Carl -
In spite of appearances, my bizarre examples have a serious intent ( Other than to earn the payoff that I have received from the RMBS bulls to try to draw your attention away from their thread. -g-).
Are the stockholders of a company independent entities? Do they own their shares free and clear? Can they associate with company employees in ways that do not impact the company itself? ( Must RMBS expense the cash and stock payments that I receive from their RMBS thread shareholders? -g-)
If shareholders were to pay salaries directly in an attempt to inflate the value of the company, that would likely be fraud. If they were to form a brand new company to develop something that the original company needed or would benefit from, that would likely be OK, even though it would have no impact on the original company's books. This may be a gray continuum, and may also depend on whether a company is public or private.
You are likely right that I mix earnings and cash flow, at least sometimes. However, I wouldn't expect them to permanently increasingly diverge if all the accounting is appropriate. In any case, if earnings were to differ from cash flow only because option grants were expensed, that would NOT be a justification for expensing the option grants by itself. I am NOT making that claim, but merely an observation.
Thanks, Don |
