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To: posthumousone who wrote (112211)	7/11/2001 10:10:35 PM
From: patron_anejo_por_favor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

<<Seriously patron, how can investors OVERLOOK this huge investment loss?>> Mouse, this is just another saga in the ongoing "dumbing down" of the average US equity market participant. Companies have been propping up EPS for YEARS now at the expense of the balance sheet, and no one takes notice. Why? Because balance sheet problems require more than 5 seconds to analyze and digest, they require comparison to prior Q's, years, other companies in the industry, etc. They require the rapidly-vanishing ability to read and understand a balance sheet! And there are no IMMEDIATE repercussions to balance sheet robbery. It's a process that gradually erodes a company's strength, until finally that company must confess that the financial machinery has been polluted to the extent that the expected "number" can no longer be wrung out. CSCO was the most blatant example...they had made acquisitions that were dilutive for YEARS before it finally caught up with 'em (and their solution of course was the famous "inventory charge" they took last quarter). The point is, that companies will keep doing this until they are faced with consequences (as was the case back in olden days, ie, pre 1995). In short, "we don't care balance sheet no more" might as well be the NazDung's motto, and it won't change until the bagholders or the media (yeah, RIGHT!) wise up. Regards Patron