When did corporations start giving guidances or outlooks with their
earning reports.  A corporation when giving its quarterly earnings
also gives a guidance or outlook for the next quarter, year and
sometimes 2 years.  When did corporations start doing that and why?

Public companies are required by law to provide a prospectus to
potential investors. "Guidance" or "forecasts" are a natural outgrowth
of this. Pretty much an informal version of the prospectus.

krobert-ga

to the contrary, corporations issue prospectuses only at the time of a
public offering of securities. the information contained therein is
very specific. information included in a prospectus would include but
not be limited to:
1) the history of the issuer and a description of its operations
2) financial statements
3) a description of the issuers business and investment plans
4) a statement indicating the intended use of the money being raised
via the
   sale of said securities
5) a summary of the major risk factors affecting the issuer
6) information about corporate management and principal shareholders

what you specifically will not find in a prospectus is guidance,
projections, or any forward looking statements. a prospectus by law is
document of disclosure and as such precludes prognostication as to
potential future benefits of making such investment. if you have
further interest in the prospectus,its purpose and legal requirements,
read the securties act of 1933. schedule "a" of the act lists in
detail all items required to appear in a registration statement and
subsequent prospectus.

guidance on the other hand, as i said, will not appear in a
prospectus. in fact as the principals of the corporation seeking
public funds venture out to speak to the public to raise those funds,
they will be very careful not to offer any information not specically
covered in the prospectus. forward looking statements, written or
verbal during the offering period are banned. material corporate
developments during this period require an amendment to the
prospectus. for this expensive reason, corporations selling securities
to the public attempt to make no announcements of a material nature
until the offering has been completed.

corporate guidance has been available for decades. the methodology for
distribution of this guidance has changed but the information has
always been available.

having said that guidance is not a new phenomenon by any measure i
will assume this information satisfies the original question and close
the discussion at that.