The Business Press Maven

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Can't Get a Clear Signal on iPhone Sales

07/06/07 - 11:26 AM EDT

Marek Fuchs

Look, we can go on surveying this nonsense until our eyes are bleary and it actually begins to make sense. But by that time, real numbers will have actually been released.

The task for you, the savvy investor, is to tread oh-so-carefully in a situation like this.

First, when it comes to such a well-hyped product, never base your decision on one article. If you do, The Business Press Maven will come to your house and put you in time-out.

You are never beholden to the one newspaper sitting on your desk or on the back of your sleeping dog. You can, for free, sample many different takes on the same charged issue. Do it. It will be abundantly clear when there are no easy answers -- even to basic numbers -- on an issue.

Second, be aware that there are different types of numbers. One is the number given for public consumption, generally known as the sucker's number. The other is the whispered number, the one a company might lean in and tell -- or even imply -- to analysts and investors.

Both numbers are essential to report, but some wet-behind-the-ear business journalists are not even aware of whispered numbers. You need to be aware of both numbers and make sure that who you are reading is, too.

At the time of publication, Fuchs had no positions in any of the stocks mentioned in this column.

A journalist with a background on Wall Street, Marek Fuchs has written the County Lines column for The New York Times for the past five years. He also contributes regular breaking news and feature stories to many of the paper's other sections, including Metro, National and Sports. Fuchs was the editor-in-chief of Fertilemind.net, a financial Web site twice named "Best of the Web" by Forbes Magazine. He was also a stockbroker with Shearson Lehman Brothers in Manhattan and a money manager. He is currently writing a chapter for a book coming out in early 2007 on a really embarrassing subject. He lives in a loud house with three children. Fuchs appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.


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