Just 2 weeks after reporting earnings, Merrill Lynch said it would have to take a huge write-down in the third quarter. Hmm, had the financial giant's fortunes really changed that quickly? By Bill FleckensteinWhen the stock bubble was under way and, even more importantly, when the real-estate bubble was under way, I continually made the point that bubbles should be avoided, using Japan as an example of what happens in their aftermath.
Folks were often quick to respond: Yeah, but that's Japan. We do things differently here.
It's true, we do do things differently here. But what we do differently is we don't save money, as the Japanese do, and we don't run a trade surplus, as they also do. Other than that, it's pretty much the same here as it was there in the 1980s, as far as a preference for obfuscation versus transparency.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/TheFictionOfCorporateTransparency.aspx
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