Moreover, Amplats also warned that its headline earnings might experience a sizeable decline owing to lower sales and lower metals prices in H1 2012.

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For all that, Anglo American is adamant that it wants to remain a substantial minority shareholder in AngloGold Ashanti, which generated 3% of the group's headline earnings last year.

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The sound bite coverage focuses on the headline revenue and earnings, as well as the device numbers.

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When Halliburton announced its fourth-quarter results this week, the headline news was that earnings had plunged nearly 50% over the previous year.

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In fact, that was the headline on its convoluted earnings announcement.

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JPMorgan Chase was the first of the major banks to report second quarter earnings and the headline figures were quite positive.

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Aside from Apple's falling profit and some other high-profile flops, the headline numbers for first-quarter earnings appear solid.

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Benjamin Silverman, the head of research at InsiderScore, doesn't break out in a cold sweat at every headline reporting another writedown or missed quarterly earnings forecast.

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Back in the 1960s or 1980s, material news consisted of obvious headline material such as a takeover bid or a major earnings surprise.

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