Saturday, June 23, 2007

Halliburton: BAD!

Bloomberg.com:
June 21 (Bloomberg) -- Investors have shrugged off almost all the bad news at Halliburton Co. the past few years -- accusations of overbilling the U.S. Army and bribing foreign officials, along with scrutiny over business dealings in Iran and non-compete bids on government work.

Instead of tanking, the company's stock has soared.

The same investors might take notice, though, if Halliburton's financial statements were in doubt, and a former company accounting executive says they are. ...

Halliburton seemed to quell doubts about its books back in August 2004, when it paid $7.5 million to settle a two-year SEC probe. The agency faulted Halliburton's disclosures, but not its accounting. As long as investors trust a company's profits, they generally don't care how the company earns them. If they begin to suspect they shouldn't, though, look out.

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