Smoke Screens in the Investment Mosaic

Recent flurries of press releases caught my eye. General Motors, General Electric, Verizon and last but not least Wal Mart. Observe how companies create smoke in the investors perception.
General Motors just issued a press release announcing support for an Ethanol vs Gasoline project. Fuel Prices are crippling the western world and GM now wants you to now about an obscure project. Clearly the press release is designed to deflect attention away from consumption challenged models that are the GM mainstay.
General Electric announces two major projects into two major fields. The press releases create the appearance that they are taking over the world. No mention of any financial metrics. Basically just trust us with these two major new efforts. You have to be sure that internally GE's executives needed to go through the numbers to be convinced. But they chose not to share insights with investors. This is how companies suddenly change character, problems develop and suddenly everyone is saying wait a minute I did not know that about them.
Verizon issues five yes five press releases within one twenty four hour period. They are all product and marketing announcements designed to create the aura of an invading army making great strides on the field of battle. Much like the Pentagons recent drive to Bagdad. Sure you got there and now what.
Wal Mart had the sneakiest one of all. Recently they missed their sales number. Hey it happens no one is happy but what the heck. Next day Wal Mart issues a press release that they are now funding a missing child find help service. A noble cause. But the $200,000 donation is small change for Wal Mart. They need the latest news on investor screens to be something other than a missed sales report which has true investor significance.