Most companies involved in manufacturing and heavy industry have to manage environmental problems created by past activities, either of their own or a predecessor’s making. In some cases, the practices that lead to this are no longer acceptable. Much of the industrial contamination of soil does not pose an immediate hazard, as long as the property is left undisturbed. Contamination that is an immediate threat to people and the environment, such as contaminated ground water, has to be cleaned up in most countries as a matter of law, with the company responsible bearing the cost.

Recent research has shown that many financial analysts are often inaccurate when forecasting company profits. Typically they tend to be over optimistic about prospects, although some can be very pessimistic and significantly underestimate actual results. Much depends on the individual analyst’s general approach, with some being bolder than others. It has been shown, however, that more accurate forecast could be produced if analysts applied the average company profits increase across the whole economy to each company proportion to its market share.