Adrienne Gonzalez

FASB Unlikely to Suspend Mark to Market

This line says it all: "I agree that to mark the value of all the houses on a street to the price of the one foreclosed home is inappropriate. On the way up these same companies (and their stocks) benefited from increasing asset values but now that the financial industry is at the edge of the cliff, these same rules look too strict."

Mark to market was fabulous when these institutions were gobbling up exotic financial instruments like crack addicts and approving loans that should have never EVER under any circumstances been allowed just so they could bundle and sell off their risk. But now that the bottom has fallen out of their little scheme, MTM is the problem. Suuuuure.

While FASB has its own ineptitude problems to contend with, I'm glad to hear they didn't allow Kanjorski to threaten them. What can he do? Martial law of accounting? Give me a break.