Posted on 06/09/2002 2:03:56 AM PDT by sarcasm
I am an engineer, but I am working on my MBA. When I took my basic accounting classes, I was impressed with the ethic of accounting and the importance of the independent audit that our instructors stressed.
Enron & AA should be case study #1 in next year's text books.
There will be no confidence in the stock markets until we can trust the financial reports on which we base or decisions.
Accounting ethics????
Enron, Tyco, Adelphia and on and on, did not happen in an accounting vacumn. Swapping engineering for accounting is puzzling to me. Engineering, the rules are hard and fast, accounting use to be 2+2 equals 4, not anymore. Big time accounting has degenerated into nothing more than creative book keeping. Ask Arthur Andersen.
Two overwhelmingly false premises:
1This is a terrible bear market. Bullcrap. In historical terms this is just the start. Want a BEAR market? Wait till P/E ratios hit about 10 instead of 40.
2 : The economy is "recovering" so the market should be Bullish.
Duh, sorry, but there is no compelling reason to link the two.
Example: In the 16 years from October 1965 to June 1982, the economy grew tremendously. The Dow went from 960 to 811. (Buy and hold, you bet!)
Nothing has changed with the stock-hawkers. They are still trying to sell, no matter how crappy their product. (Henry Blodgett and Mary Meeker, where are you now?
The Washington politicians and accountants told us we had a 'surplus'. Bush and Gore debated who was responsible for the great economy with tax cuts and more government spending for as far as the eye could see.
In fact, we were another day older and deeper in debt. Throw in 'our mounting trade deficit helps our economy' and 'lets bomb the world, it's the only way to make peace.
Alice in Wonderland speak fom Washington makes AA and its accountants look like angels. The axis of evil for our economy is trade inbalance, budget deficits and foreign entanglements.
Big time accounting has degenerated into nothing more than creative book keeping.
Apparently so.
There will be uneasiness in the markets until the accountants, managers and investors clean up this mess and we can trust the financial reports again.
I spent my professional life with the government. It was very difficult and I never rose into supervisory ranks as I refused to join the good ole boys club. Government is not the place for a thinking person, one that is not a "team" player.
Good for you.
It seems like the good times are over for much of the equities markets,... unless one is investing in gold/silver mining stocks or certain other isolated areas.
The next boom is in commodities. They have been in a bear market for years. Now it is time for wise investors to move there and stop trying to recreate the .com Boom that ended in March, 2002. They will come back, eventually, but will probably take years to do so. In the meantime, put your money where it will do some good.
Now I've got to disagree here...
Maybe the "good old days" are gone for those who have lately crashed and burned, however for those of us who had no faith during the bubble it seems that there may now be some opportunities opening up - certainly in shortselling if nowhere else...
Think about how much most would be worth if the price was only dupported by dividend payments.
Real low.
And the paper/internet is NULL of JObs in my field! Maybe I will be a Walmart Greeter until things get better..hahaha
No argument here. There are lots of tremendous opportunities, and if you have a very stong stomach, short-selling is at the top of the list.
As for me, I'll go long in unhedged gold stocks and watch the money roll in while everybody else buys WorldCom and Nextel while hoping, just hoping, for that comeback to the Good Old Glory Days of the late 90's! Been there. Done that. Not doing that no more despite what the sages on CNBC say....
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