Oldtent Archives 2007 - 2008

i decided many years ago that my family could starve before i would continue to practice accounting. (the fact that they nearly did is beyond the scope of this posting)

the reasons are many why accountants can’t find problems with public companies. we can start with who pays the fees. you guessed it, the very same company they are reviewing.

now to the description of the audit. “we have examined the income statement, balance sheet and other pertinent data.” no mention of “off balance sheet liabilities” because they aren’t mentioned in the financial statements. it’s only when the cash flow is insufficient to cover these “secret” liabilities do they see the light of day. that’s usually the same day the rumors start.

then we get to the exotic stuff. how do you measure counter party risk? you can’t even find out who the other party is in many cases. you may have hedged the risk of a bad or weak customer and when it’s time to collect on the hedge, you find out it’s non other than aig. do you value all assets at cost or market? what if you can’t get a clue what market value is.

as a former accountant, my main consideration is “would i invest in or do business with this company (these people) on a handshake basis? are they competent and caring or are just worried about the next round of bonuses? do they even recognize they have investors or customers?

imho, most audits are virtually worthless. every public traded company must have an “independent” annual audit (sec regs) i guess fannie and freddy don’t count. i truly hope things are better in canada but i fear not. englands’ influence over accounting has been around since they were the sole super power. the u.s., canada, and australia have nearly the exact accounting rules as england. india and china have many similarities.

annual reports are obsolete before they are printed. management must now make decisions on a regular basis that are life and death of the company. one slip and it’s all over. i just don’t feel competent that the “good old boy network” can produce competent management in the current environment. i’m sure this is way more than you wanted on the subject. my advice is to go with the ta, fa is usually outdated by the time we find out about it.

rno

Halloween and it’s 64 degrees out??  Halloween w/o a coat — woohoo.  Usually frigid.  We bot $15 of candy and only ONE tricker treater so far.  No kids here in SE denver.  Tip: always make sure you buy candy that you can finish after halloween 

Here’s my pumpkin from a couple of years ago; not enough time this year:

          GOLD TENT!

Haven’t seen any yet, but they will come. Unfortunatly I will be going out with my grand child so I will miss a lot of them so I will leave a big bowel of goodies for them with a note that says take ONE..we’ll see how that goes,too bad I can vidio tape that one exp. the little ones who can’t read yet.

Boy, I just had a rash of trick or treaters……sure is fun to see all the little ones and their costumes!!!!

Thanks but I beat you to it. They have a on line store..very slowww site browsing for unusual x-mas gifts. Went back to check on the truffels but couldn’t find them, but because it was so slow I may have gave up for the day. Although they have some unusual things so many things are over priced you can get here, your just paying for the label and right now I think Americans should at least try to find some American made products because we need it more than Harrods does. I remember buying a half casmere and silk sweater at victorias secret for I think 29 dollar and Harrods it would have been much more than that. But fun to brouse. Maybe Ill have to check food tv or some site and see if they have the ingredients, for the truffels. Did you check out what the gold prices were there..or if there was any, besides that one bar that is probably the only thing backing up the pound lol. Im wondering maybe it’s not as bad there than here at home. Im wondering because the way things are going if I should try to find minature cocao trees so besides just flour I will have chocolate.If they are miniature I can protect them better in bad weather. Oh well a thought.

Hiya Vashon boy

That’s a heckuva deal if ya ask me.. good job … Found gold M/L ’s @ 933 CDN today but there’s been no silver to speak of  for months in my neck of the woods… it’s downright ghoulish out there       …Cheers

you are exactly correct. you can’t have $15./oz in one market (ebay) and $10./oz (comex) in another. ebay silver is purchased and delivered. comex silver has been purchased and december is delivery unless people liquidate their positions. i think we will know in two weeks when the margins explode in pm.

rno

i have some a-mark bars i bought from don. apmex is local so i can drive and save the freight. i believe the problems with the smelters is they can’t get the silver to pour. if they are running at capacity, the problem is far worse than we imagine. price will explode at the production level.

at current prices, heavy deliveries will be demanded or a default. i can’t see any other solutions. the comex and other storage facilities act like grain elevators. they are storing other peoples’s property, for the most part. today,there is one huge difference from the 1980’s hunt brothers silver debacle. this time around, most open interest is not exchange members. when electronic trade started, seats on exchanges were purchased and far less trading is in the pits. the folks in the pits know they are vulnerable so i expect them to be out soon. silver margins will probably skyrocket in the middle of november to make the longs liquidate. i expect many to put up the full contract price and the shorts to panic. i think this one will take down a few brokerage houses.

rno

Well, the fact that nobody has done it yet makes no sense at all does it? An outfit like Tulving, Blanchard, CNI, or a hundred others has the resources and client base for such an endeavor, but it hasn’t been done, not yet anyway. Seems to me , we are completely missing something that is going on in the supply chain. Is there a ‘higher power’ in front of the retail chain that has first option and is excercizing that option for all available gold and sil.? Something just ain’t right!! I have lots of questions and no answers but I think something is rotten in Denmark!!

face when Enron went down (like  Arthur Andersen which gave up its license to practice accounting in 2002) , has anyone else noticed that accounting firms, and I guess the ratings agencies too, overall seem to come out smelling like roses amidst all the financial turmoil that has  unfolded since August 2007.  It is in that context that I find the Sinclair article below, and his linked article about AIG, interesting.  When will someone have the authority and the legal clout to call up and  to legally challenge the hanky-panky that accounting firms and accounting practices bring upon us.  Were accountants trained in these methods of fooling the readers when they went to accounting school?

Just wondering?  Equiz.

http://tinyurl.com/6qkqd2

all the smelters will work on a contract basis. you provide large bars, they give you back smaller ones less the smelter charge. my info is old, but they used to charge less than $.50/oz for silver.

if i was in the retail business, i wouldn’t hesitate to take delivery to get some inventory. the retail guys are effectively out of business. they could always expect to buy some from the public at the market extremes but the physical must be in strong hands now because nobody(public) is not selling at any price.

rno

I think the problem is that the smelters do not have the capacity at this time to meet demand. in other words, they do not have the machines online, but are ramping up. I think this is the story but you could talk with Don Stott at cororado gold to confirm. Lord knows i get things screwed up sometimes. he handles a-mark silver bars. I think he is a very honest.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Bradenton, Fla.-based Freedom Bank was
closed Friday, marking the 17th bank failure so far this year amid the
ongoing credit crisis. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said
in a statement that as of Oct. 17, Freedom Bank had $287 million in
total assets and $254 million in total deposits. Freedom Bank’s four
branches will open Monday as branches of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based
Fifth Third Bank, which has assumed Freedom Bank’s deposits, the FDIC
said.