"전설로 떠나는 월가의 영웅" 원서로 공부하기 73편

* 전설적인 펀드 매니저 피터 린치의 "전설로 떠나는 월가의 영웅" 원서를 통해 투자공부와 영어공부, 두 마리 토끼를 모두 잡기 위한 컨텐츠입니다.

* 원서 제목은 "One up on wall street" 입니다.

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이제부터는 12장 Getting the Facts입니다.

 

# The investor relations people in textiles have picked up enough of this oldguard
attitude that they manage to sound unenthusiastic when business is
terrific, and absolutely downcast when business is good. And if business is poor,
you’d think by the spirit of the interviews that the executives were hanging
themselves by their percale sheets out the windows of their offices.

 

☞ downcast : sad or upset

 

☞ percale :

a type of smooth material made of cotton, or mainly of cotton, used especially for making bed sheets, etc.:

Smooth cotton percale is cool and absorbent and washes well.

a percale pillowcase

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# Let’s say you call up and inquire about the wool-worsted business.
“Mediocre,” they say. Then you ask about polyester-blend shirts, and they
answer, “Not so hot.” “How’s denims?” you wonder. “Ah, it’s been better.” But
when they give you the actual numbers, you realize that the company is doing
great.

That’s just how it is in textiles, and in mature industries in general. When
looking at the same sky, people in mature industries see clouds where people
in immature industries see pie.

☞ worsted : : a smooth compact yarn from long wool fibers used especially for firm napless fabrics, carpeting, or knittingalso : a fabric made from worsted yarns

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# Take apparel companies, which make the finished products from textiles.
These companies have a tenuous existence and are forever disappearing from
financial life. For the number of times they’ve declared Chapter 11, you’d think
it was an amendment to the Constitution. Yet you’ll never hear the word
“mediocre” from an apparel person, even when sales are disastrous. The worst
you’d ever hear from an apparel person during a retailers’ Black Plague would be
that things were “basically okay.” And when things are basically okay, you’ll hear
that the situation is “fantastic,” “unbelievable,” “fabulous,” and “out of this
world.”

 

☞ tenuous: weak and likely to change

a tenuous agreement/connection

☞ mediocre : average or below average in quality, ability, or achievement

a mediocre performance

☞ disastrous : causing a lot of damage or harm

disastrous for: 

The consequences of spending cuts would be disastrous for local schools.

☞ out of this world: extremely good or impressive

The skiing and the mountains were just out of this world!

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# The technology people and the software people are equally Pollyannaish. You
can almost assume that the more tenuous the enterprise, the more optimistic the
rhetoric is going to be. From what I hear from the software people, you’d think
that there’s never been a down year in the history of software. Of course, why
shouldn’t they be upbeat? With so many competitors in software, you have to
sound upbeat. If you appear to lack confidence, some other sweet-talker will win
all the contracts.
But there’s no reason for the investor to waste time deciphering the corporate
vocabulary. It’s simpler to ignore all the adjectives.

 

☞ rhetoric : a style of speaking or writing that is intended to influence people

angry nationalist rhetoric

anti-American rhetoric

the rhetoric of freedom/reform/law and order

☞ upbeat : happy and positive because you are confident that you will get what you want

upbeat about: 

The players seemed upbeat about their chances of winning.