By Flickr user Luis Argerich

Reading John Fuquay’s piece in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about AMR Corp.’s pensions gave me flashbacks to my days of covering bankruptcy at Bloomberg News. His article helps readers understand why AMR’s projections of its pension obligations are 42 percent less than the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.’s calculations. Pensions aren’t the easiest topics to decipher, but John’s piece made the topic understandable. He writes:

“So who’s right? And why is the money American Airlines’ parent has put aside to cover those obligations so far short of meeting them – $5.2 billion by AMR’s estimate, and about $10 billion by the pension agency’s?

As it turns out, both figures are accurate – based on professionally accepted assumptions used by each party to arrive at its estimate.”

Today’s Tip: Use 10K filings to determine how much companies put into their pension plans.

Jim Fuquay

You can access 10K filings by searching the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions website. You also can check  PBCG’s site to see which plans have been taken over by the government.

John says the filings offer detailed footnotes on how much companies put into the plans and the assumptions on which they base that amount. The downside, he says, is that the information gets dated the farther into the year you go.

Experts at the PBGC can explain the technical aspects of the pensions, but John also suggests finding someone who “doesn’t have a dog in the fight.”

Despite having written about pensions before, John says he had to delay the story to understand the company contributions and the impact of legislative changes on pensions.

“It got complicated, he says. “If you can’t explain it to yourself, you’re not going to explain to readers very well at all. Boil it down then boil it down again.”

Photo by iStock

Even as fallout from the mortgage market meltdown still reverberates throughout the economy, ominous rumblings suggest that a similar bust in the student loan market could be the next big financial crisis.

According to a just-out report by the National Association of Consumer Bankrtupcy Attorneys, for example, 80 percent of respondents report a surge in prospective filers with student loan debt – including not only the students or former students but parents who co-signed loans, as well.  The release claims that loans to parents of college-age children have jumped a mind-boggling 75 percent since 2005-2006, and that delinquincies are common.  (Student loan debt is generally not dischargeable in bankruptcy so attorneys in that field have something of a vested interest in demonizing it – but I have no reason to doubt the findings as presented.)

The headlines beat on.  “The Student Loan is Crippling American Families,” reports Forbes, and a brand new Federal Reserve report shows that school loans helped fuel a $16.6 billion jump in non-revolving consumer debt in December, BusinessWeek reports.   And last month the credit-scoring firm FICO reported that many bank risk managers it has surveyd expected defauls on student loans to rise.  Debtors in the U.S. currently owe three-quarters of a trillion dollars in educational loans!

And if that isn’t burden enough, a lower interest rate set by Congress in 2007 may expire this July 1, effectively doubling the rate on Stafford loans for millions of borrowers, the Huffington Post reports.

Add in state budget woes, controversy over tuition inflation, the election cycle and it’s a complex – and at the moment, politicized – topic.  But against the backdrop of these sorts of headlines, the fact that many families probably getting under way with the application process and the dreaded FAFSA financial aid form-filling,  along with  various White House proposals related to college funding afoot (here’s a Dept. of Education summary), along with other developments in the market, you might want to plan a run at the topic soon.

Digging inside the market

A mutli-faceted approach to a student loan package might include the issues that face indebted borrowers now in the jobs market, as well as dilemmas being tackled by prospective and current students – and their parents – about borrowing resources and decisions.  What degrees are worth the debt and which programs, in hindsight, fail to pay for themselves?  What advice do current debtors have for upcoming students and prospective borrowers?  Go through CPAs, certified financial planners and other independent financial advisors; they may be able to hook you up with clients who will open their books and allow you to illustrate a story with detailed cash-flow information that can show how school loans affect a family’s finances and choices years after graduation.

Don’t forget stories about alternatives to borrowing – like working a few years ahead of college to save up, choosing AP or community college course to save on university tuition and choosing careers or jobs paths that afford student loan forgiveness.  Here’s a story from Californiaabout a proposal that student ride free in school but promise to pay a percentage of their income for decades after graduation.

Student loan stories generally should include clip-and-save (or click-and-save) sidebars and resources lists for readers;  FinAid.org is a good place to start.

Calculating the real cost of attendance

Just to play devil’s advocate: Student budgets and lifstyles are seldom mentioned in stories that bewail educational loan debt.  The notion that tuition inflation and books are solely responsible for burdensome student loan debt – rather than factors within a student’s control – is pervasive and makes for one-sided coverage of the issue.  I would suggest — through first-hand experience watching the changing retail and lifestyle scene at my own alma mater –  that travel, car ownership and general lifestyle expectations of the student population have burgeoned right along with the cost of credit hours …  and that some of that loan debt can be attributed to spring break trips, SUVs and salon shampoos.

Check out the “cost of attendance” pages at schools near you, or schools many regional students tend to flock to.  Just as an example I checked out the COA page at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) — where room and board costs seem to be predicated on a $1,000 a month average, along with another $100 a week in ‘miscellaneous’ expenses.   I’m a midlde-aged homeowner in a moderately high cost-of-living area and I spend less than $1,000 a month on shelter and food, and I sure wouldn’t be spending $100 a week on ‘misc’ if it took borrowed money to do so.  All told the room, board and incidentals at UW and many other schools with similar advisories on their sites total more than $50,000 over the course of acquiring a four-year degree.

I’m not saying students should live in a tent on boxed macaroni & cheese and water for four years, but there’s ample
precedent for living modestly and getting out of school with the minimum of debt.  Stories taking a detailed look at the budget of some local college students – and I mean really looking at their daily receipts and credit card statements — could be quite enlightening and really round out coverage of the ticking student debt bomb.

A screenshot from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel series "A Case of Shattered Trust."

A story by Raquel Rutledge and Rick Barrett that won the Barlett & Steele Silver Award for 2011 has been selected to be part of the “Best Business Writing 2012,” a book to be published in June by Columbia University Press.

Rutledge and Barrett, reporters at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, received the silver award in the 2011 Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism for their series “A Case of Shattered Trust.”

Details in their own words about of their investigation into one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of alcohol wipes describing filthy conditions at the plant nearby are in this behind-the-story account.

Dean Starkman, editor of the Columbia Journalism Review’s The Audit and one of four editors for the Best in Business book, said this about the collection of business writing:

“The Best Business Writing 2012,” is as the name implies, the first of what we’re hoping to be an annual series that collects, well, the best. We want these books to highlight great journalism about business (and finance and
the economy) in all its diversity: from muckraking exposes (like this one) to classic corporate profiles, economics writing, business columns, blog posts, whatever. The publication or medium really doesn’t matter.

We’re now at work collecting — and soliciting — candidates for “BBW2013″. If you-all do, or see, anything we should know about, send me a note.”

Starkman’s co-editors in “The Best Business Writing 2012″ are Martha Hamilton, Ryan Chittum and Felix Salmon.

Nearly every day, in board rooms all over America, executives and their investor relations staff huddle around a speaker phone and put their best collective face on the financial figures they have just filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

RIM CEO Jim Balsillie was excited about the not-so-popular Blackberry PlayBook during a 2011 earnings call.

With the advent of earnings season, when dozens of such calls are taking place each day, it’s a good time to reflect on the value of this business communication ritual for business journalists.

And “ritual” is the correct word for “the quarterly earnings conference call.” These events have an eerie sameness if you listen to enough of them. Despite their best efforts to sound conversational, executives often come across as stilted or nervous as they read their carefully prepared scripts. Some even have scripts for anticipated questions and have gone through rehearsals with other staff posing as pesky analysts. Investor relations professionals view earnings calls as one of the critical events of their year, so they leave little to chance. (On the website “Inside Investor Relations,” one article details “30 tips for better conference calls,” including “avoid excessive exuberance.”)

The primary audience for an earnings call are the analysts who follow the company for investment banks and institutional investors; these folks are invited not only to listen to the call but also to ask questions at the end of the presentation. A moderator calls on the speakers one by one, so the exchange is far from free-wheeling. But an earnings call can still be mildly revelatory and, thanks to a regulation adopted by the SEC in 2000, anyone else can listen in, including small investors, competitors and journalists.

Regulation Fair Disclosure, or Reg FD, arose to ensure that everyone is able to receive material information about a company at the same time. Prior to its existence, companies might disclose important information selectively in private sessions with analysts or big investors, a practice that put smaller investors at a disadvantage.

If you are a journalist following a particular company, listening in on a conference call should be part of your regular beat responsibilities, just like monitoring SEC filings and insider stock trades. Sure, it’s unlikely that anything unexpected will happen, but you never know.

Perhaps the most infamous – and newsworthy – earnings conference call in history took place in the spring of 2001, when Jeffrey Skilling, then CEO of Enron, responded to a question from a persistent analyst with the epithet, “We appreciate it…a–hole.” Several years later, Al Lord, CEO of Sallie Mae, may have topped Skilling’s gaffe when he ended a conference call by muttering “Let’s get the – out of here.”

Although you are unlikely to hear something as colorful as an offhand expletive, the calls still have value for several reasons:

• You can learn what the company believes are most salient about its filings and develop some context about its strategies.
• You can get beyond the obvious in a quarterly earnings story and provide readers something of value that they are unlikely to seek out on their own.
• You can eavesdrop on concerns informed investors and analysts have about the company during the Q&A session.
• You can hear directly from top executives and quote them in your stories, even if these are people who will never return your call. Simply attribute the comment by saying something like, “the remark was made during the company’s fourth quarter conference call Tuesday.”
• If the executive is someone you plan to interview in the future, you can get a feel for his or her personality, even in a carefully scripted event.

Some executives take pains to be conversational and even jovial. Others are combative and prickly. Referring to a comment made in a conference call when you have that interview can be a good reporting habit. It conveys to the executive that you’ve done your homework.

Yahoo!'s Cutline column liveblogged News Corps' earnings call in August 2011. Photo: Yahoo!

The vast majority of publicly traded companies have conference calls. It’s easy to find out when they are scheduled by looking at a company’s website, usually under a tab labeled “investor relations.” Some make the time and date available a month or more in advance. Others wait until closer to the call. Many financial sites compile a calendar of upcoming calls, including Yahoo Finance, Marketwatch, Reuters, Seeking Alpha, Earningswhispers.com and Earnings.com.

To listen to a call real time, you often have to complete an online registration in advance via the company’s website. Then you just dial in at the appointed hour and listen. Some companies use technology that allows listeners to view charts and graphs on their computer screens as the call is taking place.

A call usually opens with a moderator or coordinator reading a disclaimer about “forward-looking statements.” Then the CEO typically has a few opening words about the quarter just ended and turns the microphone over to the chief financial officer.

Depending on the news and the company, other executives might be given a chance to elaborate on a particular development or strategy. Finally, the moderator will open the call to questions.

If you miss a company’s live call, don’t despair. A recording is usually archived for a month or so on the company’s website and at financial websites. Some archived recordings conveniently allow you to jump ahead in the call rather than listen to it linearly. Another time-saver is transcripts, many of which can be obtained free from seekingalpha.com; other services offer transcripts for a fee.

Be sure to check the provider’s linking or quotation policy before including information from a transcript in your reporting. And it’s a good practice to double check a quote in a transcript against the original recording, if that is still available. Like the conference call itself, the transcript probably comes with a disclaimer.

Pam Luecke was the initial Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism; her success at Washington and Lee University paving the way for the naming of subsequent business journalism chairs.

Photo by iStock

Britt Johnsen and Kirsti Marohn of the St. Cloud Times used empty lots to illustrate how the recession stalled new housing developments in a three-part series. Through their reporting, they found their three-county area had 12,000 empty lots. In Avon, a city near St. Cloud, the recession thwarted plans for two developments. In part two, they write:

“The proposals were grand in scale: two developments with hundreds of upscale homes for new residents. Waters Edge was supposed to have 116 homes. Avon Estates was anticipated to have as many as 600 housing units eventually, with 88 single-family homes planned for the first phase.

But Waters Edge stands about half empty. Avon Estates has just one house. And the city is strapped with a serious financial burden of unpaid assessments.”

In an earlier post, Britt and Kirsti offered tips on calculating the number of empty lots. Today, they offer more advice:

Look at unpaid assessments to see how much empty lots cost cities.

Unpaid assessment data helped Britt and Kirsti see the impact on cities that used public financing to pay for infrastructure improvements instead of requiring developers to finance the costs.

“Analyzing the unpaid assessments revealed how cities were losing thousands of dollars each year in revenue from publically financed developments, yet were still required to make bond payments,” Kirsti says.

Reporters can check with their city treasurer offices to get this data.

Mix beats to build expertise.

Kirsti is county government reporter for the Times, and Britt was the business editor. The sources they built gave them the expertise they needed for the series, Britt says.

“I began talking with developers, real estate agents and residents about the issue of stalled developments and empty neighborhoods, and Kirsti started requesting vacant lot data in cities and speaking to local and state government sources,” Britt says.

Photo by Istock

Punxatawney Phil’s ‘six more weeks of winter’ prognostication lacked a certain punch this year, given the mild winter weather enjoyed in much of the lower 48 so far.  If this is winter, bring it on, many residents are thinking.

As I donned a light spring jacket to run some Saturday errands and bustled out to a car warmed by no more than the February sunshine, I noticed thick green stems poking up several inches from the flower-bed mulch.  Daffodils in Detroit!  I must get that garden-seed order in soon (and is it my imagination, or did garden catalogues arrive weeks earlier than they used to?)  A few minutes later I wheeled past a two small-engine showrooms with forlorn “Great deals on snowblowers” signs; one even had a dozen of the shiny virgin machines parked hopefully on its tarmac.

A weak winter is the best of times and the worst of times depending on one’s line of business.  And the presence or absence of snow and cold during the months it’s expected can ripple throughout a regional economy long past the first day of spring.  So you might want to take a look at winter winners and losers, and talk to them about the long-range effect of seasonal booms and busts.

For example, sagging snowthrower sales may seem like a trite story angle … till you delve in and realize the lack of commissions means the small-engine sales rep won’t be buying a new car this year, or buying new furniture, or sending a child to camp or college.  So for this story, try to go beyond the immediate loss or gain in revenue and find out how that change will affect other businesses and individuals.

According to an EarthSky forecaster,  this January was the third least-snowy since 1966.  As this Associated Press story, “Balmy weather brings plenty of economic surprises,” mentions, retailers are plagued with excess and profit-eroding investory of unsold winter merchandise – like bulky coats that take up storage space and must be unloaded even at discounts of 70 percent or more.  (The AP story is an excellent roadmap of ideas you can apply locally, from airport de-icing services to sales of cold and flu products.)

Electric and gas utilities sales are down as households and businesses demand less heat-producing power — bad for them, great from a personal finance angle.

Where I live, ski resorts recently published an advertising supplement; was it planned or a last-ditch effort to counter unfavorable conditions, I wondered.  This report says nationally, lack of snow has – surprisingly - minimal effect on occupancy at resorts due to booking and refund policies; presumably vacationers made plans predicated on normal precipitation.  But what are they doing once they arrive?  Perhaps spas, retail boutiques, driving ranges, restaurants and other alernatives to the slopes are enjoying some winter sparkle.

Construction employment hit a two-year high in January as the gentle weather kept activity levels high, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.  How are remodelers, builders, handymen, fence installers and others faring in your area, and what’s the ripple effect on suppliers, hardware stores and related services?

If you’d rather look further ahead, check on seasonal businesses gearing up for spring. Are pool companies, deck builders, window cleaning crews, patio furniture firms and others gearing up for a jump in business?  Are they borrowing more to finance inventory, or hiring additional staff, or otherwise changing from recent years’ business model?

Agriculture is eyeing the 21012 extended forecast, with last year’s drought and flood survivors wondering when and what to plant this year.  Are they shifting strategy?  What about nursery suppliers – the U.S. Department of Agriculture just changed the plant hardiness zone map that millions of home gardeners use to decide which plants will survive in their yards.  This is a fascinating development on a number of fronts – many locales ended up in warmer zones – and probably affects the purchasing and sales plans of regional nursery retailers and wholesalers as well as consumers.  It’s hard to go wrong with a business-of-gardening story and this year already is sprouting with many good angles.

Of course, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration site is an excellent resource too but for a different perspective, look into companies like WxRisk.com, which focuses on weather forecasting and commentary aimed at businesses and traders.  You’ll gain an idea of why, say, the weather overseas might end up affecting a corn grower in Nebraska or a Texas rancher.

By Flickr user Kjunstorm

Now that one major TV-watching spectacle is over for 2012 –  the Super Bowl – there’s only a week left until armchair experts will settle in front of the tube to call out critiques and accolades as they root for their favorite contenders in the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

About 3.5 million viewers, according to this Media Life article, will tune in to the USA Network Monday night to root for their favorite Yorkie, Dandy Dinmont, Portuguese water dog or plain old beagle in the event which the WKC says in this fact sheet has been held since 1877.  (note the TV schedule on the WKC site, some segments will be aired on CNBC). The show usually permeates pop culture for a day or so, with winners appearing on morning shows and wire services covering the highs and the lows, like when one of last year’s awardees bolted her cage and went running down an airport runway, never to be seen again.

Why not tag along and give readers a look at business angles from your local pet breeding and show scene?  It’s a relatable topic and one that is made for cute centerpiece art and fun multimedia elements.

Dog breeding is a touchy topic at the best of times, and it may be tough to write about the industry without addressing the controversy.  But you certainly can show legitimate breeders’ business model — what costs go into producing a healthy litter, from medical care to food and shelter to advertising?   What sort of profit margins exist and how does area competition affect the price of ‘hot’ breeds.  What happens to imperfect dogs that don’t fetch top dollar or can’t meet the specs to get official papers?

If breeding is regulated in your state – only 35 do so – you can get the statute at this interactive map provided by Michigan State University’s law school; reading the laws — which in some cases also pertain to pet stores, pounds and kennels, other business angles — will provide a number of story ideas and question fodder for your breeder interviews.  The Michigan State animal law portal also offers a search feature; you can look up cases by state involving pet breeding and puppy mills among other issues.

And it’s worth noting, though not strictly a business angle, that according to the law site, several states are considering animal abuser registries similar to exisitng sex offender registries, to track those convicted of cruelty.  That’s a tip for your metro or state reporter; be worth talking with local legislators and animal welfare societies about the chances of such a law in your district.

A companion piece to the business-of-breeding article would be personal finance caveats for prospective buyers — how to shop for a desired breed, what to look out for, what to expect in terms of annual care and feeding costs, options for pet care while on vacation and the pros and cons of pet insurance.

Or you could focus more closely on the dog show industry.  Again, the personal finance angle has a lot of possibilities; this Yahoo! Contributor Network posts offers a good rundown on the cost of campaigning an animal; you could do a more colorful and local version by talking with various dog owners, handlers and show officials.  Find area participants through local kennel clubs; here’s a nationwide directory of some 500 affiliates.

Don’t forget about the careers angle; according to Modern Dog, top handlers can earn six-figure annual incomes trotting Rex and Rhoda around the ring.   And of course, equipment suppliers, show promotors, advertising sponsors and other related businesses all are fair game for interesting nuggets of business news.

Finally, what effect does the dog show circuit have on area expo centers, hotels and other venues?  I was shocked last year when the manager of one of Michigan’s largest convention venues told me that a dog show was his bread-and-butter event.  Who knew?  And he said trade from dog show participants and spectators was also an important source of revenue for the area’s motel operators and restaurants.

Day 1 of Britt Johnsen and Kirsti Marohn's project was 'So many lots, so few houses.'

Britt Johnsen and Kirsti Marohn produced a great three-part series called “Gambling on Growth” for the St. Cloud Times using empty lots to show the recession’s impact on new housing developments. The series won a Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists last year.

Through their reporting, they found their three-county area had 12,000 empty lots.

Those lots left some homeowners in stark areas watching their home values fall.

In part one of the series, they write that homeowners weren’t the only victims:

“Minnesota developers, builders and investors have lost thousands or even millions on a gamble that the housing market would keep growing. Some have gone bankrupt or owe thousands in taxes and assessments.

Elected officials and other government leaders made the same gamble. In many cases, cities bore the cost of expanding and improving roads, sewer and water lines, treatment plants and schools, all based on growth projections that didn’t materialize.

Those developments haven’t generated the property tax revenue, assessment payments and user fees city officials expected. In some cases, stalled developments have burdened cities with millions of dollars of debt.”

Both Kirsti and Britt, who’s no longer at the paper, offered some great tips on how they gathered data that didn’t exist in some of the cities they covered.

Today’s Tip: Start by determining the number of subdivisions in your area.

Britt says the story idea came from a real estate source who said there was a 10-year supply of vacant lots.

“That struck us as pretty interesting,” Britt says. “We wanted to know more about our area’s vacant lots, which were a symbol of the housing market crash, unfulfilled promises and economic hardship that touched just about everyone the last few years.”

However, when they started reporting, officials and real estate agents said the vacant lots weren’t a big deal and it was “only a matter of time” until the market turned around, Kirsti says.

“We had to keep asking the right questions and figure out what data we needed to show what was really happening,” Kirsti says.

Getting the total number of lots took time. They had to request a list of all platted subdivisions with 10 or more vacant lots, as well as the total number of lots in each one, the name of the development company and the amount of special assessments owed, Kirsti says. They created a database using Microsoft Excel to track and map 60 developments.

“Kirsti’s successful data requests were absolutely key in showing the vacancy rates, which were the basis for our story,” Britt says.

That’s a blow to a stumbling jobs market and a hit to consumer and worker confidence, though investors probably love the idea of trimming 20 percent of labor costs.  (There’s always a ‘who benefits?’ silver lining story somewhere…)

In 2011, tens of thousands of workers in the financial sector lost jobs, along with other big job cuts at companies like Pfizer, Cisco and Delta. While American Airlines is the first big job-cuts announcement of the year, it’s a sure bet it won’t be the last.

And with the New Year just under way, you might want to consider some sort of tracking feature — a blog, a standing graphic in your publication or online, or a monthly roundup — to chronicle mass layoffs this year in your region.   Seek out the pink-slipped workers and document their job searches, career retraining, personal finance challenges and other aspects of unemployment.  Joblessness and the mismatch between corporate expectations and what candidates have to offer is one of the most unexplored stories of this era, as I mentioned in a previous blog post about the so-called talent gap. 

Readers love longitudinal features that let a story unfold throughout the year, and they are great background for presenting ongoing economic data and statistics.  Why not give it a try this year?

Finding laid-off workers is easy; visit your area’s workforce commission, go to job fairs, ask financial advisers to refer clients, call executive recruiting firms, talk with local union leaders and consider soliciting reader stories through a blurb in the publication or online.

Meanwhile, bookmark this Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly mass layoffs report; it’s really a trove of data that slices mass layoff numbers by industry, occupation and by state.  (A mass layoff is one involving 50 or more workers.)  Perusing the report, it’s surprising how many events fall under radar screens; according to the BLS report there were 2,433 layoff events in December alone.  (Note that this report lists layoffs of any duration; it may be that some job losses recorded are not permanent; that’s an important distinction to make when ferreting out local events.) Contact the BLS and your state labor department for documentation about the employers reporting the job cuts.

And check out the federal labor department’s WARN pages — the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers to provide 60 days notice of plant closings and mass layoffs, among other provisions.  It’s another way to keep tabs on pending job cuts in your area.

This Oshkosh military vehicle in Afghanistan is battle ready.

After years of covering a beat, earnings stories can lose their appeal for some reporters. Many reporters fall into a “plug and play” role. But that’s not what Scott Malone of Reuters did in his piece about Oshkosh Corp. Here the numbers aren’t as important as company investor Carl Icahn’s influence. He writes:

“Icahn, who owns 10 percent of the maker of military vehicles, said Oshkosh management does not do enough to boost shareholder returns. The company promises to provide investors with clearer benchmarks to measure its performance.

‘We heard the message that shareholders would like us to provide more targets to measure our progress,’ Chief Financial Officer David Sagehorn said on a conference call after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. ‘As we go through our fiscal 2012, we will work on ways to provide targets.’”

Scott shared four tips for helping reporters get out of the rut.

Tip 1: Ask, “What’s the real story here?”

“Take a step back and ask yourself if the best story is really in the numbers,” Scott says. “Sometimes it is – if a company falls dramatically short of Wall Street’s expectations, readers will want to know why. But often there’s another story to be told that’s more compelling.”

Tip 2: Listen closely to quarterly conference calls to see if company executives go “off script.”

Do your homework ahead of time to know what the talking points will be so you’ll know if they’re offering new information. “Those small breaks can signal significant changes,” Scott says.

Tip 3:  Boil it down.

Scott says if the numbers are the story, don’t bog readers down trying to report on everything. Instead, focus on one or two numbers then use quotes and anecdotes to explain the rest. “You can convey as much information, and more importantly give the reader a frame to understand them in, that way.”

Tip 4: Go beyond what readers can get elsewhere.

Investors can easily access earnings reports and conference calls online. Therefore you need to “to offer exclusive information or insights, so they have a reason to choose to read your story,” Scott says.