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Investing Between the Lines: How to Make Smarter Decisions By Decoding CEO Communications
| Title | Investing Between the Lines: How to Make Smarter Decisions By Decoding CEO Communications |
| Writer | |
| Date | 2025-04-19 17:52:36 |
| Type | |
| Link | Listen Read |
Desciption
The essential guide to making smarter decisions by decoding CEO CommunicationsRecommended reading in Warren Buffet’s 2013 Shareholder LetterInvesting Between the Lines introduces a revolutionary method for evaluating the financial integrity of a company. You don’t need special access to “insider” information or a degree in accounting to figure it out. In fact, the secret is right in front of you―in black and white―in the words of every shareholder letter, annual report, and corporate correspondence you receive.Investing Between the Lines shows you how to:Decipher the “FOG” of confusing company communicationsDecode the real meaning behind corporate jargon and platitudesSeparate the facts from the fluff in annual reports and quarterly earnings callsSafeguard your money by investing in companies that steward investor capitalToo often, corporate executives and investment professionals are expected to deliver short-term results. As a result, they are compelled to turn to accounting techniques and unclear language to meet these expectations.In Investing Between the Lines, L.J. Rittenhouse lays out her time-tested approach for recognizing at-risk businesses before trouble hits. This is the same method she used to predict the collapse of Enron and the fall of Lehman.From comparing the statements of Ford, GM, and Toyota to revealing why FedEx and Wells Fargo have been so successful, Investing Between the Lines shows that Rittenhouse’s system is one of the most powerful tools a corporate leader or investor can have. Once you learn the clues to decode CEO communications, you will be able to invest between the lines―to figure out exactly what a company’s CEO is or isn’t telling you.Whether you’re a professional investor, a new shareholder, or a CEO who wants to improve how your company communicates, Investing Between the Lines is one of the best investments you’ll ever make.Praise for Investing Between the Lines“Rittenhouse is still on the side of the angels.”―WARREN BUFFETT, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway“Tremendous! Investing Between the Lines is destined to become a classic in showing how candor is the language of trust and how trust is the basis on which companies ultimately succeed.”―STEPHEN M. R. COVEY, author of the New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller, The Speed of Trust, and coauthor of Smart Trust“Before investing only by the numbers, read Investing Between the Lines. In it, L.J. Rittenhouse makes a compelling case that CEOs’ words matter too.”―JAMES HESKETT, Baker Foundation Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School, and author of The Culture Cycle“An intriguing read that gets to the heart of the 21st-century leadership challenge―the need for leaders to candidly build and earn the trust of their stakeholders in an enduring way.”―DOUGLAS R. CONANT, Former President, CEO, and Director of Campbell Soup Company and New York Times bestselling author of TouchPoints“This book is the Rosetta Stone for investors and the high-water mark for CEOs.”―DAVID CHILDERS, CEO of Compli, Inc., and Director, Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics“L.J. Rittenhouse reports on over a decade of research analyzing executive communications and finds leadership clues that reveal the true values of a corporate culture which, in turn, determine performance.” ―LOUISE M. MORMAN, Executive Director, Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute, Miami University Read more
Review
Investing Between the Lines, written for CEOs, boards of directors, individuals investors, business students, and long-term professional investors, arrives at a most opportune time for its audience. A recent edition of USA Today observed that individual investors have become skeptical about the stock market and its unpredictability. The New York Times reports that ordinary investors feel the game is rigged and that they are the fools. Headlines about a "fiscal cliff," "PIIGS," the European debt crisis, and many other real or imagined financial catastrophes create wild gyrations in the market which spook honest investors. Recent history has given us endless waves of "dot-com bubbles," bank failures, Bernie Madoffs, and Enrons. We now learn that the number one qualification for being hired st some of the most prestigious investment firms was access to inside information. And, despite more regulation and apparent oversight, this greed and abject dishonesty continue, thus creating seemingly insurmountable pitfalls for all investors.Investing Between the Lines eloquently begins a discussion about transparency in corporate communications. In much of our discussion, transparency is non-existent. Obfuscation prevails in our political debate and is a way of life in many professions and for many CEOs. No doubt, it is difficult to know, let alone speak, "the whole truth and nothing but the truth." However, if we accept obfuscation for truth, we will lose ourselves as people.How can anyone ferret out the truth about individual companies in order to make prudent, knowledgeable investment decisions? Who can the individual investor trust and how can he or she distinguish between those CEOs who rely on fundamentals to steward their investments and those that manipulate numbers to create an artificially high price for their stock?In her timely and compelling new book Investing Between the Lines, Laura Rittenhouse tells us to trust ourselves and our own common sense. Rittenhouse also gives us the tools we need to do exactly that. When evaluating a company, Laura reminds us that earnings, revenues and price-earning ratios can be easily manipulated. Giving us a few simple rules to guide our thinking, Rittenhouse tell us to listen to what CEOs say and to hear their words critically. Are their shareholder letters and other corporate communications filled with FOG or facts?Investing Between the Lines reminds us that trust is the foundation for success and that candor is the language of leaders who choose to be trusted. In parsing the words of CEOs in their letters to shareholders from Enron to DuPont to General Electric and many others, Rittenhouse demonstrates vividly how these communications either form the basis for such trust or sow the seed of doubt. Laura notes that it is often the CEO who reminds us of his or her mistakes that is most likely to be truthful about other matters. The investor who reads a letter to shareholders using the approach taught by Rittenhouse will quickly know whether to invest or not invest in that company. Investing Between the Lines will enlighten anyone involved in the world of investing.By John Kukankos
