Jake's View | HSBC of today lacking in vision that had helped it grow
The banking giant is searching for ways to achieve earnings per share growth, but using the lean and mean strategy may be difficult
"In May 2013, we set out our plans for the next phase of delivering our strategy, covering the period from 2014 to 2016. Our strategic direction is unchanged and our priorities are clear."
Back in the days when I worked as an investment analyst, this was the sort of statement I liked to hear at earnings results time from the companies I was covering.
It made life easy by offering plenty of opportunity to discuss how performance did or did not match the strategic direction targets, especially when these were given names - Growth Opportunities Through Human Resource Management, that sort of thing.
Waffle, waffle, waffle, I would have four pages of it between the share price chart up front and the half-page disclaimer on the back, all written up before London opened and it was time to get on the phone again - We maintain our "buy on weakness" (translation: Sell) recommendation on this stock.
But that's not the way I look at HSBC now.