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Technology Stocks : IBM -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (7445)	2/23/2002 12:55:32 PM
From: Charles Tutt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8218

Didn't Enron do its reporting according to GAAP? Charles Tutt (TM)

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (7445)	2/25/2002 11:04:01 AM
From: Arrow Hd.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8218

Hi John, sorry for the delay but was away for a few days and missed all the renewed interest on the thread. The uproar in my view is due to Enron and everyone's focus on what is being reported and how it is reflected. A lot has been posted already so my net is the following: --IBM does not have the kind of off-balance sheet stuff that Enron did. --The JDSU deal was in the public domain after it happened. My earlier post linked the releases. A lot of analysts and journalists do not take the time to do their research so if it is not handed to them on a silver platter then it is a foul ball. It was not news to me. No foul ball. --Reporting of asset purchases and sales happens every quarter. In general, they are not "one time events" but singularly, the larger ones should get publicity and analysis. That said, no one cared until Enron, and then the journalists piled on anyone who they viewed as vulnerable. --IBM reports according to GAAP. As I posted previously, if IBM did Pro Forma accounting reports then I could see the flap but it all washes in the end under GAAP unless you do what Enron did. --There is no new news. IBM did what it has been doing for years. Now they will provide more detail. Nothing to hide. If someone wants to do some original research then find out what IBM has on the books under "goodwill" since FASB 142 is requiring every company to step up to this issue by the end of the second quarter. FASB 142 is the only questionable issue on the horizon IMHO. If it is a non-event then expect IBM to beat the first quarter handily and report in excruciating detail all of which will be another non-event.