Fleckism:
The Market Rap
William A. Fleckenstein
06:00 PM 11|29|2001
[Since my e-mail address is fleckrap@home.com, and since as the Rap goes to bed it's not clear what AT&T plans to do with @home, I may lose my broadband and e-mail service for some time. So, that may be the problem if you send me an e-mail and I can't respond ...]
....Potomac Attack Lastly, yesterday I was venting about the travesty of Enron and how people were all asleep. I see now that Representative John Dingle is going to start hearings about the Enron problems, including the whereabouts of the SEC, the FASB, the auditors, the accountants, Wall Street, etc., etc. While I'm not fond of government regulation of any kind, being basically a libertarian at heart, I do believe that something has to be done. If companies want to use derivatives, the exposure needs to be explained. Financial statements have got to start standing for something, opaqueness had got to go, and balance sheets have got to reflect what's actually on them. These days, they mean absolutely nothing. That has got to change going forward, and I believe it will. Based on comments from Representative Dingle that passed on Dow Jones, he seems to agree: "There are likely other ticking time bombs out there with smoke and mirror earnings. Our accounting and auditing system and its oversight are seriously broken and need immediate reform." So in this particular case, I say three cheers for a Congressional investigation. |
