A Spirited Perfect Ten

[WildcatDen]

You been watching any unusual videos?

Does "The Brian Williams Autobiography: The Early Years When I Became the First man to Give Birth, A Virgin Birth No Less. The Child, Barack Obama" count as unusual? Kind of a long title, but it was all I could find at Blockbuster. . .

 

[ford91exploder]

I doubt it. Any investment firm worth a **** already has a team of MBAs specifically dedicated to the media sector and likely a few folks assigned to Disney exclusively. Their commissions, reputations, and promotions are already contingent on finding whatever dirt there might be in TWDC's closet, and there's nothing these people care about more than their commissions, reputations, and promotions.

All true, But many investment houses also have groups which border on intelligence agencies these are the guys who root out stuff like ENRON and the tax schemes most recently discovered at HSBC, These guys are the ones who will be sniffing around Disney's business now.

These are the guys who give the analysts you speak of the recommendations to avoid this company and in many cases alert the regulatory agencies to apparent wrongdoing.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

All true, But many investment houses also have groups which border on intelligence agencies these are the guys who root out stuff like ENRON and the tax schemes most recently discovered at HSBC, These guys are the ones who will be sniffing around Disney's business now.

These are the guys who give the analysts you speak of the recommendations to avoid this company and in many cases alert the regulatory agencies to apparent wrongdoing.

Yeah but isn't that PwC's job? Independent auditors never miss things like this.

[/sarc]

 

[ford91exploder]

Yeah but isn't that PwC's job? Independent auditors never miss things like this.

[/sarc]

It is but we all know how 'independent' the auditors are they don't want to lose that audit business, A better system would be the independent audits would be assigned out of a pool of accounting firms on a random basis so the books would be reviewed with a fresh set of eyes every audit cycle.

Eliminates the inherent conflict of interest between the auditee and the auditor, As no auditor is going to find against a company they want next years audit business from.

 

[PhotoDave219]

This is happening in a lot of companies who refuse to recognize the business changes of social media and the internet. My daughter left a well known news magazine because they refused to recognize that a younger generation prefers to get their news on the web, not printed. But her graphic work lives on as she created their latest "award" logo. And people are still buying their print editions of college rankings, because looking at lists is still easier in a hard copy format.

Well, you kinda gave away what News and World Report she may have been working for.....

 

[PhotoDave219]

I thought the overall state of the resort in January was pretty much status quo from an operational perspective when compared to my visits in recent years. Some things better (Dinosaur, Festival of the Lion King, & IllumiNations pop to mind), some things worse (Pirates continues it freefall and Space Mountain already has many of the sound and lighting "enhancements" from the last refurb not working). The only attraction that seems to hold a consistent high level of quality from year to year is Haunted Mansion. Splash was down in January but was as good as it has been in quite a while in November; but, that was after many years of being in poor shape.

Of course we could also talk about the "minusing" of things like the poor Polynesian with its spacious new lobby and wonderful beach side views of the Seven Seas Lagoon (if you are in a bungalow).

While I love construction walls (I really do, as they really are sign of improvement/change), I hate that some of the construction walls go up and stay up for varying lengths depending on the budgets and operational decisions (cough Hub refurb). There doesn't seem to the same level of urgency to get on with the show that there once was in decades pasts.

Also, the shuttering of things (attractions, restaurants, etc) and no talk of immediate replacement is an ever increasing factor. It use to be where one "seasonal" shutter would put up red flags. Now, things get closed and there is no guarantee that any sign of life is on the horizon - other than vague promises.

My biggest concern in my yearly visits is what I see happening to the poor Cast Members morale. Their performance has really been impacted. In my conversations with them, I have consistently found they are beat down by the ever increasing crowds combined with the ever increasing displeasure with MM+. It's this morale that I secretly wonder is also contributing to overall cleanliness and maintenance. Well, that and budget cuts. Gotta pay the price for the One Band to Rule Them All.

So, for me at least. WDW is still the same as it has been for the last several years. Same decline. Some signs of bright spots on the horizon; but, no sign of any impending relief to the systemic issues causing the decline. If the bright spots on the horizon come and do nothing more than bring more guests to the property, then I'm afraid the slide will continue.

There is no morale to speak of. Not the last I heard.

 

[Rodan75]

Can you say Bear Raid?

Okay...you lost me on that one.

 

[Rodan75]

It's also why he should of left it alone, By themselves these are hit pieces done all the time in the media industry and most have a moment or so in the sun and shrivel up and blow away, The moment the target works to suppress them 'Where there is smoke there is fire kicks in'.

And if I were a USC alumnus I would be screaming for Willow to step down because suppressing a story that's out there because of pressure from a corporation is probably one of the two worst sins out there - the first of course is making up the story in the first place, And we've seen enough of that in the media industry recently with Brian Williams just being the most recent inductee into the 'Big Media Hall of Shame'

I agree. There is little point in pulling it in this day and age of online cache's the article may be off of Huffpo but it isn't dead.

 

[ford91exploder]

Okay...you lost me on that one.

It's where false rumors are spread to depress a stock price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_raid

Most famous one was the Emulex scam - Guy planted a false CEO resignation on newswire caused stock to crash - made money by shorting Emulex.

 

[Rodan75]

It is but we all know how 'independent' the auditors are they don't want to lose that audit business, A better system would be the independent audits would be assigned out of a pool of accounting firms on a random basis so the books would be reviewed with a fresh set of eyes every audit cycle.

Eliminates the inherent conflict of interest between the auditee and the auditor, As no auditor is going to find against a company they want next years audit business from.

I have a feeling that Disney has already been seeing that kind of scrutiny. The stock price growth, their acquisitions would both bring out that sort of examination. I'm not saying nothing could be fishy with TWDC accounting...but I suspect it is no better or worse than the other major media companies.

 

[Rodan75]

It's where false rumors are spread to depress a stock price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_raid

Most famous one was the Emulex scam - Guy planted a false CEO resignation on newswire caused stock to crash - made money by shorting Emulex.

Thanks. I hadn't heard that one before. makes sense.

 

[Rodan75]

Oh look...another random report that minimizes concern around china.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/disne...er-budget-but-more-amazing-than-ever-cm446531

This whole thing is weird. I think this is how people become conspiracy nuts.

 

[ford91exploder]

I have a feeling that Disney has already been seeing that kind of scrutiny. The stock price growth, their acquisitions would both bring out that sort of examination. I'm not saying nothing could be fishy with TWDC accounting...but I suspect it is no better or worse than the other major media companies.

Agree - But I always wonder because TWDC on paper looks solid but spends like a startup desperately conserving their VC cash with the last round being a failure due to lack of VC interest.

 

[MichWolv]

It is but we all know how 'independent' the auditors are they don't want to lose that audit business, A better system would be the independent audits would be assigned out of a pool of accounting firms on a random basis so the books would be reviewed with a fresh set of eyes every audit cycle.

Eliminates the inherent conflict of interest between the auditee and the auditor.

Fixed it for you by eliminating "As no auditor is going to find against a company they want next years audit business from."

It happens all the time. At least twice this morning.

 

[lobelia]

So..I just got a phone call with a california area code and a male voice said "7 days…" and hung up.

You been watching any unusual videos? Ones with a girl in a well?

Well? I think I would like to hear more about your assumptions or knowledge regarding your post. Is it the ring at DHS that will be gone in 7 days? A disturbing video about a ring? or might there be an announcement in seven days? Talk about building tension.

 

[MichWolv]

I'm not saying nothing could be fishy with TWDC accounting...but I suspect it is no better or worse than the other major media companies

I suspect it's actually better.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

So why hasn't this made Gawker or something like that? This kind of stuff would be a journalist's wet dream I'd think. Big CEO using his wife to censor a critical article would be a big story.

 

[MichWolv]

Agree - But I always wonder because TWDC on paper looks solid but spends like a startup desperately conserving their VC cash with the last round being a failure due to lack of VC interest.

Just in regards to the US parks. They spend rather freely in the movie and TV area -- look at the rights fees ESPN is paying!

 

[ford91exploder]

Oh look...another random report that minimizes concern around china.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/disne...er-budget-but-more-amazing-than-ever-cm446531

This whole thing is weird. I think this is how people become conspiracy nuts.

Agree, Too often the 'Smartest guys in the room' get in over their heads and start using the old boy network to cover up the failure until it completely blows up - the cover up is ALWAYS what gets them but with the current crop of US executives it's in their DNA to not admit failure.

Where it would be a LOT smarter in many cases to say this is a failure and it will cost more than we initially thought or 'bad idea - time to cut losses'

Too often THIS happens

http://www.bizweb.com/_bob/theplan.html

 

[Rodan75]

Agree - But I always wonder because TWDC on paper looks solid but spends like a startup desperately conserving their VC cash with the last round being a failure due to lack of VC interest.

I think TWDC, similar to Apple, is more cash conservative based on their previous financial difficulties. Look at their decision to self fund all of their movies with no outside financing. All of the other majors are using outside funding to minimize potential losses from poorly received movies. But then those investors get a cut of the profits when the movie is successful and Disney doesn't want to share rights or profits.

They also could easily spend money on the parks and on the acquisitions they have made, but they limit the number of opportunities they chase at a time. I'm not sure that has been the right answer as they could be even bigger today if they took more risks and diversified spending even more.