FYI - New Yorker Article on Enron by Malcolm Gladwell

[applegrove]

http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/070108fa_fact

[conscious evolution]

1. Thanks for posting this.

Subject: Thanks for posting this
Message:
Because of a couple of other DUers I have been reading SEC filings on a lot of corporations lately.
Ihave noticed a couple of things in this research.One is that there is so much info provided that I can see how people overlook them as sources of info as to what is happening.One can get really bogged down trying to pour over them and miss really interesting tidbits.
Another thing is that you can stumble across some really interesting tidbits.
Here is an interesting example:The recent IPO filings for Kellogg,Brown and Root,a construction firm based in Delaware.
This is the original S1 filing: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1357615/00011931...
At first glance it seems like an up and up offering that would make a good investment if one was so inclined.Even the section that deals with risk factors http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1357615/00011931... seams like the only problems the corp may have are no big deal and are of the type that corps routinely deal with.
Closer inspection reveals otherwise.Notice the part about FCPA?The Foreign practices Corruption Act?This is a major problem for a corp that does business both overseas and here at home.Problems that could materially effect the bottom line for the corp and its shareholders.
And this is just one example that I,almost completely ignorant of corporate and financial law and related matters,can understand.I have to wonder what else is buried in these filings?What else could someone who is familiar with such matters find?

[applegrove]

2. I'm not one for reading annual reports. All looks latin to me. But I like

anything Malcolm Gladwell does. I haven't had a chance to read it yet..printed it out for reading later.