So says Sid Cato, who has issued a newsletter dealing with the key corporate communiqué every month since September 1983. He monitors annuals from around the world, using computer programs he conceived, and which he directed creation of.

In his Newsletter on Annual Reports, the author, journalist and former corporate officer noted "as in earlier years, annuals produced by companies on a fiscal-year basis are pretty much the pits."

A notable exception is the 2003 report of Tyson Foods, which Cato said scored 105 of a potential 135 points, thus achieving what he calls "world-class status."

Among 1999 reports, 44 achieved world-class status; last year (2002 books), but 24, by his calculation.

He said one in four early-arriving 2003s relied "in whole or in part" on the legalistic Form 10-K, which Cato maintains is intended only as a filing document (for U.S. companies, at least) with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Never," said Cato, "was the 10-K intended for popular consumption."

As noted earlier, "The much-publicized Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOx) was introduced amidst great fanfare as a way to help obviate corporate skullduggery. Instead, it has been used by the venal to escape responsibility for the results of the company they head."

Cato began monitoring management's assumption of responsibility for the financials among 1990 reports, when the percentage was 55. For the last two years, he said the percentage has stood at 41.5%, if a bit higher (46.4%) among early 2003s.

Cato evaluates annuals against standards he promulgated in 1983 (and copyrighted a year later)—15 criteria concerning what makes a good report. He also rates reports against three dozen indicators of their positive or negative nature—the Cato Positive Index. He said the 2002 crop averaged a positive 9.9% CPI, if off from 14.3% five years earlier—among 1997 reports worldwide.