AOL first big winner in write-off sweeps

bst fav biz writer Christopher Byron pops up on MSNBC with the article AOL plays the blame game, in which he dismantles the AOL conference call of yesterday, but also points out that the company is using the new rules on goodwill to write off $60 billion from the Time Warner merger. Damn, that was fast! First up to the plate and we get the largest single write-off in corporate history. One third of shareholder equity down the drain. I suppose the accountants are just recognizing reality and trying to take every last bit of the hit in one shot. Wall Street cheered at first, driving the stock up 70 cents at the open but reality has set in and know the stock is down 23 cents. So they didn’t get much out of it, unles you consider that the book value of the company in comparison to the market cap is vastly less and yet investors still value the company at the same level.