Expeditors 8-K Gets a Bad Review

Every few months, the folks at Expeditors International (EXPD) answer investor questions in their 8-K report. It’s a great company but their answers sound like they’re written by bratty seventh graders.
Soooo…one analyst took it upon himself to edit the Q&A session and send it back to the company. Expeditors was not amused:

21. I have been a hands-on securities analyst on Wall Street since 1962 [44 years]. During that time, I have read many thousands of different Management Descriptions & Analysis in 10Ks and elsewhere. I must say that I am otherwise quite impressed with your management’s performance, and am considering investing in Expeditors. But —granted that some of the selected inquiries that you invited were not especially sophisticated or relevant — as a new reader of Expeditors’ CEO & CFO’s responses to investor questions I find your management’s tone to be astonishingly smug and condescending, and I find your wise-cracking style unnecessary and un-professional and insulting to me, an interested investor. Attached is my copy of your May 23 rd 8K, which I cleaned up to make it more focused and less disrespectful to those investors you invited to query management. If I had been one of the inquirers and read your wise-ass response to me, I would be quite offended. Contemplate cleaning up the inappropriate standup comedy act: it ain’t funny!


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Thank you for your sincere interest in investing in Expeditors. Your opinion has been duly noted. Needless to say, this does not mean that we completely agree with your opinion, but it has been noted.
The fact that you could be sufficiently exercised about our 8-K’s to actually rewrite portions of a recent effort in order to make them less smug and more respectful struck us as unusual. Most people, when confronted with content that they find offensive or juvenile, simply change the channel or walk out of the theatre. We have to assume that some percentage of our readers have done just that. By taking your time to rewrite our 8-K as you see fit, you have joined that minority that would shout back at the screen rather than quietly moving on.
Fair enough, but then you sent your effort to us – in effect inviting us to share what otherwise would have been your personal problem. This probably was an error on your part. Why share your opinion with those you consider to be unprofessional? Didn’t you consider the likelihood that your efforts would result in a wise cracking response? (Um…didn’t you consider the likelihood that he’s an investor, and perhaps he’s trying to help you? What do you say to a friend who insists on embarrassing himself? – Eddy)
Truth is that we have never set out to be like the many thousands of other companies out there. While some of the questions we get may not meet your idea of sophistication, the point of our efforts on Form 8-K have been to answer real questions from an inside perspective and to communicate this information to every interested party simultaneously. Our goal has always been to give insight into how this real business is running, not produce sterile and sophisticated boilerplate.
If you don’t like what we have written, and certainly some do not, then don’t bother to read it. If you are really worked up, please stop thinking about investing in our stock. We’ve never hyped our stock and we are not planning to change how we communicate with the investment community anytime soon.
So much for the high road. Since you included a web address with your critique, we took the time to take a look. As you know, you have a page which is entitled “Experience & Credentials” and the last paragraph of this page currently reads as follows:

Thereafter, Xxxxx went on a self-directed sabbatical to modernize his investment theory and to sharpen his investment portfolio skills, and went to Baruch to broaden his knowledge of Individual Taxes; Estates & Trusts; Insurance; IRAs and 529s; and Retirement concerns, such as Social Security and Medicare. Xxxxx continues this learning process, and spends each morning updating himself with events and information: thinking through events that might impact strategic investment decision-making. Xxxxx is a member of the CFA Institute and of the XX and National Financial Planners Assns. Thus, he seeks to continuously deepen and broaden his knowledge, in order to more effectively serve as financial planner, as well as Investment Advisor — a role in which he has long experience.

God damn, these guys are morons! They use x’s to preserve his anonymity, but include large sections of his Web site. It took Google, literally, 0.10 second to spit up the result. All for an unfunny joke against a guy who has a valid point, which this idiocy confirms. – Eddy
If we were going to rewrite this paragraph for you, we would probably change it to read as follows:

Following the acquisition of his employer, Xxxxx continued his professional education by attending Baruch. Xxxxx continues this learning process by reading the newspaper each morning and thinking about current events and making money. Xxxxx is a member of the CFA Institute and the XX and National Financial Planners Associations. Xxxxx is a financial planner and investment advisor.

Our version is simpler than yours and yet still conveys all of the essential information. You may not agree with the part about reading newspaper each day, but stripped of the sophisticated puffery, that is literally what your version says about your mornings. If you also watch Fox News, we would add that tidbit as well. We certainly have no intention of offending you.

Yup. That’ll show him.

Posted by on August 22nd, 2006 at 2:48 pm


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