I recall that an example of early stage investment was the deferral of charges to Sprint PCS for equipment needed to start their service. This increased the loss reported on the following financial statement, but it also increased subsequent profits after the equipment was paid for.
If a company makes an investment in another company, the investment is carried on the books at the lower of cost or market value. Many of the current investments are now below cost, so those charges show up in succeeding financial reports. What CFRA apparently did not consider was that QUALCOMM has grouped all these investments together so that the losses are MORE transparent than they were before. Is this what they call aggressive accounting? I think what is really at stake is an attempt to manipulate the stock price, giving traders an opportunity for a quick buck. Nothing more. But it also gives long term investors an interesting buying opportunity.
One way to do this is to buy February 35 call options, which expire a week from today. The call options can be bought for about $3 per share. If the stock recovers to, say, 40 by next week, an investor can exercise the calls, buying shares at 35, which, added to the $3 for the option, gives a cost basis of $38 for a stock selling at $40. If the stock doesn't recover, then the investor's losses are minimized (the call option expires worthless).
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