Investors are aiming sharp criticism at Reliant Resources and the three underwriters of a $3 billion two-part bond deal after the electric utility slashed its earnings outlook last Tuesday, less than two months after the bond sale on July 1. Any time a company brings a new deal and lowers earnings guidance shortly afterward it raises a serious question and neither answer is good, according to Tom LaPointe, portfolio manager at Columbia Management Group. "You're either stupid or you lied," he says. Columbia did not buy the deal.
Reliant Earnings Miss Spurs Finger Pointing