Between the Lines Archive - Business Intelligence Advisors

No Regrets? No Apologies!

March 2024

When it comes to apologies, the key to success is sincerity… and some CEOs have a lot to learn. In March, we took advantage of the break in our typical review of corporate earning calls to look at two CEO apologies from the January 31, 2024 Senate hearings on child online safety. While the intent is not to pick on either Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg or Snap CEO Evan Speigel, we thought their apologies provided good behavioral examples and a reminder that the words said do not always reflect the full message provided. In addition, we also took a look at apologies from Ying Liu, Tim Anderson and Princess Catherine.

2023 Wall Street Analyst All Stars: Even the Best Can Be Better at Asking Questions

December 2023

As we enjoy the 2023 holiday season and begin wrapping up the year, we take a moment to look back and examine some of
the questions asked by Wall Street’s top-rated analysts during recent quarterly earnings calls. What we find is that even the
best analysts don’t always ask the best questions, and we believe they could be even better by leveraging our strategic
interviewing expertise.

New Earnings Season? How About a Fresh Approach to Asking Earnings Call Questions?

April 2023

A new earnings season provides an opportunity to refresh your skills for more effectively asking questions during earnings calls and meetings with management teams. In this edition of Between the Lines, we examine how some of Wall Street’s best-known sell-side analysts asked questions during past earnings calls and describe what BIA would have done differently using our proprietary Tactical Behavior Assessment® (TBA)-based approach to interviewing.

Tightening Credit Does Not Equal a Pause in Interest Rate Hikes

March 2023

With the fall of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) earlier this month, the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision last week to increase rates garnered a high level of public interest. Using our proprietary Tactical Behavior Assessment® (TBA) methodology, we examined FOMC Chair Jerome Powell’s statements during the March 22, 2023 press conference announcing the decision.

The ECB’s Interest in Rate Hikes Rates Higher Than the FOMC’s

February 2023

Both the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates last week. On the surface it appears that both the FOMC and ECB will continue to raise interest rates the next several months, though, of course, policymakers’ expectations could change as new economic data comes out. In this edition of Between the Lines, BIA examines statements from the respective February 1 and February 2 commentary from Mr. Powell and Ms. Legarde to see what our behavioral lens suggests about their perspectives on the need to raise rates in the future.

Crypto Collapse: Cryptic Response

December 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, has been compared to Bernie Madoff. He has gone on a media blitz to convince the public that the company’s failure was due to a massive failure of risk management rather than fraud. Caroline Ellison, former CEO of FTX’s trading company, says otherwise. In this edition of Between The Lines, BIA examines Mr. Bankman-Fried’s statements from recent interviews, using our proprietary Tactical Behavior Assessment® (TBA) methodology, to discover what others are missing about his claims.

CARLSEN’S GAMBIT

October 2022

For the past month, the chess world has been embroiled in a divisive scandal. With his dramatic withdrawal from a prestigious tournament, reigning World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, has de facto accused a rapidly rising star of cheating. His opponent, Hans Niemann insists he is clean, and the International Chess Federation is now investigating the case. In this edition of Between the Lines, BIA examines statements from both players using our proprietary Tactical Behavior Assessment® (TBA) methodology to see what our behavioral lens suggests really happened.

Hiring, Tanking and Retirements: Some Scenes from NFL Drama

March 2022

In this edition of BIA’s Between the Lines we share our analysis of some of the most recent NFL drama surrounding Brian Flores, the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos – from being fired for refusing to “tank” games to hiring process discrimination allegations. In addition, we analyze some of Tom Brady’s retirement statements to conclude that while Mr. Brady may be out of the game, he’s not necessarily out of the football business.

BIA’s Year-End Grab Bag: Alec Baldwin, Question Formulation, and Answering Awkward Holiday Questions

December 2021

In this edition of Between the Lines, we share our analysis of Alec Baldwin’s December 3rd ABC interview addressing the fatal shooting on the set of Rust. In addition, we take a light-hearted look at how to handle some of those awkward questions your family will surely ask during the holidays.

Summer in Review: A Flashback, Body Language and Baseball’s Sticky Stuff

October 2021

In this edition of BIA’s Between the Lines we revisit Theranos – a story back in the headlines – as well as some interesting behavioral responses from prominent sports figures over the past few months.

Covid, Trump, Horses and Trucks…

June 2021

Covid, Trump, Horses and Trucks – what do these have in common? BIA has analyzed major, attention-grabbing stories on these four topics over the last year, using our unique behavioral lens to cut through the noise to reveal the truth behind the headlines. In this edition of Between the Lines, we take a step back and revisit these stories, showing the effectiveness of BIA’s methodology.

Deltec Cryptic About Crypto Reserves

February 2021

With public interest in cryptocurrency as a transactional currency accelerating in recent months, we took a look at how the CEO of Deltec Bank and Trust responds to allegations that his company’s customer, stablecoin issuer Tether Limited, is not fully backed by U.S. dollars. In this edition of Between the Lines, we show what our unique behavioral lens reveals about his perspective on Tether’s reserves.

The Cybersecurity Gap that Top CEOs Miss

February 2021

This special issue of Between the Lines considers public statements by CEOs, industry data, and private assessments by leading CISOs that reveal a gaping hole in resourcing for 2025. We share 3 questions every CEO needs to ask their CISO to be prepared.

2020 Wall Street Analyst All-Stars Review

December 2020

Our year-end issue takes a look back at some questions asked by Wall Street’s top analysts on 2020 earnings calls and show how even the best analysts could benefit from BIA’s question formulation expertise in order to gain more insight from management teams. In addition, we take a light-hearted look at how to handle some tricky questions from children about the holidays.

Dr. Conley’s Unintentional Disclosures Revealed with Tactical Behavior Assessment

October 2020

President Trump’s medical team, headed by Dr. Sean Conley, has held three press conferences over the past three days to update the world on developments in the president’s case of COVID-19. But, many of the doctor’s responses don’t answer questions – instead they raise more. And while his comments have been widely scrutinized in the media, in this edition of Between the Lines, we apply our Tactical Behavior Assessment® (TBA™) methodology to assess the transparency and completeness of Dr. Conley’s statements during these press conferences to uncover important nuances that others may be missing.

CEO Departures & Showjumper Shocks – It’s Been a Tough Year

October 2020

There’s no doubt about it, 2020 has been a tough year, and the C-Suite has not been spared. With a record number of chief executive departures, in this edition of BIA’s Between the Lines, we take a deep dive into two of them – Nikola Corporation and AngloGold Ashanti – to demonstrate how our behavioral lens can reveal incremental insight into what these departures might mean for investors.

In addition, with the 145th running of the Preakness Stakes this weekend, we apply our methodology to statements made by famed showjumper Andy Kocher around the ongoing scandal of animal abuse that has shocked the equestrian world.

Is the COVID-19 Origin Story Fiction or Nonfiction?

May 2020

As COVID-19 continues to spread around the globe, Chinese officials have been fielding an increasing number of questions and allegations concerning the novel coronavirus’s origins, especially whether it spread from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This issue has garnered considerable international attention and BIA has picked up on some concerning behaviors in Chinese officials’ responses over the past five weeks.

Brady Takes His Ball and Goes South

April 2020

In this edition of Between the Lines, we analyze an open letter submitted by Brady to The Players’ Tribune for insights into his motives for moving to Florida.

Lions and Tigers and Lies? Oh My!

April 2020

In this edition of Between the Lines, we highlight behavioral indicators and evasion in statements made by Carole Baskin (the wife accused of killing her second husband, Joe Exotic).

Trading on Public Trust

March 2020

In this edition of Between the Lines, we focus our behavioral lens on statements made by Mr. Burr and Ms. Loeffler in response to allegations of insider trading during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic..

Did BIA Catch Lizzie Borden with the Axe?

December 2019

We wrap up 2019 with a little different kind of Between the Lines analysis – a murder mystery! Even if you are not familiar with this true story, we hope you enjoy curling up to read BIA’s take on the inquest testimony of the infamous Lizzie Borden.

A Royal Mess for Prince Andrew

November 2019

In this edition of BIA’s Between the Lines, we take a look at Prince Andrew’s 16 November 2019 BBC interview where he states his regrets of “ill-judged association” with Jeffrey Epstein, in hopes of clearing his name.

Tariff Talk: Slicing Through Uncertainties and Revealing Risk

July 2019

In the first half of 2019, one in four of disclosures we analyzed contained questions from analysts to try to gauge the impact for companies related to global tariffs and trade war. With this topic unfolding, genuine uncertainty was expected, though we saw some management teams take it further and lean on tariff uncertainty to deflect answering some more general questions for their business. Using this as an example, in this Between the Lines we share some questioning tips for how to cut through this deflection with sample strategically targeted questions.

As Good as Ghosn: Nissan’s Ex-CEO Drives Home His Innocence, but Can’t Park It

May 2019

Carlos Ghosn—former CEO and Chairman of Renault and Nissan, and former head of The Alliance—was in the news again this week, this time for receiving $20 million from a Saudi Arabian businessman. This most recent charge adds a new twist to a long string of allegations that have been levied against Mr. Ghosn since November 2018. This BTL analyzes his April 9, 2019 public statement and concludes that the allegations against Mr. Ghosn have merit.

Helping All-Stars Bring Their Q&A-Game

October 2018

On the heels of Institutional Investor publishing their 2018 “All-America Research Team” ranking, we at BIA decided to take a look at top-ranking Wall Street analysts across the 2017 and 2018 lists to examine how those all-stars asked questions on earnings call – and how their questions could have been improved utilizing some of BIA’s interview best practices and strategies to gain more insight during management interviews.

A Tale of Two Testimonies

October 2018

Many of our clients have asked BIA for our analysis of the testimony from Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. While our methods and team of behavior experts have roots in the CIA, this analysis is not in any way an official position or analysis from any U.S. Intelligence Agency.

For Presidents and CEOs, “Currently” Is as Far as “Now” Goes

September 2018

Is deception the great equalizer? Following Michael Cohen’s acknowledgement that President Trump knew about his hush-money payments, we decided to look back at some of the older denials from the president’s camp. We found an interesting deception technique common to both parts of the aisle – and to many management teams. Similar to Clinton’s famous truth-bend in which he questioned the meaning of “is,” Mr. Trump’s representatives started calling into question the meanings of the words “did” and “was.” Similarly, we have seen many CEOs try to shift the framing of a question from one time to another to avoid giving unfavorable information in an earnings call.

BIA Peers Behind the Stage Curtain of GE’s “Success Theater”

June 2018

In June 2018, General Electric (GE), an original member of the Dow Jones industrial average, was replaced after 111 years in good standing. While the Company’s troubles have been well publicized over the past year with market value declining over 50%, the warning signs were evident long before. This edition of Between the Lines contains a summary of our behavioral analysis of the Company throughout 2017, which provided our clients with insights before the broader market fully acknowledged the extent of GE’s problems.

BIA Calls LeBron for Traveling (Finally!)

June 2018

In this edition of Between the Lines, we use our behavioral analysis to examine Lebron James’s comments following yet another NBA championship loss to the Golden State Warriors, and some of his other post-game interviews throughout the playoffs. Despite reaching the finals, the Cavaliers’ inconsistencies and internal issues have made for a turbulent season, on and off the court. This, along with James’s noncommittal comments over the course of the year, has fueled intense speculation about his intentions. Will he opt out of the last year of his contract and leave his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers?

Musk’s Behavior is as Volatile as Tesla’s Stock

May 2018

Elon Musk’s instantly infamous “bonehead” comments during Tesla’s Q1 2018 Earnings Call created quite a stir on Wall Street, helping to drive the company’s stock price down 5.5% the following day. Mr. Musk’s behavior on the call has been characterized in the media as “odd,” “bizarre” and “strange.” To us, Mr. Musk’s behaviors are revealing.

“Spring Cleaning: Throwing Sunlight on Q1 Wins, Fresh Look at Stormy Daniels”

April 2018

In our spring edition, we look back at Theranos’s Elizabeth Holmes, Rovio Entertainment (creator of Angry Birds), and Amazon’s shift into shipping and share what the behaviors indicated to us at the time regarding the completeness and reliability of management’s remarks, as well as their confidence on particular subjects. We also apply our methodology to the political realm – looking into Stormy Daniels’ 60 Minutes interview, as well as ex-White House staff secretary Rob Porter. Lastly, we take a look at Masters champion Patrick Reed’s behaviors to see just how much he cares about his poor reputation.