>>I wonder what the stockholders would think if they really saw those balance sheets? Maybe a little sloppy accounting is necessary between business cycles to keep the stockholders interested.
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>I was with you Charlie, right up until there < g >. I don't see how sloppy accounting benefits anyone, especially the shareholders. It may help a company in the short-run, keeping the stock price artificially high, but in the long-run everyone loses.

Chris;

That may be Charlie's point and I know that is my perception of the issue. Make what you can now and the heck with tomorrow.

There seems to be a drive or reason to always do better. If your profit is off by 1 cent a share for a quarter the value of your stock can fall greatly as has happened many times. Sometimes profits can be higher than expected and the value of the stock falls anyway. The stock market is a sick place.

Tom