Paul Meisel

BankUnited Pulls Some Financial Engineering On Earnings

It certainly seem there is a lot more focus on quarterly earnings estimates than the quality of balance sheets and footnotes.

It would seem to me to behoove a CFO in the present environment to make sure reserves, derivative accounting, etc. would be managed to state earnings conservatively, so that any surprises are pleasant ones. Given that there is always some judgment in these matters, why not avoid unpleasant future surprises to the extent you legitimately can?

Making the quarter should never be as important as a sound balance sheet... but maybe we are looking for love in the wrong places.