Preliminary Analytics | 09.23.09

• U.S. Increases Cases Against Tax Evaders – Every couple of weeks, the Service is expecting to make new scofflaws public. They describe it as a ‘great success for the government’ which is an odd combination of words. [Reuters via NYT]
• Phone Calls Add to Din Over Loans – “Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is trying to subpoena the remaining records of Countrywide’s VIP loan program. So far, the committee’s chairman, New York Democratic Rep. Edolphus Towns, has turned down that request.” And some of the tapes have been destroyed anyway. So that could turn out to be a hell of a problem. [WSJ]
• Harkin: ‘Public Option’ Will Be In Final Health Bill – Maybe. Hark also thinks it’ll be done by Christmas. There’s that whole tricky navigation of politics to deal with though. [NPR]
• Xerox to Buy Affiliated Computer for $6.4 Billion – “The acquisition is Chief Executive Officer Ursula Burns’s first since taking over the world’s largest maker of high-speed color printers in July. The transaction helps her expand into a market the company values at about $150 billion and gives her a foothold in managing administrative operations for multiple arms of the U.S. government.” Handling anything for the feds gets you closer to the money printing machine, so that’s not a bad thing. [Bloomberg]

• Berkshire Buys Burlington in Buffett’s Biggest Deal – WB likes BNSF for $100 a share and he’ll thrown in some free DQ just because he can. [Bloomberg]
• Business Bankruptcy Filings Increased 7% in October – Over 130k total personal and commercial bankruptcies, up 20% from last year. [WSJ]
• What To Watch For On Tuesday – It’s election day. [NPR]
• Stanley, Black & Decker in Deal – “The transaction, which had been discussed three times before, according to the companies, represents a view that the housing market will bounce back from current lows, but also an acknowledgement that the do-it-yourself market and construction will not soon approach sky-high levels of a few years ago.” [WSJ]
• RBS, Lloyds Diverge on U.K. Aid as They Unveil Plans – “The U.K. government said Tuesday it will put £31.2 billion ($51.2 billion) in new taxpayer money into the two banks as part of a revamp of the banking system and the long-awaited asset-protection program.” [WSJ]

• Michigan Coach Rodriguez and the Tax Man – UM is paying $2.5 million of Rich Rod’s buyout obligation. The IRS might want to call that income. [TaxProf Blog]
• Why Accounting Matters – It matter. Why else would so many people (read: government bureaucracies) covet the oversight of it? [FEI Financial Reporting Blog]
• Suing Audit Firms re: Madoff: The Iguana In The Room – “Issues of control and the issues of the ‘agency’ relationship between the auditors’ international umbrella ‘coordinating’ firms and their member firms figure prominently in the Madoff feeder funds filings that include the international firms as defendants.” [Re: The Auditors]
• Jr Deputy Accountant Interviewed by Liberty Pulse’s the Pulse – Topics include Tim Geithner’s uncanny resemblance to Beavis. [JDA]
• Buyers Take a Pass on Some Failed Banks – Banks that seemingly have leprosy. [WSJ]