Global equities research: Spotting the 'gorillas' and other primates

Short-term share price moves warping companies' judgment

There is a well-known video on YouTube that asks you to spend one minute paying close attention to a team of people passing a basketball to each other.

You are meant to count the number of times they pass the ball. Only the most attentive usually get it right, but being right is not the point of the clip. For the harder you try to count the ball being passed, the more likely you are to completely miss a large furry mammal barrelling through. People are always stunned to find out that they failed to spot the gorilla. FTSE bosses see 11% pay jump as think tank calls for RemCo reform That is the problem with targets. It has the advantage of focusing the mind, but as you focus, everything else gets blurred to the point of blindness. So w...