"The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator. This means that he should be able to justify every purchase he makes and each price he pays by impersonal, objective reasoning that satisfies him that he is getting more than his money's worth for his purchase."

Nationwide bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc., operator of book stores under the Barnes & Noble and B. Dalton brands, has received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York requesting documents on its practice of awarding stock options.The company said that it intends to cooperate fully with the probe.

Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is being audited by the Internal Revenue Service for possible tax reporting violations, according to a published report.

China's government has told its auditors to maintain a clean image after one of their colleagues reportedly died of alcohol poisoning while on an auditing assignment.

After nine years, a federal report says that college tuition tax credits aren't necessarily providing the boon originally intended for poorer families.

Edward W. Trott, a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board since 1999, will step down from his position in June 2007.

The New York State Society of Public Accountants, the oldest state accounting association, representing approximately 30,000 CPAs, has offered certain suggestions regarding pending legislation in Congress affecting estate planning-- specifically emphasizing the pressing need for certainty and ease of administration with respect to the transfer tax.

Home mortgage giant Fannie Mae said that it won't face criminal charges over the company's massive accounting irregularities.

The widening options-timing scandal contributed mightily to a record-setting number of large U.S. corporations filing late financial reports for the second quarter, according to a study from market research firm Glass Lewis & Co.

A trio of state accounting boards have objected to the 'jointness' of a joint project from the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the American Institute of CPAs to form a committee to look at the financial accounting and reporting standard-setting process for private companies.

The International Federation of Accountants' Professional Accountants in Business Committee has released a publication summarizing key internal control frameworks, highlighting recent legislative and other initiatives, and discussing the role of internal control in enhancing corporate governance.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will host a Boston forum on auditing in the small business environment.

One of the aspects of the Internet that many I and many others love is its interactive nature. Using a news search engine's push technology, news summaries on accounting firms are sent to me daily.

The International Federation of Accountants' education standards board has proposed new guidance outlining the skills accountants need to perform competently in a variety of information technology roles.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released some enforcement statistics through July -- 10 month's into the agency's 2006 fiscal year.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued proposed regulations clarifying the treatment of expenditures incurred in selling, acquiring, producing or improving tangible assets.

Lost in the hotly debated issues surrounding the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are the unforeseen consequences impacting the accounting profession itself. Foremost among these is the creation of an inhibited marketplace that primarily benefits the Big Four accounting firms at the expense of their smaller, regional and often more flexible counterparts.Largely because of SOX, the Big Four now collectively audit 80 percent of all U.S. public companies. Under Sarbanes-Oxley, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was established and set out to define and enforce a set of rules covering standards for all auditors of public companies.

OPENTV RETAINS GRANT THORNTON: OpenTV Corp., a San Francisco-based developer of software used by cable and satellite TV operators to offer their subscribers interactive content and services, named Grant Thornton as its new independent accountant. Grant replaces Big Four firm KPMG.In a federal filing, OpenTV said that there were no disagreements with KPMG during the fiscal years ended Dec. 31, 2004 and 2005, and through June 29, 2006, on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedures.

NAPFA LAUNCHES PSA CAMPAIGN: The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, a 1,300-member association of fee-only financial advisors, has launched a consumer-oriented public service campaign aimed at educating Americans about the need for financial professionals to hold themselves to a fiduciary standard. The campaign is titled "Focus on Fiduciary."NAPFA said that the strategy behind the campaign is to highlight the issues surrounding fiduciary standards in the financial industry while helping consumers ask the right questions of their financial advisors. To support the campaign, NAPFA has developed a number of resources available to the industry and consumers alike, including:

Some 50 percent of Baby Boomers ages 50 to 59, with anywhere from six to 15 years before retirement, indicated in a recent survey that they don't know how much money they'll need when they finally stop working.Furthering their financial dilemma, 60 percent of those polled said that they intend to save more than they do, but don't always get around to it.