How Do You Know This Headline Is Accurate?

Whoa, look out below! Motorola's(MOT) profits fell 94%! How do I know? Well, I read it right there this morning in a headline in The Wall Street Journal. Huh? What's that? You're pulling my chain, right? You mean to tell me that excluding a one-time charge, they earned 6 cents, which is a stout percentage above the 4 cents that was expected? Holy incomplete headline, Batman!

I know Motorola still has plenty of challenges, but don't you think the Journal's headline could have reflected what Friday's article allows, after all, in the second sentence! There was relief among analysts... due to the profit beat when you exclude the charge. The spirit of analysts, or the market, was not down a full 94%.

And don't go writing The Business Press Maven about how this is a reflection of how the business media is overly negative. Puh-lease. It's just a reflection of how frequently headlines tell a different tale than the articles they act as Siren for.

After all, you see how AT&T(T) revenue and profits soared! How do I know? Well, I read it right there in the headline of this Bloomberg article, which ran all over in including The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday: "AT&T's third-quarter profit rises 41%."

Talk about positive! Holy smokes, that iPhone deal with Apple(AAPL) must have been huge for it. Oh wait... uh, ugh, geez.