2 costly IR blunders wh/ have kicked shareholders in the teeth...
I would add two more factors to your list wh/ have also created volatile instability w/ the price.
I have liked the way phot has handled pr's. I even thought todays pr was balanced though it strangly lacked mention of gift.
but IR whether thru interview/media has been poor at times in a very costly way. two to add to your list:
4. manag's poorly executed and thought out handling of guidance #'s before the last financials. that caused major trauma in pps and shook out some longs who shouldnt have had that coming.
5. perhaps more damning, was hunts recent interview w/ alan b. In that talk he strongly implied GIFT contracts very near new years. how many people do you think held off taking profits in the mid .40's b/c they felt very strongly, via hunt's interview signal, that GIFT news was literally going to drop any day. this is also when the whole sector was very hot. so it was very logical to feel that a GIFT contract in that market envir may have been worth another .20-.40 on the pps. It was a costly headfake sent to the shareholders.
i thought the letter today, even though it strangly omitted GIFT, nevertheless was prudent in how it handled expectations. 2-3 weeks of intrique ahead.