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1. Enron Et Al. Okay, I can’t stay quiet forever on this. As a result of the whole Enron mess, the new rules require me to update my ethics education to be able to keep my CPA certificate. While I come from the "Big Four" (or "Final Four," as some pundits have taken to calling them), I’m just as ticked as the rest of the investing world. How David Duncan, the Houston-based Arthur Andersen partner, could override the "gurus in Chicago" and "bless" the financials at Enron is totally beyond me. I guess we do have to take into account the $50 million that his firm was paid that year. 2. Something to Laugh About. There was an article in the October 16, WSJ that was "a hoot." In the "By the Books" column, the two authors highlighted some new terminology that has developed around the audit world. "Audit lite," referring to the difference between college classes ("heavy") and the in-house training provided by the accounting firms for their own staff ("lite"). Terms like "Drive-by Audits" abound, and a "Rabbits and Skunks" phrase refers to the process of "Channel Stuffing" and hiding expenses. They also talk extensively about accountants who look more toward "their own bottom line" rather than the one they are being paid to look after. Send me your email address and I’ll send you a copy of the article. 3. An Education. Why bother to discuss Enron in the Seattle Bindery newsletter? I think there are lessons here for all of us. A line from the movie "Network" applies: "We are mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it anymore!" It’s a sentiment that goes for all business dealings that don’t pass a "smell test". I was once instructed by a customer to "pack ‘em like strawberries" after discovering lots of poorly printed product. Apparently, we were to follow the practice of some unscrupulous fruit vendors who "bury" unripe strawberries under the luscious ones. What are the chances such shoddy tactics will fly with print buyers in this "post-Enron" society? I vote for "straight-up" ethics by everyone in the industry lest we suffer the fate of the once mighty Arthur Andersen. 4. Direct Mail Downer. According to Direct Marketing Association (DMA) President and CEO H. Robert Wientzen, the economic slump has hit prospecting harder than any other area of direct marketing: "Companies are conducting smaller mailings to specific targets or are mailing to their customer base less often in order to cut costs in a rough economy." The impact is staggering, with three billion fewer pieces of standard business mail being sent this year compared with 2001. 5. Status Quo. According to Cap Ventures’ October Printer Confidence Index, market sentiment remained stable in October with 24.2% of printers citing improving market conditions. This level was virtually unchanged compared with September (24.4%). There was also no significant change in the percentage of printers categorizing their local conditions as beginning or continuing to decline (40.3% in October vs. 40.1% in September).
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