Making sense of CEO jargon — Cramer explains what 4 ‘convoluted’ terms mean for investors

Customers of the enterprise software giant are being more measured in their spending, according to the co- CEO of the company.

Cramer has a translation here.

It means that executives who would normally agree to take a product with alacrity now have to run it up to the CEO, the CFO or even the board of directors. Businesses have become more conservative about spending money here because they don't want to add too many new costs going into a downturn. It's harder to win business if you measure it.

Cramer said he tends to view this term more harshly than the first one. It is usually offered in the context of a sales cycle. Cramer said that hearing management should be used with care.

You might think that it's taking a lot longer to close a deal because the companies talk about a long sales cycle. They call itelongated when they can't close the deal at all. The next quarter will most likely be a disappointment because the deals won't come through.

Retailers have been discussing excess inventory recently. The companies have too much stuff, that's what this term is about. Cramer said the key for investors is to figure out what happens to the excess inventory.

You need to know if the inventory is being thrown away. Target got rid of all its excess inventory. That was well thought out. Cramer said it allowed them to open up their floor space to merchandise that people wanted. Excess inventory that wasn't taken action still exists. The price has been slashed to let people unload it. They won't be able to put in better merchandise because of that dribble out.

Cramer said investors should be interested when a company is called a clearing event.

The company thinks it can beat next quarter's benchmark, despite it being a disappointing one. No business has ever used the term "clearing", and no investors think of the term "clearing" if it hasn't already reset expectations on the conference call. He said it was too dangerous to do so.

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