September 29, 2003—So far, it's taken 3 times for Handspring (HAND) to get its 10-K filing right. On Friday, HAND filed two different ammended Ks -- one at 5 a.m. and a second at just after 3 p.m. But it was only the latter version which explained that the reason for the do-over was ...

September 25, 2003—You know you're in for some trouble when the first footnote you come across in the 10-K stretches on for 10 pages. Welcome to JDS Uniphase's (JDSU) world! The company, which once was on the tips of many investors tongues and a frequent subject of discussion on CNBC, filed its 10-K late ...

September 24, 2003—In 2000, two of cable set-top manufacturer Scientific-Atlanta's (SFA) largest customers were Charter Communications (CHTR) and Adelphia Communications (ADELQ.PK) , both of which are facing a series of criminal charges and investigations by the SEC and Justice Department, not to mention shareholder lawsuits. The question now is whether those ...

September 15, 2003—Just a few short months ago, Dell (DELL) and CIT (CIT) were both pretty adamant that Dell Fianancial Services, an off-balance sheet joint-venture designed to finance Dell equipment, didn't belong to either company, despite new accounting rules that seemed to require one of the companies to own up. But in ...

September 11, 2003—Some shoppers like to compare prices at Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT) to see who has the best price on, say, diapers. But since both companies came out with their 10-Qs yesterday, let's compare those instead. Looking at 10-Qs for two similar companies is a great way to quickly spot how different companies handle ...

September 9, 2003—Before Enron, the SEC never used to pay much attention to large companies, figuring the fuzzy math was something that only small companies resorted to. Not anymore! The SEC recently reviewed Dow 30 component Eastman Kodak (EK) and asked the company to be a bit more forthcoming with some of its numbers, according to ...

August 22, 2003—Americans may be fatter than ever, but the Chairman of the Board for the company that makes Twinkies and Wonder bread is looking pretty slim, at least when it comes to his stock holdings. Interstate Bakeries' proxy statement, filed today, shows that Charles Sullivan reduced his stock holdings to 264,169 shares as of Aug. ...

August 20, 2003—Many savvy investors already know that pensions are one of the best earnings sweeteners around (for a more in-depth discussion of pensions, see Chapter 7, Pensions in Wonderland). But a new study by two Federal Reserve Board economists shows just how sweet pension profits can be. The economists found that some stocks were inflated ...