Once again, the president is questioning what purpose is served by publicly traded companies issuing quarterly earnings reports. Not only did Donald Trump raise this issue back in 2018 — so did Barack Obama in 2015.

Which just goes to show that the arguments against quarterly financial reports are neither crazy nor new. It was not until 1970 that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission required quarterly reporting, and it has not been required in the UK since 2014.

I have argued that more transparency is generally better. A more frequent flow of information can lead to fewer surprises, less market volatility and a lower cost of capital. It also leaves less room for fraud and other financial shenanigans.

But there is a cost to transparency. Proponents of semiannual reporting (often c

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