Don't Buy Vague Buyback News

The scorpions in my brain are telling me yes.

In the entry that preceded their atypically primitive work on Comcast, Breakingviews was up to its more typical tricks of doing quality work, which interestingly enough, often involves agreeing with me. And if any of you don't believe all I've been shouting about how you should stay clear of financials because there is no way of telling when their write-offs will end, you should take a gander.

To save you time, here are some operative phrases: "...divining just how much coin investment banks will mint is still a shot in the dark."..."Estimating writedowns is more art than science"..."There is no transparency elsewhere"...and even in regard to best of breed in Goldman Sachs, they use the phrase "guessing game."

No matter what the temptation might be to feel toward the murky, muddy bottom with your toe, keep in mind phrases like this -- they aptly describe the strangeness of this ill-defined situation.