I doubt that many readers have more than a superficial understanding of this subject, but I do believe you ought to. The implications are significant.

Accounting for options in different ways often can play a significant role in a company's reported earnings. Consequently, the SEC wants to know if there is anything untoward going on in the corporate boardrooms that would let's say use accounting to hype the company stock.

The bottom line here is that I think in some cases there will be restated earnings, which is a mess, but not as bad as other cases where I think we're going to see some corporate executives charged, convicted and sent to prison.

I can tell you now that any company caught in either of these situations will immediately come out of the Cara 100. I will not support persons who manipulate or try to manipulate markets.

The People ought to be informed of this situation, and ought to demand of their political representatives that any untoward behavior is not acceptable " not just on ethical grounds, but legally.

To help you get up to speed, here is the Bear Stearns investigation and their 20 questions reports.

BS March 2006 study of employee options.

BS May 25 2006 "20 Questions"