--- title: Trump Wants 6-Month SEC Study Instead of Quarterly Reporting description: Trump said he's asked the SEC to study ending quarterly reporting for U.S. businesses in order to ease regulations and spur growth. canonical: https://time.com/5370300/trump-quarterly-earnings-reports/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-17T13:59:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:10:41.670Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Interested in Shakeup for Corporate Earnings Reports og:description: The shift could promote longer-term thinking among business leaders og:url: https://time.com/5370300/trump-quarterly-earnings-reports/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8aac5528b3af3ff2/698937fc8fd2ee862b35c66a/trump-end-quarterly-sec-reports.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: Trump-ends-quarterly-SEC-reports og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Interested in Shakeup for Corporate Earnings Reports twitter:description: The shift could promote longer-term thinking among business leaders twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8aac5528b3af3ff2/698937fc8fd2ee862b35c66a/trump-end-quarterly-sec-reports.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Is Interested in a Major Shakeup for Corporate Earnings Reports > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Terrence Dopp & Ben Bain / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Terrence Dopp & Ben Bain / Bloomberg Contributor Aug 17, 2018 1:59 PM UTC  US President Donald Trump listens during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C. on August 16, 2018. US President Donald Trump listens during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C. on August 16, 2018. Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images by [Terrence Dopp & Ben Bain / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Terrence Dopp & Ben Bain / Bloomberg Contributor Aug 17, 2018 1:59 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said he’s asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to study ending quarterly reporting for U.S. businesses in order to ease regulations and spur growth. “In speaking with some of the world’s top business leaders I asked what it is that would make business (jobs) even better in the U.S. ‘Stop quarterly reporting & go to a six month system,’ said one. That would allow greater flexibility & save money. I have asked the SEC to study!” Trump said in a Twitter post. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1030416679069777921) Some corporate leaders and trade groups have vented about public companies’ focus on short-term earnings and revenue goals, arguing that it can prevent firms from growing their businesses and creating jobs. One criticism is that if companies are striving to report profit gains every quarter, they are more likely to buy back shares and cut costs than invest in their businesses. Earlier this year, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon urged companies to stop issuing quarterly earnings guidance. But moving away from reporting earnings every three months would be a much more dramatic change that would almost certainly trigger resistance from shareholders who want transparency from the companies they invest in. Quarterly reporting by public companies has long been a cornerstone of U.S. capital markets, with Wall Street analysts known for making closely monitored recommendations on buying or selling stock. While some business leaders have groaned about the rigors associated with having to meet targets and metrics four times a year, the SEC has been reticent to make any changes. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, a Trump nominee, has said increasing the number of public companies and initial public offerings are among his top priorities. Still, Clayton hasn’t floated reducing the number of times that companies must disclose their financial performance each year. As an independent agency, the SEC enjoys some level of independence from the White House. SEC spokesmen didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Friday’s Twitter missive featured what has become a hallmark of Trump’s speeches — unnamed leaders at unspecified companies supportive of his agenda. At a July rally in Florida, he said the chief executive of “one of the greatest companies in the world” urged him to press his tariff fight even though it would impact his business. Read More: Trump’s Speeches Feature Mystery Men the White House Won’t Name In some cases, events differ from one telling to another such as in Trump’s frequent retelling of a story involving a friend who hired ex-convicts and told him they were exemplary employees. Trump also cites conversations with unnamed foreign leaders, such as his claim a high-placed Chinese leader who said he’s the first president to stand up to that nation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5370300/trump-quarterly-earnings-reports/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5370300/trump-quarterly-earnings-reports/"},"headline":"President Trump Is Interested in a Major Shakeup for Corporate Earnings Reports","datePublished":"2018-08-17T13:59:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:10:41.670Z","description":"The shift could promote longer-term thinking among business leaders","url":"https://time.com/5370300/trump-quarterly-earnings-reports/","keywords":["White House","Bloomberg","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8aac5528b3af3ff2/698937fc8fd2ee862b35c66a/trump-end-quarterly-sec-reports.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Terrence Dopp & Ben Bain / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8aac5528b3af3ff2/698937fc8fd2ee862b35c66a/trump-end-quarterly-sec-reports.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump-ends-quarterly-SEC-reports","caption":"President Trump at his cabinet meeting","creditText":"Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5370300/trump-quarterly-earnings-reports/","name":"President Trump Is Interested in a Major Shakeup for Corporate Earnings Reports"}}]}] ```