Archive for August, 2003

I’m off hiking in Vermont right now….look for new posts on Tuesday Sept. 2.

Americans may be fatter than ever, but the Chairman of the Board for the company that makes Twinkies and Wonder bread is looking pretty slim, at least when it comes to his stock holdings. Interstate Bakeries’ proxy statement, filed today, shows that Charles Sullivan reduced his stock holdings to 264,169 shares as of Aug. 11, [...]

New accounting rules requiring companies to ‘fess up about their off-balance sheet obligations will require many companies to start pulling back the curtain on these formerly hidden obligations by the end of next month. Despite this, PG&E, the large California energy company, is still trying to figure it all out. In its 10-Q filing for [...]

Many savvy investors already know that pensions are one of the best earnings sweeteners around (for a more in-depth discussion of pensions, see Chapter 7, Pensions in Wonderland). But a new study by two Federal Reserve Board economists shows just how sweet pension profits can be. The economists found that some stocks were inflated by [...]

Dozens of companies including Apple Computer and Delta Airlines have recently announced option exchange programs, according to recent 10-Q filings. This perfectly legal accounting trick, which surfaced several years ago, allows employees to exchange their underwater options for new lower priced ones as long as they wait six months and a day to get the [...]