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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (59778)	1/31/2002 4:51:47 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Spin on tech financial results comes under more scrutiny BY SCOTT HERHOLD AND MARY ANNE OSTROM siliconvalley.com Mercury News As the Enron scandal deepens, it is jolting investors' faith in financial reporting, including the ways that Silicon Valley companies spin their numbers to the public. During the heady days of the tech boom, many valley companies invented new ways to put the best shine on their financial results, bypassing traditional accounting rules in the name of clarity. While it isn't illegal, this system of ``pro forma'' accounting is under increasing question, as investors and regulators grow restive about what lies beneath the numbers. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently told companies to be stricter in how they report these results, which essentially ignore certain costs. Earlier this month, in the first crackdown on a ``pro forma'' offense, the commission cited Donald Trump's hotel company for misleading investors. A new study by the National Investor Relations Institute found 57 percent of 233 companies surveyed gave pro forma numbers at least equal billing with their results according to generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. Make a conclusion