Lita Epstein - Reading Financial Reports For Dummies

–Corporation Connection Typecasting the Analysts Regarding Bond-Rating Agencies Delving into Stock Rating Taking a Look at How Companies Talk to Analysts Chapter 21: How Companies Communicate with Shareholders Making the Most of Meetings Checking Out How the Board Runs the Company Sorting through Reports Catching Up on Corporate Actions Culling Information from Analyst Calls Staying Up-to-Date Using Company Websites Regarding Reinvestment Plans Chapter 22: Keeping Score When Companies Play Games with Numbers Getting to the Bottom of Creative Accounting Unearthing the Games Played with Earnings Exploring Exploitations of Expenses Finding Funny Business in Assets and Liabilities Playing Detective with Cash Flow

10 Part 6: The Part of Tens Chapter 23: Ten Financial Scandals That Rocked the World Enron Madoff Citigroup Adelphia WorldCom/MCI Tyco Waste Management Bristol-Myers Squibb Halliburton Arthur Andersen Chapter 24: Ten Signs That a Company's in Trouble Lower Liquidity Low Cash Flow Disappearing Profit Margins Revenue Game Playing Too Much Debt Unrealistic Values for Assets and Liabilities A Change in Accounting Methods Questionable Mergers and Acquisitions Slow Inventory Turnover Slow-Paying Customers

11 Glossary

12 Index

13 About the Authors

14 Advertisement Page

15 Connect with Dummies

16 End User License Agreement

1 Chapter 4 TABLE 4-1 Effect of Debits and Credits

2 Chapter 8TABLE 8-1 Cash Flows from Operating Activities

3 Chapter 15TABLE 15-1 Accounts Receivable Aging Schedule for ABC Company, as of July 31, 20...

4 Chapter 20TABLE 20-1 Bond Ratings

1 Chapter 6FIGURE 6-1: The account format.FIGURE 6-2: The report format.FIGURE 6-3: The financial position format.

2 Chapter 7FIGURE 7-1: The single-step format.FIGURE 7-2: The multistep format.

3 Chapter 8FIGURE 8-1: The direct method.FIGURE 8-2: The indirect method.FIGURE 8-3: The investing activities section.FIGURE 8-4: The financing activities section.

4 Chapter 9FIGURE 9-1: Mattel's long-term debt.FIGURE 9-2: Hasbro's long-term debt (carrying cost).

5 Chapter 10FIGURE 10-1: GE balance sheet.FIGURE 10-2: GE income statement.

6 Chapter 11FIGURE 11-1: Mattel's Consolidated Statement of Operations.FIGURE 11-2 Hasbro's Consolidated Statement of Operations.

7 Chapter 12FIGURE 12-1: Mattel 2020 assets and liabilities.FIGURE 12-2: Hasbro 2020 assets and liabilities.

1 Cover

2 Title Page

3 Copyright

4 Table of Contents

5 Begin Reading

6 Glossary

7 Index

8 About the Authors

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When I open an annual financial report today, one of the first questions I ask myself is, “Can I believe the numbers I'm seeing?” I never used to think that way. I used to think that any corporate financial report audited by a certified public accountant truly was prepared with the public's interests in mind.

The financial scandals of the late 1990s and early 2000s destroyed my confidence in those numbers, as they did for millions of other U.S. investors who lost billions in the stock market crash that followed those scandals. Sure, a stock bubble (a period of rising stock prices that stems from a buying frenzy) had burst, but financial reports that hid companies’ financial problems fueled the bubble and helped companies put on a bright, smiling face for the public. After these financial reporting scandals came to light, more than 1,800 public companies had to restate their earnings. Yet in almost a repeat of the scandals, the mortgage mess of 2007 showed how financial institutions were still using the same tricks of keeping key financial information off the books to hide financial troubles.

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