• A Modest List of Financial Analysis ‘Red Flags’ – “Patrick Byrne is the CEO” isn’t one of them but Overstock.com does get mentioned. [The Accounting Onion]
• Tax Vox’s Lump of Coal Award: The Worst Tax Ideas of 2009 – California gets its very own spot at #4. [Tax Vox]
• War on Wall Street as Congress Sees Returning to Glass-Steagall – Bank break up courtesy of Maverick? [Bloomberg]
• How the VP of Finance at Koss steals millions – “For the year ended 6/30/09, Koss had sales of $38.2 million and profits of $2 million. For the year ended 6/30/08, Koss had sales of $50 million and profits of $4.5 million. If Sachdeva stole $20 million over the last four years, that’s $5 million per year…. and far exceeds the profits for the last couple of years. How did no one notice?” [The Fraud Files Blog]
• New security restrictions could hurt airlines – As if they needed help. [Reuters]
• Black Eyed Peas Didn’t File Tax Returns for Years – Due to ‘an inadvertent oversight’. [Web CPA]
• Gee, Who WASN’T Bribed? – This involves one large process of elimination. [The Market Ticker]
We understand that the first day back after the Christmas break could be one of the worst on the entire year. Especially if you’re one of the few actually working. We’ll check in with you unfortunate souls later today.
Related Posts
Preliminary Analytics | 11.02.09
• Pandit ‘Near Death’ Cash Hoard Signals Lower U.S. Bank Profits – “The four largest U.S. banks by assets — Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo & Co. — have increased their combined liquidity by 67 percent to $1.53 trillion as of Sept. 30 from $914.2 billion in June 2008, before Lehman’s collapse, according to the companies’ third-quarter reports.” [Bloomberg]
• Sarbanes-Oxley 404(b): Auditors’ Reports on Internal Controls — A Shot in the Arm, or a Poke in the Behind? – “Veteran readers here know my deeply skeptical view that Sarbox was never more than a knee-jerk political feel-good exercise – going back to my July 20, 2002 column in the International Herald Tribune: ‘any legislation receiving the bipartisan margin of 97-0 is bound to be fundamentally defective.'” [Re: Balance]
• Zombies Among Us: The Mainstream Media and Financial Journalism – Are the MSM gobbling the Big 4 PR? [Re: The Auditors]
• CIT: A Different Kind of Bankruptcy? – If by different, you mean, “taxpayer money flushed down the toliet” then, no. [JDA]
• Delaware Beats Switzerland as Most Secretive Financial Center – The IRS’ busting up the whole secret Swiss bank thing probably didn’t hurt the First State’s run at double-secret probation banking Mecca. [Reuters via NYT]
Preliminary Analytics | 11.18.09
• Goldman, Buffett Team to Aid Small Businesses – WB says some small business need some help with certain things, ‘Sometimes people lack basic business skills, like accounting.’ Accounting and folksy sexual innuendos? He’s already got it figured out. Take note people. [WSJ]
• How to Wreck Your Company’s Valuation – Step 1: Hire an auditor of questionable ethics. [CFO]
• Lions Ex-Stadium, Once Super Bowl Host, Sells for $7.25 a Seat – Or $583,000. [Bloomberg]
• Chance of Great Depression Now 5%… – 20 to 1? Takers? [Brad DeLong]
Preliminary Analytics | 09.03.09
• Treasury Retreats From Standoff With TARP Watchdog – “Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a position also known as Sigtarp, declared victory Wednesday in his effort to clarify that he doesn’t answer to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.” [WSJ]
• Oracle Faces In-Depth EU Probe Over Sun Purchase – Larry Ellison will not stand this aggression. [Bloomberg]
• Will AIG Rein In Its Brash CEO? – “Mr. Benmosche said New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo ‘doesn’t deserve to be in government’ and that Mr. Benmosche would leave dealing with ‘all those crazies down in Washington’ to the company’s chairman, according to an account by Bloomberg News that was confirmed by Mr. Benmosche.” For the sake of the rest of us, let the man say his piece. [WSJ]
• Stanford Has Surgery; Receiver Defends $27 Million Fee – “Jailed fraud defendant R. Allen Stanford had surgery for an aneurysm in his leg Wednesday morning and was back in a Conroe-area prison before noon.” Recovery time for a stud such as Stan is not nearly as long for you mortals. Meanwhile, the receiver in the case is telling the SEC to BTFO. [Houston Chronicle]
• Stanford’s Bellagio debt, redux – Stan’s attorney suggests that if the Bellagio wants its money it should go after the aforementioned receiver, Ralph Janvey. Old school style of course, ‘Maybe the Bellagio should revert to the time-honored method of Vegas debt collection and send someone to make the receiver an offer he can’t refuse, or just break his legs,’ or may we suggest a hammer? [FT Alphaville]