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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (146059)	8/23/2002 8:24:02 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164685

>>De Beers still trying to maintain a monopoly.<< They always will. De Beers likes to keep the supply of diamonds real tight. Central banks like to keep the supply of gold real loose.

To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (146059)	8/23/2002 8:35:49 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164685

Amazon: Pro Forma Numbers Are a Help, Not a Hindrance As the largest outside shareholder of Amazon.com Inc., we have the most to lose from reporting practices that undermine the company's credibility. Your story, "Amazon is all grown up, except for its accounting" (Information Technology, Aug. 5) implies there is some issue with its accounting. There is not. Timothy J. Mullaney calls for Amazon to drop pro forma disclosures, but this would be a mistake. The aim is to supplement, not replace, reports required by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Like every other company, Amazon.com reports its results under GAAP. It provides additional disclosures that it believes will help investors to understand the reality that the accounting conventions are trying to capture. It was the first to provide a full reconciliation of pro forma results with GAAP, just as it was the first technology-driven company to announce it would expense stock options--both in keeping with best practices. Investors are free to ignore the disclosures if they so choose. We think more disclosure, not less, is better. There is nothing about the use of pro forma numbers that by itself does or should damage credibility. Perhaps the first company to make extensive pro forma disclosures was Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. No credibility problem there! We think Amazon.com, a leader in online retailing, is establishing itself as a leader in honest reporting and responsiveness to shareholders. Perhaps that's why its stock is up 25% this year, while the Nasdaq is down 35%. Bill Miller CEO Legg Mason Funds Management Inc. Baltimore businessweek.com