Stuck in Conference-Call Hell

Like nearly every sell-side analyst or buy-side money manager, I'm currently hunkered down in a veritable blizzard of conference calls. That means 5 a.m. calls standing in my kitchen, wearing a bathrobe; 6 a.m. calls on a cellular phone on the way to work; and then most of the week spent on replays, Webcasts, etc.

Question No. 1: Should I be? Is there any value in hearing the same prepared story at the same time as everyone else?

Sure, retail-investor access is one of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt's latest jihads, and for a reason: There is no excuse why any investor shouldn't be entitled to listen in on conference calls via the Web. It's cheap and it satisfies the basic "fair playing field" issues the SEC is trying to address. It's also good for individual investors to hear what really goes on, which usually involves way too much management sugar-coating of the numbers, while Wall Street analysts play the fawning sycophants, lobbing softball questions in an attempt to show off in front of their institutional clients. ...