Word on the Sinclair debacle is still trickling through the financial press. Today it muscled its way into the ranks of Bernie Ebbers and Tyco.
And don't forget Sinclair's revenue stream and visit your friendly local auto dealer.
Revenue
George Mannes highlights Sinclair today in 'The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week'.
Dumb
Will Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI:Nasdaq) have an effect on the presidential election? Or will the presidential election have an effect on Sinclair?
What we do know is that Sinclair's desire to inform the public -- or what critics call an illegal, disguised political contribution to President Bush -- could have some unintended economic consequences. Maybe.
Whether the pressure is working, or will work, is unknown. No one picked up the phone at Sinclair when we called Thursday. One national Sinclair advertiser, United Online (UNTD:Nasdaq) , had no comment. Previous boycotts of media and entertainment companies, on various complaints, don't seem to have had injurious effect.
Two points we might bring up, though. One, Sinclair is already hurting; the company lowered third-quarter guidance, citing auto advertising weakness and ad cancellations stemming from hurricane season.
Two, Sinclair is due to report third-quarter earnings on Nov. 4, two days after Election Day. However the presidential election turns out -- assuming we'll even know how it has turned out by then -- we wouldn't be surprised if that day's earnings call is a little noisier than normal.