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Microsoft seen lowering outlook as economy weighs

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's shares have plunged to an eight-year low and its rivals such as
| SAP AG have warned of tighter demand.
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http://uk.reuters.com/article/reuter...49L59O20081022

"There is such an overvaluation of technology stocks that it is absurd. I would
include our stock in that category. It is bad for the long-term worth of the
economy."
--Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO


Recent:

Recent:Microsoft, Cisco to lose $4.3 Billion as investment banks cut cost

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| The cut in the IT budgets of the revered investment banks like Lehman
| Brothers and Merrill Lynch due to their failure may lead industry giants like
| U.S. based Microsoft and California based Cisco to lose $4.3 billion in
| orders next year. While Cisco earns about three percent to four percent of
| annual revenue from the U.S. financial industry, Microsoft accounted for 22
| percent last year.
`----

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/47182

Microsoft will be hurt by financial crisis, RBC analyst says

,----[ Quote ]
| The devastating U.S. financial crisis will hurt software giant Microsoft
| Corp.'s bottom line this holiday season as shoppers tighten their purse
| strings, RBC Capital Markets says.
`----

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/b...lyst-says.aspx


Ballmer says Microsoft not immune from global crisis

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080930/...CBr9O.m4K573QA


Microsoft loses 90 Billion Dollars

http://slated.org/microsoft_loses_90_billion_dollars


Microsoft's Market Cap Falls $24B in 17 Days

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| Microsoft is on the list. Today, the stock closed at $25.01 a share, down
| $2.39, or 8.72 percent.
`----

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/conte...129TX1K0000535


Ex-Microsoft boss sentenced

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine...ftcourt19.html


Former Microsoft Manager Gets 2 Years In Jail

http://news.portalit.net/fullnews_fo...jail_1427.html


SEC Foresees Rise in Fraud Cases

,----[ Quote ]
| Laying out his priorities, the new enforcement chief for the Securities and
| Exchange Commission in San Francisco said Thursday he expects an upswing in
| fraud cases against public companies.
`----

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202424479239


Related:

Microsoft's Accounting Under Scrutiny

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| The company has still not made enough information public to provide analysts
| with detailed information on the profitability of its MSN Internet business,
| Mr. Galvin said, adding, ''There's still room for them to obfuscate.''
`----

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...54C0A96F958260


Microsoft - Undeserving of Libertarian Praise

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| One strategy that Microsoft has employed in the past is paying for the
| silence of people and companies. Charles Pancerzewski, formerly Microsoft's
| chief auditor, became aware of Microsoft's practice of carrying earnings from
| one accounting period into another, known as "managing earnings". This
| practice smoothes reported revenue streams, increases share value, and
| misleads employees and shareholders. In addition to being unethical, it's
| also illegal under U.S. Securities Law and violates Generally Accepted
| Accounting Practices (Fink). Mr. Pancerzewski claims he was forced to retire,
| for raising the issue of deferred earnings with Microsoft executives, thereby
| making plausible deniability more difficult for said executives. He has since
| sued Microsoft, who responded by settling out of court, but also sealing the
| records to prevent public disclosure (Fink).
`----

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/8/20/11034/3908


Microsoft Agrees To Refrain From Accounting Violations in SEC Settlement

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| Microsoft has agreed to refrain from accounting violations to settle federal
| regulators' allegations that it misrepresented its financial performance, the
| government announced Monday.
|
| Under a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the software
| giant neither admitted to nor denied wrongdoing. No fine was imposed.
|
| The SEC alleged that Microsoft's accounting practices from July 1994 through
| June 1998 caused its income to be substantially misstated.
`----

http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18819490


"Microsoft Tax," MSN Enters the Black Hole, New Names for NT

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| The lawsuit, filed last year by Mukilteo City Councilman Charles
| Pancerzewski, alleges that he was forced to resign as Microsoft's general
| auditor in January 1996 after working for the company's internal auditing
| department for more than four years. The suit claims that a "significantly
| younger man" with little auditing experience was picked to replace
| Pancerzewski, who was finally forced out because he discovered Microsoft
| might have been violating government regulations. Once Pancerzewski left the
| company he was replaced by the younger man, who his attorneys believe
| was "less prone to raise issues of possible legal improprieties which could
| threaten or embarrass Microsoft or its management.
`----

http://www.msboycott.com/news/98_06_22.shtml


SEC Investigating Microsoft Practices -- Earnings Manipulated, Former Employee
Contends

,----[ Quote]
| "The CFO to whom Charlie was reporting his concerns about illegality was the
| biggest advocate for the very illegality that was going on," Vial argued in
| court a year ago.
`----

http://community.seattletimes.nwsour...1&slug=2969514


Microfraud?

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| THE ALLEGATIONS WERE shocking: For years, Microsoft has systematically
| distorted its profit figures in an effort to consistently beat Wall Street
| expectations and keep its stock price steadily rising. The false reports
| would violate SEC regulations, and amount to outright fraud.
|
| More shocking was the source of the allegations: Microsoft's chief of
| internal audits, Charlie Pancerzewski, who reported directly to the company's
| chief financial officer.
|
| Most shocking of all was what happened to Pancerzewski when he reported the
| suspicious bookkeeping to his supervisors, Microsoft CFO Mike Brown and chief
| operating officer Bob Herbold, in the spring of 1995. Soon afterward,
| Pancerzewski—who for nearly five years had received stellar performance
| evaluations—received his first-ever unsatisfactory one, and was eventually
| forced to resign.
|
| Two months ago, Microsoft quietly settled a lawsuit containing these
| allegations, filed in 1997 by Pancerzewski under the Whistleblowers
| Protection Act. The auditor claimed he was wrongfully terminated after
| telling his supervisors that Microsoft might be breaking securities and tax
| laws. The lawsuit made its tortuous way through several rounds of pretrial
| motions until last fall, when US District Judge Carolyn Dimmick denied
| Microsoft's final plea for summary judgment, finding credible evidence that
| Microsoft may have violated SEC rules, as Pancerzewski alleged. Shortly
| thereafter, Microsoft and Pancerzewski settled out of court. Terms of the
| agreement were sealed, but one source who claims familiarity with the case
| says that Microsoft paid Pancerzewski $4 million.
`----

http://web.archive.org/web/200703080...microfraud.php


Microsoft exec dumped stock prior to Red Ring announcement

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| To make matters more murky, the sales were not registered with the Securities
| and Exchange Commission within the mandatory two days of the transaction, a
| result of an alleged "administrative error." Microsoft has since remedied the
| issue by following the "procedures required of late-filers."
`----

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thum...ing-addresment


Microsoft's Bach sold more stock before Xbox news

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| Microsoft Corp. executive Robbie Bach sold $3 million more in company stock
| during the period leading up to an announcement about a costly flaw in its
| Xbox video game console than previously reported, according to a filing
| Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
`----

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...D&siteid=yhoof


Insider Trading Hasn't Affect Microsoft Stock - Yet

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| MarketWatch.com reports that Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's
| Entertainment and Devices division, sold $6.2 million of Microsoft
| stock just prior to announcing that Microsoft was going to have to
| extend XBox 360 warranties to three years because of extensive
| failures. The filings note that this was not part of any
| scheduled diversification or selling program; this was a
| conscious, unscheduled sale by the guy in charge of releasing
| news that could affect the value of Microsoft stock.
|
| [...]
|
| Insider trading is a very serious violation of the law; just
| ask Martha Stewart, who served five months in prison for
| avoiding losses of $43,000 through trades that just had suspicious
| timing (no insider trading was actually proven). This is $6.3
| million that went straight into Robbie Bach's pocket.
`----

http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/07...7_id.html?.v=1
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