There’s something inherently dumb about the US corporate reporting cycle, which requires many of the biggest companies in the world to deliver their results to the market every 12 weeks.

In a market where most investors claim to think long term, the idea that companies should be required to spend time, energy and resources to report so frequently – and manage their shareholders’ expectations, and provide guidance for what’s going to happen in the next three months, and explain very short-run changes in sectoral conditions – seems counterproductive.