To: IceShark who wrote (32424 ) 10/30/2000 6:40:55 PM From: patron_anejo_por_favor Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 436258 Looks like yer buddy, Sir Henry Blo-Jet came in to rescue his beloved 'Scam just in the nick of time:dailynews.yahoo.com Monday October 30 4:23 PM ET Amazon Drops As Accounting, Cash Flow Concerns Loom NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of No. 1 U.S. Internet retailer Amazon.com (news - web sites) Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMZN - news) on Monday tumbled as questions still loomed over the company's accounting methods as well as its cash position. Shares of the Seattle-based Amazon ended down $2-3/4 at $32-7/8 on the Nasdaq stock market. Last week, Amazon posted better-than-expected financial results for the third quarter and shrugged off worries from debt analysts over the company's outlook. After the earnings announcement, Lehman Brothers debt analyst Ravi Suria repeated warnings he had made in June describing Amazon's credit as weak and deteriorating. Suria recommended investors ``avoid'' buying the Web retailer's convertible bonds as he continued to be ``concerned about Amazon's cash picture in the first half of the year.'' Even more, a pair of recent articles in the financial publication Barron's also highlighted Amazon's statement in its quarterly filing that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites) had begun an ``informal'' inquiry into accounting practices related to commerce-partner revenues. ``Amazon.com reviewed the accounting for the transactions with its auditors and the SEC staff, and the company believes that the accounting treatment, and disclosures, were appropriate,'' the company wrote in its SEC filing. It said it will continue to cooperate with the inquiry. Both Barron's and Lehman's Suria also questioned Amazon's calculation of its cash flow from operations for the quarter, saying that they believe the negative $4 million Amazon quoted in its quarterly conference call was inaccurate. On Monday, however, Merrill Lynch Internet analyst Henry Blodget dismissed the concerns over debt and accounting, saying he was ``comfortable with the company's calculation'' of its cash flow from operations for the quarter. ``We are comfortable with Amazon's cash position and reiterate our belief that (the third quarter) likely marked a positive inflection point for the company and stock,'' Blodget wrote. Has this guy ever taken an accounting course in his life?<NG>