Maven: Listen to Oracle

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For obvious reasons, The Business Press Maven was going to bury his lead about Oracle's(ORCL Quote) good earnings, when his nerve endings went on end and he realized: The business media, those dense little devils, had buried their lead!

Before I flap my gums about this morning's Oracle headlines, let me back up.

The Business Press Maven, as you undoubtedly know, made some great calls in 2006: warning readers away from ethanol highfliers even in the face of business media excitement; calling Pfizer's(PFE Quote) trip-up almost to the day; and identifying the problem center in press coverage of the Fed, then giving the all-clear sign at the right moment. All in all, it was a year of sensational, meticulous perception.

Only when it came to Oracle did it seem my skills as oracle had abandoned me. About halfway through the year, I snarked the company to death after it received glowing coverage when CEO Larry Ellison, who had been on what I took to be an unfocused acquisition binge, pontificated that the key to business success was ruthless focus. This while sunning himself on a yacht with a basketball court and preparing for the America's Cup.

When there is a spread between reality and business media perception, there is always danger or opportunity for investors. Here I thought Commodore Ellison was aware that his company's core database business was slowing and out of desperation was employing the typical (though typically unworkable) Plan B of buying everything not nailed down.