lt cap,

It would be an interesting study to see if companies that pre-announce problems lose more or less net $ than those who wait for the conference call. Probably not feasible, given all the variables that would need to be 'normalized' across companies (size of loss, kind of loss, size of company, sector comparisons, on and on.)  But if it'd be interesting if it could be done.  I agree with what you've often said, whether it was a pre-annoncement or a CC - get the skeletons out of the closet, readjust expectations, start with a 'new slate', and beat the lowered targets.