incomplete financial information.
Turns out perhaps that thesis was a bit rash, although it had the right intentions. Suspending trading, while in theory a solid idea until Nortel gets its house in order, would be unworkable given there are more than 4 billion shares out there. Forcing people to wait on the sidelines until this accounting and management debacle works itself out is probably not the best scenario.
As for analysts, they are doing a job they would refer not to do. That said, you have to believe clients, brokers and Nortel are expecting them to slog it out until the bitter end. As someone told me told, “It's not like they can stop writing simply because there isn't enough information”. So, I say “my bad” to all those hard working analysts out there. It's a crappy job but someone's got to do it.
