Random Thoughts:  Brief comments on items of potential interest that we come across in our day-to-day work

Oracle Corporation $ORCL Shares are off today on news Oracle was hit with whistleblower lawsuit over cloud accounting. Even if the SEC wasn’t investigating Oracle’s cloud revenue accounting practices prior to today, we would not be surprised if they started now. 

But wait - The SEC is already investigating Oracle and has been since at least Nov-2012.  

In fact, in May-2014, Mar-2015, and most recently in a letter dated 10-Nov-2015, the SEC confirmed Oracle’s involvement in on-going enforcement proceedings that remain undisclosed as of this date.  

Signet Jewelers, Limited $SIG Dogpiles and Conn’s – One cannot help but notice there’s something of a “dogpile on the rabbit” taking place among haters of this company of late (this is a reference to a Bugs Bunny cartoon wherein a bunch of dogs, determined to show Bugs who’s boss, all pile on the cotton-tailed one only to have him stomping on the entire pile from above).  To this we offer two things worth considering: 

First, as of 14-Mar-2016, the SEC was not investigating Signet Jewelers.  In fact, in five responses dating back to Aug-2012, we received the same response from the SEC:  No investigative records found.  But that doesn’t rule out the CFPB, an agency we find deplorable when it comes to the FOIA. 

Nonetheless, we move to point two:  If you have an interest in Siget, you probably should take a look at our report on CONN’s, of 25-Apr-2016, “Is the Conn’s SEC Probe Hurting Earnings? It May Be a Good Time to Ask.”  There’s some potential overlap here.

To learn more on our process and what our findings mean, click here.

Notes: The SEC did not disclose the details on investigations referenced above. The SEC reminds us that its assertion of the law enforcement exemption should not be construed as an indication by the Commission or its staff that any violations of law have occurred with respect to any person, entity, or security.  New SEC investigative activity could theoretically begin or end after the date covered by this latest information which would not be reflected here.