The sound of a face hitting dirt at a million miles an hour sounds like my name.

I've been defeated or downtrodden a couple many times in my life. The first one I can remember distinctly in my mind can be described in two words: Lake Ontario.

That was the answer to a final round to the Arizona State Geography Bee that I missed. I said the Great Salt Lake - I don't remember the question.

I get to add to that collection of downtrodden and defeatist answers today: Enterprise Value. It refers to a value of a company used alternatively than market capitalization, if you really care.

Today I found my first deadline story idea that needed to be written for the wire. It was about a Hong Kong (and later Singapore) based company call Wh_e_elock Properties Ltd. Today its stock shot up 4.4 percent, which is a pretty significant climb for any stock. It was up 20 percent for the week -again a significant climb for any stock.

I noticed this company moving up what's called a HILO chart (52-week highs/lows)... and ran it by my immediates. We found out that an analyst report was put out yesterday night that said this company seemed, on a financial basis, to be open for a privatization option. Usually this is a big deal. It means the stock is worth less than what the market value of the company, and therefore, the stock is worth buying because it's undervalued. We assume the stock is doing well today because of the report -it's very common in stock stories.

I was told to write a quick 5-6 paragraph story about this and the analyst report. I felt pretty good. I finally did some of my own digging and found a decent story that needed to get on the wire. I wrote it, gave it to Darren, who've I've mentioned before, and him and I worked through the story to improve it. So far, so good. I then get to send it to what's called a Spot Editor, a editor who's available at the moment to edit the story and prep it for the wire. At this time, it's about 515 p.m.

Stop.

The editor has some major questions with my story. Legitimate questions. Things I didn't prepare myself to answer. Double Stop.

I'm asked, after 30 minutes of going back and forth, to rewrite the story. The questionable section, well, everything, but specifically: Singapore. I mentioned that above. In this analyst report, one of the reasons for why the company is doing well is because of the property market in Singapore. This is a Hong Kong company that has no property in Singapore.

Editor: "Have you spoken with the analysts who wrote this?"
Me: "No." (I didn't think about doing this... big mistake)
Editor: "Then, how do we answer how this report is legitimate?"
Me: "Um... (insert bullshit statement here... I really didn't know.... then proceed to look like an idiot.)
Editor: "Find a way to show that Singapore matters and some way to valuate this company's worth."

So, I have to find a way to legitimize this stock's value and why Singapore matters. I call the stocks editor in Singapore and ask. I find out there is a company in Singapore called the same thing and owned by the same people. It's also risen to a record high.

Bingo... I found it - it's a dually listed company (companies can list on many stock exchanges... this was one of them). We get the story back together, with the help of my stocks editor Andy, who stayed way past his time necessary to help me. It's 7 p.m.

I was pretty downtrodden at this point cuz I didn't get the story right the first time. I could have given the readers bad info... (I had originally said that there wasn't a Singapore company). However, I'm here to learn and then send off my revised story - feeling good that it answered all the questions necessary.

Editor: "Show me where this is a dually-listed company."
Me: "I asked the stock editor... and called the company."

The editor then shows a function on the terminal that shows if a company is dually listed it would appear there. It didn't. This Singapore company, while related, is not the same company's stock, and therefore, not a dually-listed company.

Editor: "Also... where's the valuation information I wanted you to put in here about the company."
Me: "I thought the Singapore thing would be enough to answer the question about legitimacy, so I didn't look into it." (I didn't know how to, so I didn't). "If you show me how to..."
Editor: "I don't have time to show you anything. I am the only one here and I have a ton of work to do."
Me: "Um..." (awkward silence)
Editor: "Listen, send me all you have on this and I'll put it together when I get time."

So, I prep material for him, hoping I can at least be somewhat helpful. I grab the report, the quotes I got, etc.

I then get a message on my terminal -it's a graph.

It's a graph showing the performance of this company's stock, compared with the Hang Seng Index. This stock has outperformed the market for years, therefore, it's not undervalued, and therefore...

Well, I don't really have a story, do I?

Editor: "Well, the stock still rose a ton, we need to get something out there. Can I have the materials?"
(Hands materials over)
Editor: "Where's the analyst report?"
Me: "Right there" pointing to a 3-page packet.
Editor: "This report is 37 pages long, what you have is a summary. You cannot write a story off a summary. Look here. Eh, nevermind. Go home, I'll work on this when I get a second. You did a lot of work on this. But go home."

I tell him I want to stay until the story is out. It's my story. I want to see it through, no matter how screwy I am....

Editor: "I don't have time to walk you through your story. Go home. I'll see you at the picnic tomorrow."

So I left.