lion - GOODWILL manipulation >The short were actually squeeze until Yellow and friends intervene with the clouds of the goodwill writedown, a classic in the manipulation of shares...<
The manipulation of investor minds and emotions by a management with a poorly hidden agenda, with the con-nivance/co-operation of their highly paid corporate flunkies in the accounting profession.
If these people were truly ethical and INDEPENDENT accountants, much/most of this "goodwill" would have been impaired years ago, but at THAT time YLO management and their pied pipers in the securities industry were pushing a different YLO agenda, the "great second coming transition to online agenda".
**This company did NOT suddenly drop $6 billion in economic value in the space of 6 months.**
As I pointed in posts over a year ago, much to the chagrin of the grinning, spinning advertising industry gurus on this board, Yellow was buying up other companies and their revenues (and recording Goodwill on the purchases), BUT Yellow's top line revenues were not showing the growth one should have seen from such extravagant purchases. IN FACT, even with its purchases, Yellow's top line sales growth failed to match the rate of increase in the constantly rising prices charged to Yellow Pages advertisers.
YELLOW SHOULD HAVE BEEN IMPAIRING GOODWILL ALMOST AS QUICKLY AS IT RECORDED ITS PURCHASE
But in this day and age, where "audited" Financial Statements are primarily sales tools and credit agency ratings are sold to the highest bidder, HE WHO PAYS THE PIPER CALLS THE TUNES.