Do we need quarterly earnings reports?
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What recent deal was reached between the WNBA and its players' union?
The WNBA reaches a deal. How often does corporate America need to spill the beans? And some tax advice. From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Beneshour, in for David Brancaccio. The WNBA and its players union have reached a preliminary deal less than two months before the women's basketball season is set to tip off. The two sides announced they'd come to a verbal agreement in the early hours of this morning. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall-Genzer has that. It was after two in New York this morning when the WNBA and the Players Union announced the verbal agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. The negotiations had dragged on for months as the WNBA and players sparred over pay and benefits like housing.
Players' salaries will be tied to league revenue for the first time, and some players could earn a million dollars.
Why is the SEC considering changes to quarterly earnings reports?
Neither side would talk about the details of the deal, which still has to be ratified by the players and the board of the WNBA. The women's basketball season is set to start on May 8th. Before then, the WNBA will have to hold its college draft and negotiate with players who are free agents. I'm Nancy Marshall-Genzer for Marketplace. Corporate America is legally required to report on how it's doing. Issue earnings reports every three months, so four times a year. The Securities and Exchange Commission is thinking about cutting that down to just two times a year, according to the Wall Street Journal. There are pros and cons to this idea. Marketplace's Kristen Schwab takes a look. Most companies don't love having to report earnings four times a year and would prefer going down to two, says John Blank, chief equity strategist at Zacks Investment Research.
What are the pros and cons of reducing earnings report frequency?
The quarterly reporting is just getting to be a very expensive exercise. And it would free up thousands of hours for their finance teams to do other things. like focus on long-term strategies. The quarterly turn can encourage companies to prioritize short-term performance. Plus, Blank says the information coming out every three months can be noisy. House building would be a good example that, you know, you get two, three months of bad weather, and then suddenly it just sounds like the housing market's turning down, but it's really not. They're going to, you know, pick it up as soon as the weather's over. But this so-called noise can still be important information for investors. And Jessica Wachter, a former chief economist at the SEC, says however clunky, quarterly earnings make it harder for companies to hide details they don't want the public to see.
To me, that's more of a rationale to require it than to not require it.
How could less frequent earnings reports impact corporate transparency?
She says transparency is important. Publicly traded companies are public by name. Because after all, the corporations are owned by the investors. Institutional investors and also individual ones. I'm Kristen Schwab for Marketplace. The U.S. Postal Service is in crisis and could run out of money by this fall. That's what Postmaster General David Steiner told Congress yesterday. Meanwhile, according to the Journal, the Postal Service's biggest customer, that would be Amazon, wants to cut way back on its use of the Postal Service.
Thank you. To my brothers and sisters in procrastination, there is one month left to file your taxes. And this year is a little different. The Republican tax and spending law passed last year has made some changes you might want to keep in mind, including a new deduction for older people. Lori Evers is a retired CPA and volunteer with AARP's Tax Aid Program, which offers free tax prep and filing services with a focus on adults over 50. She's here to break it down. Lori, welcome. Hi, how are you doing? Good. So, yeah, what is the senior deduction? How big is it?
What tax changes should older adults be aware of this season?
How do people get it? So the senior deduction is up to $6,000 per every person 65 and over. It does phase out once their income hits $75,000. It starts phasing out. And for a married couple, once their income hits $150,000. It's something that a lot of people were not really aware of and aware of the impact of. Are there any parts of this that are tripping people up this year that you want to help clarify?
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What recent deal was reached between the WNBA and its players' union?
0:01–0:50
2
Why is the SEC considering changes to quarterly earnings reports?
0:50–1:40
3
What are the pros and cons of reducing earnings report frequency?
1:40–2:33
4
How could less frequent earnings reports impact corporate transparency?
2:33–4:01
5
What tax changes should older adults be aware of this season?
4:01–5:22
6
What is the new senior deduction for tax filers aged 65 and over?
5:22–6:27
7
How can older adults protect themselves from tax-related identity theft?
6:27–7:13