Watchdog Transparency Blog

Watchdog Transparency Blog

In our Blog we take a critical look at public company disclosures and focus on issues surrounding transparency, reliability and accuracy. It you are looking for cheerleading, you have come to the wrong place. We rely on information from the best sources available to gain insight into companies and make predictions about what will happen in the future. Nothing in business is certain, so sometimes we will be wrong, but we will always be an independent voice telling you the truth as we see it. We offer Retail Investors our Research Reports for Free.

Sign up to get all of our blogs delivered directly to your inbox.

Articles

Articles

Symantec FLASHBACK “What happened?”

Posted on Jun 8, 2020

We originally published this report in February 1, 2019 to FactSet. We are now republishing it on our blog since it was referenced and quoted in a securities lawsuit against Symantec, which has since changed its name to NortonLifeLock Inc.

Posted in Independent Research, Litigation, Revenue Recognition, featured

Under Armor Goodwill Impairment Due to Coronavirus or Preexisting Conditions?

Posted on Jun 3, 2020

In our previous piece “Birds of a Feather: How to Tell a Gray Swan from a Black Swan,” we discussed how difficult it may be to spot when a company disingenuously blames an impairment of goodwill on the effects of the coronavirus, as opposed to righfuly blaming it on preexisting conditions at the company. We then specifically mentioned Under Armour’s (UA) Latin American reporting unit as one to watch because PwC highlighted the goodwill impairment testing of that specific reporting unit as requiring particularly “challenging, subjective, or complex judgements” in its Critical Audit Matters (CAMs).

Posted in coronavirus, featured, black swan event

Kraft Heinz: Complaint Alleges Fundamental Corporate Governance Problems, Accounting Shenanigans, and Insider Trading

Posted on May 29, 2020

Kraft Heinz (KHC) announced a massive $15.4 billion impairment in February, 2019 to its goodwill and intangible assets. This impairment was essentially an admission by management major components of the combined company were worth billions less than recorded on the balance sheet. It was also an admission that 3G Capital (3G) and Warren Buffett’s much touted merger of Kraft and Heinz was a failure. In the aftermath, Warren Buffett admitted that he had overpaid for his 27% of the combined company.

Posted in Litigation, featured

New Research: Gray Swan Event Factor is Predictive of Stock Return

Posted on May 22, 2020

Joseph Burke PhD. and Joseph Yarbrough PhD, have produced two white papers for Watchdog Research that show that companies with higher Gray Swan Event Factors have a lower return on investment. This is because accounting-related risks are not properly priced into the market, potentially giving investors who use this valuable tool an edge over the broader market.

Posted in Gray Swan Event Factor, Independent Research, featured

America Runs from Luckin: The Fraud

Posted on May 22, 2020

We originally wrote this post on Luckin Coffee over a month ago on April 27th, 2020. Since then the story has significantly developed. Since we wrote this piece, Luckin has changed its story and admitted that its CEO was involved in the massive fraud and delayed releasing its annual report. The WSJ has also written a devastating piece that confirmed our suspicions that many of the expenses were fabricated and that Charles Lu, the chairman, sat at the center of a complicated web of related party transactions that began before the IPO. Luckin has also been delisted from the Nasdaq, hopefully for good.

Posted in Fraud, China, featured

We Few, We Happy Few, We Late Filers

Posted on May 19, 2020

In this post we look at the large accelerated filers who have not filed their 10-Qs yet due to the coronavirus. These companies are outliers, with only 27 active filers delaying quarterly reports out of a population of nearly 600. We have already expressed concerns about the SEC allowing companies to be less transparent during such a critical time, and these concerns were not allayed by our research for this post. We will look at some broader trends and highlight a few egregious examples.

Posted in Coronavirus, featured

What Can We Learn From Late Quarterly Filings During the Coronavirus?

Posted on May 13, 2020

To protect the elderly and immunocompromised, federal and state officials have locked down society to flatten the rate of infections. An unfortunate byproduct of these shut-downs has been the destruction of large swaths of the economy and skyrocketing unemployment. To relieve some of the financial pressure these lockdowns have put on businesses, federal and state officials have tried different measures intended to aid businesses. For its part, the SEC has permitted companies affected by the coronavirus to delay their annual and quarterly statements that would normally be due from March 31st-July 1st.

Posted in featured, Coronavirus
Total articles: 108(page 10 of 16 with 7 articles)
CATEGORIES
CATEGORIES
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Watchdog Transparency Blog

Watchdog Transparency Blog

In our Blog we take a critical look at public company disclosures and focus on issues surrounding transparency, reliability and accuracy. It you are looking for cheerleading, you have come to the wrong place. We rely on information from the best sources available to gain insight into companies and make predictions about what will happen in the future. Nothing in business is certain, so sometimes we will be wrong, but we will always be an independent voice telling you the truth as we see it. We offer Retail Investors our Research Reports for Free.

Sign up to get all of our blogs delivered directly to your inbox.

Articles

Articles

Symantec FLASHBACK “What happened?”

Posted on Jun 8, 2020

We originally published this report in February 1, 2019 to FactSet. We are now republishing it on our blog since it was referenced and quoted in a securities lawsuit against Symantec, which has since changed its name to NortonLifeLock Inc.

Posted in Independent Research, Litigation, Revenue Recognition, featured

Under Armor Goodwill Impairment Due to Coronavirus or Preexisting Conditions?

Posted on Jun 3, 2020

In our previous piece “Birds of a Feather: How to Tell a Gray Swan from a Black Swan,” we discussed how difficult it may be to spot when a company disingenuously blames an impairment of goodwill on the effects of the coronavirus, as opposed to righfuly blaming it on preexisting conditions at the company. We then specifically mentioned Under Armour’s (UA) Latin American reporting unit as one to watch because PwC highlighted the goodwill impairment testing of that specific reporting unit as requiring particularly “challenging, subjective, or complex judgements” in its Critical Audit Matters (CAMs).

Posted in coronavirus, featured, black swan event

Kraft Heinz: Complaint Alleges Fundamental Corporate Governance Problems, Accounting Shenanigans, and Insider Trading

Posted on May 29, 2020

Kraft Heinz (KHC) announced a massive $15.4 billion impairment in February, 2019 to its goodwill and intangible assets. This impairment was essentially an admission by management major components of the combined company were worth billions less than recorded on the balance sheet. It was also an admission that 3G Capital (3G) and Warren Buffett’s much touted merger of Kraft and Heinz was a failure. In the aftermath, Warren Buffett admitted that he had overpaid for his 27% of the combined company.

Posted in Litigation, featured

New Research: Gray Swan Event Factor is Predictive of Stock Return

Posted on May 22, 2020

Joseph Burke PhD. and Joseph Yarbrough PhD, have produced two white papers for Watchdog Research that show that companies with higher Gray Swan Event Factors have a lower return on investment. This is because accounting-related risks are not properly priced into the market, potentially giving investors who use this valuable tool an edge over the broader market.

Posted in Gray Swan Event Factor, Independent Research, featured

America Runs from Luckin: The Fraud

Posted on May 22, 2020

We originally wrote this post on Luckin Coffee over a month ago on April 27th, 2020. Since then the story has significantly developed. Since we wrote this piece, Luckin has changed its story and admitted that its CEO was involved in the massive fraud and delayed releasing its annual report. The WSJ has also written a devastating piece that confirmed our suspicions that many of the expenses were fabricated and that Charles Lu, the chairman, sat at the center of a complicated web of related party transactions that began before the IPO. Luckin has also been delisted from the Nasdaq, hopefully for good.

Posted in Fraud, China, featured

We Few, We Happy Few, We Late Filers

Posted on May 19, 2020

In this post we look at the large accelerated filers who have not filed their 10-Qs yet due to the coronavirus. These companies are outliers, with only 27 active filers delaying quarterly reports out of a population of nearly 600. We have already expressed concerns about the SEC allowing companies to be less transparent during such a critical time, and these concerns were not allayed by our research for this post. We will look at some broader trends and highlight a few egregious examples.

Posted in Coronavirus, featured

What Can We Learn From Late Quarterly Filings During the Coronavirus?

Posted on May 13, 2020

To protect the elderly and immunocompromised, federal and state officials have locked down society to flatten the rate of infections. An unfortunate byproduct of these shut-downs has been the destruction of large swaths of the economy and skyrocketing unemployment. To relieve some of the financial pressure these lockdowns have put on businesses, federal and state officials have tried different measures intended to aid businesses. For its part, the SEC has permitted companies affected by the coronavirus to delay their annual and quarterly statements that would normally be due from March 31st-July 1st.

Posted in featured, Coronavirus
Total articles: 108(page 10 of 16 with 7 articles)
CATEGORIES
CATEGORIES
ARCHIVES
ARCHIVES
Watchdog Transparency Blog

Watchdog Transparency Blog

In our Blog we take a critical look at public company disclosures and focus on issues surrounding transparency, reliability and accuracy. It you are looking for cheerleading, you have come to the wrong place. We rely on information from the best sources available to gain insight into companies and make predictions about what will happen in the future. Nothing in business is certain, so sometimes we will be wrong, but we will always be an independent voice telling you the truth as we see it. We offer Retail Investors our Research Reports for Free.

Sign up to get all of our blogs delivered directly to your inbox.

Articles

Articles

Symantec FLASHBACK “What happened?”

Posted on Jun 8, 2020

We originally published this report in February 1, 2019 to FactSet. We are now republishing it on our blog since it was referenced and quoted in a securities lawsuit against Symantec, which has since changed its name to NortonLifeLock Inc.

Posted in Independent Research, Litigation, Revenue Recognition, featured

Under Armor Goodwill Impairment Due to Coronavirus or Preexisting Conditions?

Posted on Jun 3, 2020

In our previous piece “Birds of a Feather: How to Tell a Gray Swan from a Black Swan,” we discussed how difficult it may be to spot when a company disingenuously blames an impairment of goodwill on the effects of the coronavirus, as opposed to righfuly blaming it on preexisting conditions at the company. We then specifically mentioned Under Armour’s (UA) Latin American reporting unit as one to watch because PwC highlighted the goodwill impairment testing of that specific reporting unit as requiring particularly “challenging, subjective, or complex judgements” in its Critical Audit Matters (CAMs).

Posted in coronavirus, featured, black swan event

Kraft Heinz: Complaint Alleges Fundamental Corporate Governance Problems, Accounting Shenanigans, and Insider Trading

Posted on May 29, 2020

Kraft Heinz (KHC) announced a massive $15.4 billion impairment in February, 2019 to its goodwill and intangible assets. This impairment was essentially an admission by management major components of the combined company were worth billions less than recorded on the balance sheet. It was also an admission that 3G Capital (3G) and Warren Buffett’s much touted merger of Kraft and Heinz was a failure. In the aftermath, Warren Buffett admitted that he had overpaid for his 27% of the combined company.

Posted in Litigation, featured

New Research: Gray Swan Event Factor is Predictive of Stock Return

Posted on May 22, 2020

Joseph Burke PhD. and Joseph Yarbrough PhD, have produced two white papers for Watchdog Research that show that companies with higher Gray Swan Event Factors have a lower return on investment. This is because accounting-related risks are not properly priced into the market, potentially giving investors who use this valuable tool an edge over the broader market.

Posted in Gray Swan Event Factor, Independent Research, featured

America Runs from Luckin: The Fraud

Posted on May 22, 2020

We originally wrote this post on Luckin Coffee over a month ago on April 27th, 2020. Since then the story has significantly developed. Since we wrote this piece, Luckin has changed its story and admitted that its CEO was involved in the massive fraud and delayed releasing its annual report. The WSJ has also written a devastating piece that confirmed our suspicions that many of the expenses were fabricated and that Charles Lu, the chairman, sat at the center of a complicated web of related party transactions that began before the IPO. Luckin has also been delisted from the Nasdaq, hopefully for good.

Posted in Fraud, China, featured

We Few, We Happy Few, We Late Filers

Posted on May 19, 2020

In this post we look at the large accelerated filers who have not filed their 10-Qs yet due to the coronavirus. These companies are outliers, with only 27 active filers delaying quarterly reports out of a population of nearly 600. We have already expressed concerns about the SEC allowing companies to be less transparent during such a critical time, and these concerns were not allayed by our research for this post. We will look at some broader trends and highlight a few egregious examples.

Posted in Coronavirus, featured

What Can We Learn From Late Quarterly Filings During the Coronavirus?

Posted on May 13, 2020

To protect the elderly and immunocompromised, federal and state officials have locked down society to flatten the rate of infections. An unfortunate byproduct of these shut-downs has been the destruction of large swaths of the economy and skyrocketing unemployment. To relieve some of the financial pressure these lockdowns have put on businesses, federal and state officials have tried different measures intended to aid businesses. For its part, the SEC has permitted companies affected by the coronavirus to delay their annual and quarterly statements that would normally be due from March 31st-July 1st.

Posted in featured, Coronavirus
Total articles: 108(page 10 of 16 with 7 articles)
CATEGORIES
CATEGORIES
ARCHIVES
ARCHIVES
Watchdog Transparency Blog

Watchdog Transparency Blog

In our Blog we take a critical look at public company disclosures and focus on issues surrounding transparency, reliability and accuracy. It you are looking for cheerleading, you have come to the wrong place. We rely on information from the best sources available to gain insight into companies and make predictions about what will happen in the future. Nothing in business is certain, so sometimes we will be wrong, but we will always be an independent voice telling you the truth as we see it. We offer Retail Investors our Research Reports for Free.

Sign up to get all of our blogs delivered directly to your inbox.

Articles

Articles

Symantec FLASHBACK “What happened?”

Posted on Jun 8, 2020

We originally published this report in February 1, 2019 to FactSet. We are now republishing it on our blog since it was referenced and quoted in a securities lawsuit against Symantec, which has since changed its name to NortonLifeLock Inc.

Posted in Independent Research, Litigation, Revenue Recognition, featured

Under Armor Goodwill Impairment Due to Coronavirus or Preexisting Conditions?

Posted on Jun 3, 2020

In our previous piece “Birds of a Feather: How to Tell a Gray Swan from a Black Swan,” we discussed how difficult it may be to spot when a company disingenuously blames an impairment of goodwill on the effects of the coronavirus, as opposed to righfuly blaming it on preexisting conditions at the company. We then specifically mentioned Under Armour’s (UA) Latin American reporting unit as one to watch because PwC highlighted the goodwill impairment testing of that specific reporting unit as requiring particularly “challenging, subjective, or complex judgements” in its Critical Audit Matters (CAMs).

Posted in coronavirus, featured, black swan event

Kraft Heinz: Complaint Alleges Fundamental Corporate Governance Problems, Accounting Shenanigans, and Insider Trading

Posted on May 29, 2020

Kraft Heinz (KHC) announced a massive $15.4 billion impairment in February, 2019 to its goodwill and intangible assets. This impairment was essentially an admission by management major components of the combined company were worth billions less than recorded on the balance sheet. It was also an admission that 3G Capital (3G) and Warren Buffett’s much touted merger of Kraft and Heinz was a failure. In the aftermath, Warren Buffett admitted that he had overpaid for his 27% of the combined company.

Posted in Litigation, featured

New Research: Gray Swan Event Factor is Predictive of Stock Return

Posted on May 22, 2020

Joseph Burke PhD. and Joseph Yarbrough PhD, have produced two white papers for Watchdog Research that show that companies with higher Gray Swan Event Factors have a lower return on investment. This is because accounting-related risks are not properly priced into the market, potentially giving investors who use this valuable tool an edge over the broader market.

Posted in Gray Swan Event Factor, Independent Research, featured

America Runs from Luckin: The Fraud

Posted on May 22, 2020

We originally wrote this post on Luckin Coffee over a month ago on April 27th, 2020. Since then the story has significantly developed. Since we wrote this piece, Luckin has changed its story and admitted that its CEO was involved in the massive fraud and delayed releasing its annual report. The WSJ has also written a devastating piece that confirmed our suspicions that many of the expenses were fabricated and that Charles Lu, the chairman, sat at the center of a complicated web of related party transactions that began before the IPO. Luckin has also been delisted from the Nasdaq, hopefully for good.

Posted in Fraud, China, featured

We Few, We Happy Few, We Late Filers

Posted on May 19, 2020

In this post we look at the large accelerated filers who have not filed their 10-Qs yet due to the coronavirus. These companies are outliers, with only 27 active filers delaying quarterly reports out of a population of nearly 600. We have already expressed concerns about the SEC allowing companies to be less transparent during such a critical time, and these concerns were not allayed by our research for this post. We will look at some broader trends and highlight a few egregious examples.

Posted in Coronavirus, featured

What Can We Learn From Late Quarterly Filings During the Coronavirus?

Posted on May 13, 2020

To protect the elderly and immunocompromised, federal and state officials have locked down society to flatten the rate of infections. An unfortunate byproduct of these shut-downs has been the destruction of large swaths of the economy and skyrocketing unemployment. To relieve some of the financial pressure these lockdowns have put on businesses, federal and state officials have tried different measures intended to aid businesses. For its part, the SEC has permitted companies affected by the coronavirus to delay their annual and quarterly statements that would normally be due from March 31st-July 1st.

Posted in featured, Coronavirus
Total articles: 108(page 10 of 16 with 7 articles)
CATEGORIES
CATEGORIES
ARCHIVES
ARCHIVES

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Watchdog Transparency is a publication based on reports created by Watchdog Research, Inc.
Watchdog Research, Inc. is a financial research company providing due diligence information on public companies.

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