Blackstone: Moving the goal posts

Blackstone went public last June at $31 a share. The stock has since lost more than half its value. The coming year could bring more pain if Blackstone’s fourth quarter earnings are any indication. The company’s shareholders need to reset their expectations. Analysts underestimated the effects of the credit crunch on Blackstone’s fourth quarter. They thought the firm’s “economic net income”, Blackstone’s preferred measure of profits, would be about 20 cents a share. It came in at 8 cents a shar...