• Usana Health Sciences Loses Big in Court

    Consequently, the evidence now indicates only that Defendants engaged in the lawful trading of securities. Because USANA did not meet its burden, the court strikes the second claim for relief under California’s anti-SLAPP statute. A ruling yesterday in the Usana […]

  • Why Audits Fail to Find Fraud

    I am reading Cynthia Cooper’s book, Extraordinary Circumstances, which documents her experiences uncovering the massive fraud at WorldCom. I want to finish reading the book so I can write a proper review here and elsewhere. But I admit I’m having […]

  • Materiality at Overstock.com Inc.

    Sam Antar made this nice find in regard to materiality, one of many issues at Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). You see… materiality is an issue because, in addition to “unusual” material items at Overstock, we’ve seen several immaterial “unusual” items as well. […]

  • Buying Your Way to Director at Usana Health Sciences

    Is it possible to buy your way to the top of the pyramid at Usana (NASDAQ:USNA)? Who would even want to? Well the answer is simple… those who are at the top of the pyramid have a much easier time […]

  • Former CEO of Refco Cries His Way to a Guilty Plea

    Phillip Bennett, the former CEO of Refco Inc. pleaded guilty today while crying… Refco was one of the world’s largest commodities brokerages, but it went down in flames a few weeks after going public in August 2005. The reason? Management […]

  • Overstock.com: Pretend Accounting Measures Muddy the Waters

    I present for you today one (just one) example of the accounting shenanigans at Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) to demonstrate the deception of management. This accounting concept is quite elementary, and it is called EBITDA. EBITDA = Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, […]

  • Overstock.com: Year-End Revenues Fall Far Short of Byrne’s Hype

    If Patrick Byrne is good at anything, it’s hyping Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) when the company is not deserving of the hype. To hear him tell it in real time, everything is rosy and the company is doing stellar and investors will […]

  • Overstock.com: The “turnaround” that wasn’t

    2006 was a bad year for Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). (As if any year isn’t bad for them?) Jason Lindsey even said that the 2006 numbers were “bad on purpose”: “All of the things we have talked about before as far as […]

  • Overstock.com: What are you hiding?

    The “Black Ops” train at Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) has been chugging full steam ahead over the last month, so that can only mean one thing… Patrick Byrne and his minions have something to hide. And indeed, the fourth quarter financial results […]

  • Overstock.com Still Makes No Money

    Once again, Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) loses money. During the fourth quarter…. you know… the quarter that is supposed to be the best quarter of the whole year? Yep. Still couldn’t pull out any profits there. But don’t worry… it’s a smaller […]