[triplejake]

Unfortunately, this is one case where the perceptions of the Euros about the relative merits of their accounting versus ours may matter more than the truth. Tons of money has been pumped into US financial markets from abroad because of the strong dollar and the perception that our companies were solid investments. With both of those premises weakening, that money is flowing out, which will be a drag on our markets for a long time.

[general_re]

Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, you've got a good point - perception is all that matters much of the time. I think it'll depend in large part upon what the response is among accounting firms and the SEC - they all need to move aggressively to nip this sort of thing in the bud. Gotta fight back to keep the perception from becoming that the US markets are no more transparent than some third-world banana republic...