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Non-Tech : Mr. Buffett: Who Really Cooks the Books -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Original Mad Dog who wrote (1)	7/25/2002 5:59:13 PM
From: Didi	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3

Did you see these articles, OMD? Di ======================= Selected highlights. businessweek.com >>>JULY 29, 2002 SPECIAL REPORT -- THE ANGRY MARKET By David Henry in New York, with Amy Borrus in Washington As for options, analysts at S&P say they would reduce S&P 500 earnings by 17% this year if they were expensed. But that estimate is based on the values companies have put on options grants in their annual reports. Accounting regulators say they know of no one who has checked the assumptions behind the calculations. Realistically, the best investors can hope for is some relief from the nagging feeling that they have been suckered. They invested in companies only to realize they have no idea what those businesses are really earning. It will be a while before they believe they know enough.<<< ............................... washingtonpost.com >>> 3 More Firms to List Options as Expenses Fannie, Freddie, Amazon Yield on Issue By Kathleen Day Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, July 24, 2002; Page E01 Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, bowing to growing pressure for corporations to disclose more information to investors, announced yesterday that they will begin treating executive stock options as an expense against earnings. Only a handful of companies now treat options as an expense, but the number is growing. In addition to Amazon.com and Bank One, last week Coca-Cola Co., The Washington Post Co. and Dole Food Co. announced they will start to treat options as an expense. Yesterday, Amazon.com spokesman Bill Curry said the company does not know the size of the effect the accounting change will have in 2003, only that it is certain to widen the company's losses or reduce earnings. SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt has said that while he doesn't favor treating options as an expense, he believes that it is inevitable that publicly traded companies will be forced to do so. According to a report by Bear Stearns & Co., 38 companies would have experienced an earnings decline of more than 50 percent last year if they had been required to deduct options as an expense, and 20 percent of the profit reported by Standard & Poor's 500 companies would have been erased.<<<