CATEGORIES OF BUSINESS NEWS

Financial and business news generally falls into the following specific Categories:

• News released under the Rules of Disclosure of the SEC and the Exchanges. This is financial and other company information deemed material to an investment decision

• Major news events beyond routine financial announcements. This is significant company news beyond reporting financial performance. It may be material, or may be just background. Evidence of a potential oil field, neither proven nor exploited, is background. Finding a major pool of oil may be material. This category includes, as well, news of fraud or other white collar crime.

• Feature material. This is general background information about a company, such as a discussion of a company’s management policies, or a profile of management, or its success in entering new markets. This kind of material can help clarify a company’s goals, its management skills, its market potential, and so forth. Favorable feature articles can enhance reputation, and build faith in a company’s future. Included in this category are the interviews with key management personnel.

• Routine announcements, such as key personnel changes or new product announcements. While this kind of news may not directly affect a company’s stock, it serves to keep the company’s name before the business and investment public.

• Inquiries from, and stories originated by, the media. Increasingly, the media circumvents the investor relations professional to go directly to management. Because there are specific skills in being interviewed effectively, all company officers should be briefed in these skills well before the phone rings.