What was Sears’ GAAP earnings for the most recent quarter? Pro forma earnings? Should we ignore the “bad stuff”?
Do you think that the cost of capital for start ups is affected by the age of the CEO? If so, is it higher or lower for, say, 20 year old CEOs? Why?
What’s the point of conversion to IASB (from U.S. GAAP) if there is an escape hatch as implied by the SEC’s Chief Accountant? (FASB could decide not to apply an IASB rule that “does not improve financial reporting for U.S. investors.”)
Can you find this quote from Clearwire (CLWR) in its most recent 10-K filing? “(W)e believe we may need to raise substantial additional capital to fund our business and meet our financial obligations beyond the next 12 months.”
Can you give an example of how alleged accounting errors/improprieties affect M&A deals in the works?
Why is it necessary for the Japanese standard setters and the U.S. standard setters (FASB) to have meetings on convergence if each is also trying to achieve convergence with international accounting standard setters?
Diamonds (the snack company) allegedly, improperly shifted expenses into different fiscal periods to improve earnings. How would an investor figure out that this may be going on? How can too little transparency affect stock prices? How can too much?
Expected capex appears to be a market driver. It is disclosed in an SEC filing, but do you know where?
Who wanted the goodwill impairment test changed? Preparers? Auditors? Users? Will the changes result in “better” information?
What is the connection between the bankers’ bonuses and estimates of fair values of certain investments?
Why do you think Mattel changed its dividend rate? Who in the firm would make this decision? What signal might it convey?
Honeywell, IBM, AT&T, Verizon, Reynolds, and now UPS have changed their accounting for pensions. What is a commonality among these firms? What do you think may be driving these firms to change the accounting? And why now?
P&G’s profit dropped 49% from the previous quarter. How do you think the stock price would react to the information? On what does any reaction depend? Is a goodwill impairment a leading or lagging indicator?
In what way is restricted stock compensation a “fixed cost”? Does restricted stock affect diluted EPS as do stock options?
Would you want to know the ratio of a firm’s CEO compensation to the median compensation of the firm’s employees? Why or why not? Would the information have any effects on decisions you would make with respect to the firm, such as whether to buy its products? Why?
