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Enron Mail |
Ken, Lay Your Cards On the Table
Fortune Magazine, 11/12/01 Editor's Desk Fortune Magazine, 11/12/01 S.E.C. Opens Investigation Into Enron The New York Times, 11/01/01 Enron Partnerships Led by Fastow Face a Formal SEC Investigation The Wall Street Journal, 11/01/01 Broadband Trading's Prospects Narrow Fast The Wall Street Journal, 11/01/01 BEFORE THE BELL: Microsoft Up Off Possible Antitrust Deal Dow Jones Commodities Service, 11/01/01 COMPANIES & FINANCE THE AMERICAS: Enron's weakness may be a buyer's strengt= h: Sheila McNulty, Matthew Jones and Julie Earle on the risks of buying int= o the group:=20 Financial Times; Nov 1, 2001 COMMODITIES & AGRICULTURE: EIA to take over US gas report=20 Financial Times; Nov 1, 2001 WORLD STOCK MARKETS: Wall St falters after modest morning revival=20 Financial Times; Nov 1, 2001 What went wrong with Enron? Houston Chronicle, Nov 1, 2001 Formal upgrade of Enron investigation gives subpoena power to SEC Houston Chronicle, Nov 1, 2001 Enron Discloses SEC Probe The Washington Post, 11/01/01 Enron Corp. Cut to Near-Term `Neutral' at Merrill Bloomberg, 11/01/01 SEC opens formal investigation into Enron, company says Associated Press Newswires, 10/31/01 SEC probe of dealings is official, Enron says Chicago Tribune, 11/01/01 Exchanges Add OTC Products as Option to Enron. The Oil Daily, 11/01/01 INDIA: Bank meeting on Enron Indian unit postponed-source. Reuters English News Service, 11/01/01 BG Extends Talks With ONGC, Reliance Over Gas Fields (Update1) Bloomberg, 11/01/01 INDIAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FAIL TO RESOLVE DABHOL POWER ISSUE Asia Pulse, 11/01/01 Indian lenders, Enron officials discuss Dabhol crisis Business Standard, 11/01/01 US Utilities Are Slow To Make Life Harder For Enron Dow Jones News Service, 10/31/01 Enron Says SEC Inquiry Now a Formal Investigation (Update4) Bloomberg, 10/31/01 SMARTMONEY.COM: The Data Mine: Come Sales Away Dow Jones News Service, 10/31/01 USA: Enron trusts may prove troublesome if ratings cut. Reuters English News Service, 10/31/01 USA: UPDATE 3-Enron says SEC inquiry now full-scale probe. Reuters English News Service, 10/31/01 USA: Funds still shying away from former darling Enron. Reuters English News Service, 10/31/01 First/Enron Ken, Lay Your Cards On the Table Bethany McLean 11/12/2001 Fortune Magazine Time Inc. 37 (Copyright 2001) "I want to make sure we restore that credibility." So said Enron CEO Ken La= y in August, after his company's stock had fallen from over $80 to $36 sinc= e January, after the shocking resignation of his handpicked successor, Jeff= Skilling, and after growing complaints about the company's incomprehensibl= e financial statements.=20 Today there's mounting evidence that Lay--a senior statesman who helped cre= ate Enron in the mid-'80s--may not be part of the solution. In the past two= months Enron's stock has sunk another 60%, to $16, amid concern that the c= ompany's murky disclosure may be a sign of deeper business problems. A conf= erence call that Lay held on Oct. 23, ostensibly to reassure skittish inves= tors, was widely regarded as a disaster. Enron "wiggled, squirmed, and gave= a bunch of nonanswers," as one listener puts it. Even formerly docile sell= -side analysts are turning hostile. After the call, Prudential's Carol Coal= e downgraded Enron to a sell, "not because of things that we know, but beca= use of things that we potentially don't know." Enron's stock began its plunge in mid-October after the company announced i= ts third-quarter results. As always, Enron made its earnings number--that i= s, before a gigantic, $1.01 billion charge due to a slew of investments gon= e sour. Worse, Enron was less than up- front about an additional $1.2 billi= on reduction in shareholders' equity, caused by the early termination of co= ntroversial outside investment partnerships run by former Enron CFO Andy Fa= stow. Lay reassured investors that Enron's credit rating was intact but mad= e no mention of Moody's, which after the call put Enron's debt on review fo= r a possible downgrade. As Enron acknowledges, it is critical that the comp= any's debt be rated investment-grade, given the requirements of its huge tr= ading operations. Enron's debt is currently rated several notches above inv= estment-grade, and at the end of the second quarter the company had $12 bil= lion in debt, or a not unhealthy debt- to-capitalization ratio of 46%. But = the most recent figures aren't yet available (Enron doesn't release a balan= ce sheet with its earnings results), and there's concern about Enron's abil= ity to meet its near-term liquidity needs.=20 The stock sank further when Enron announced that the SEC was inquiring into= the Fastow-run partnerships, which did a variety of bewildering deals with= Enron, raising questions about possible conflicts of interest. Lay contend= s that the partnerships, named LJM and LJM2 (for Fastow's children, says on= e analyst), were done merely to "mitigate volatility." A so-called Chinese = wall--meaning that Enron and the partnerships were run as two separate busi= nesses-- protected Enron shareholders, he insisted. But here's an extraordi= nary line from one copy of LJM2's marketing material: "Enron board of direc= tors has waived 'Code of Conduct' for A. Fastow's activities relative to LJ= M2." (Enron says it claims absolutely no responsibility for what may have b= een represented by an independent company.) As for Lay's assertion of a Chi= nese wall, well, how can there be a Chinese wall within Fastow's brain? On = Oct. 24, Enron announced a fall guy--Fastow would take a "leave of absence.= " At the very least the partnerships demonstrate horrific judgment by peopl= e other than just Fastow. Enron's board, for example, gave its okay. One do= cument shows that Ben Glisan, Enron's treasurer, was also on the partnershi= p's investment team. (Enron says that document is a draft.)=20 Perhaps the biggest concern is the true profitability of Enron's core busin= ess, its energy trading operation. The heart of the Enron story, the stuff = that captivated Wall Street, was the company's transformation from a stodgy= gas pipeline into a technology phenomenon that could make a market in anyt= hing, from electricity to broadband. It's impossible to know if Enron has u= sed the partnerships and off-balance-sheet vehicles to influence its report= ed earnings. Enron also mingles profits from asset sales with its trading i= ncome-- and despite its pledges, in the most recent quarter the company pro= vided less, not more, disclosure on that front. In addition there are quest= ions about how aggressively Enron books trading-related revenue. In fact, a= knowledgeable source at a competitor says that Enron recognizes its revenu= es at two to five times the rate of that company's. If energy trading is re= ally such a fabulous business for Enron, why does it need to play so many g= ames?=20 As for Ken Lay, who was once thought to be in Jack Welch's league, he has a= ccomplished the truly remarkable feat of destroying much of what was left o= f Enron's credibility in just a few short months-- along with some of his o= wn. Some observers suspect that the problem is not that Lay is avoiding que= stions, but that he doesn't know the answers. In either case, Lay is a long= way from keeping his promises.=20 Quote: Despite promises from CEO Ken Lay, Enron's financial disclosure is s= till far from sufficient. COLOR PHOTO=20 Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =09 Editor's Desk Rik Kirkland/Managing Editor 11/12/2001 Fortune Magazine Time Inc. 5 (Copyright 2001) The Chitlin Strut is about to crank up again in Salley, S.C. (I'm talking b= eauty pageant, fireworks, and 10,000 pounds of fried pig intestines--you're= there, right?) If not, there's plenty of other great stuff going on in Nov= ember, as you'll learn by checking out our new FORTUNE Business Calendar in= the front of the current Fortune Advisor. Written by reporter Grainger Dav= id (above), it's the wittiest, most delightful monthly guide anywhere. Trus= t me on this. Do not miss it! Otherwise, your colleagues will know when Com= dex starts, what connects Cisco to Guy Fawkes Day, and the date of the next= beaver moon. And you? You'll just be your usual chitlin- struttin', cluele= ss, uninformed self.=20 Combine the intelligence and ferocious accuracy of a research scientist wit= h the voice of a lyric poet and what do you get? David Stipp. David keeps F= ORTUNE on the cutting edge of medicine, genomics, and a host of technologie= s. Any boomer fretting about his growing inability to recall old friends' n= ames (much less the date of the Battle of Hastings) will be heartened by Da= vid's story on the drive to develop "A Pill to Help You Remember." And in h= is second piece in this issue, "The Coming Hydrogen Economy," David shows h= ow improved wind power, fuel cells, and other innovations are reducing Amer= ica's reliance on hydrocarbons faster than most of us realized. It makes yo= u wonder why our political leaders aren't already debating how they can hel= p accelerate this welcome shift and eventually free us from our dependence = on Middle Eastern oil. My advice: Send David's report to your representativ= es and the President. It may have been the call of the year. In our March 5 issue, senior writer = Bethany McLean asked, "Is Enron Overpriced?" Yes, she argued. She was espec= ially exercised about Enron's opaque accounting and dubious rationalization= s for its sky-high multiple. The stock was then at $75, 13 of 18 analysts r= ated it a buy, and the company, which vigorously objected to Bethany's piec= e, was still telling Wall Street it should be valued at $126 a share. Eight= months later, Enron is trading around $15, and that opaque accounting is a= big part of its problem. See First for Bethany's latest take on this ex-hi= ghflier.=20 Who is this guy? I'm not telling, because it would steal from the punch lin= e of senior writer Jerry Useem's marvelous essay on leadership, "What It Ta= kes." Jerry's story isn't on our cover merely because the challenge of runn= ing a company--or any group of people-- in a crisis has, since Sept. 11, be= come topic A for business folks. It's there because it's really good. Readi= ng it could lower the odds you'll end up like our sad little bearded dude. B/W PHOTO: JOANNE CHAN B/W PHOTO: RICHARD E. SCHULTZ COLOR PHOTO: JANE HUNT= INGTON B/W PHOTO: BROWN BROTHERS=20 Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =09 Business/Financial Desk; Section C S.E.C. Opens Investigation Into Enron By ALEX BERENSON 11/01/2001 The New York Times Page 4, Column 6 c. 2001 New York Times Company The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a formal investigation in= to transactions among the Enron Corporation and partnerships headed by Andr= ew S. Fastow, the company's former chief financial officer, Enron said yest= erday.=20 The commission's move comes as Enron struggles to reassure investors and it= s partners that its profits are real and that its cash position is strong. = Shares of Enron, the world's largest trader of electricity and natural gas,= have plunged 83 percent this year as investors question the company's comp= lex and opaque accounting. Shares of Enron rose $2.74 yesterday, to $13.90,= ending a 10-day string of losses. In addition, Enron's board said yesterday that it had appointed a special c= ommittee to examine the transactions. The panel will be headed by William P= owers Jr., the dean of the University of Texas law school, who was elected = to Enron's board yesterday. The committee has hired William R. McLucas, a f= ormer head of the division of enforcement at the S.E.C., as its counsel. He= is a partner in the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington.= =20 Enron disclosed 10 days ago that the commission had opened an informal inqu= iry into its transactions with Mr. Fastow. A formal investigation significa= ntly increases the pressure on the company.=20 John Heine, a spokesman for the commission, said he could not comment on th= e S.E.C.'s investigation of Enron. But, speaking generally, Mr. Heine said = the opening of a formal inquiry enabled the commission to subpoena document= s and was used when S.E.C. staff members thought that the companies or exec= utives were not responding voluntarily to their questions.=20 If staff members ''run into situations where they feel they need informatio= n to look further and the sources for that information are not cooperative,= the staff can go to the commission and recommend that the commission issue= a formal order of investigation authorizing that the staff issue subpoenas= ,'' Mr. Heine said.=20 When it disclosed the commission's informal inquiry on Oct. 22, Enron promi= sed to cooperate fully with the S.E.C. ''We welcome this request,'' Kenneth= L. Lay, Enron's chairman, said.=20 A spokesman for Enron did not return calls yesterday.=20 Enron began this year on an apparently unstoppable growth streak. But the c= ompany has suffered one setback after another. The company's efforts to bec= ome a profit-making water supplier and to create a new market in broadband = communications capacity have been expensive failures. In August, Jeffrey K.= Skilling resigned as chief executive, forcing Mr. Lay, his predecessor, to= resume day-to-day control.=20 Enron's problems came to a head in mid-October, when it disclosed that its = shareholders' equity, a measure of the company's value, dropped $1.2 billio= n in the third quarter because of a deal with partnerships led by Mr. Fasto= w. Because of complex accounting rules, the write-down was not apparent in = Enron's quarterly earnings report. News of the write-down disturbed investo= rs because it suggested that Enron might have found a way to hide losses, t= hrowing the accuracy of its financial statements into question.=20 Last week, the company ousted Mr. Fastow, but it is now struggling to expla= in the transactions to its shareholders and bond-rating agencies. Amid rumo= rs that the company might face a cash squeeze, Enron used a $3.3 billion li= ne of credit last week and is seeking additional financing. Still, some ene= rgy companies are shying away from making trades with Enron that will take = more than a few weeks to close. Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =09 Enron Partnerships Led by Fastow Face a Formal SEC Investigation By John R. Emshwiller and Rebecca Smith Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal 11/01/2001 The Wall Street Journal A4 (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) The Securities and Exchange Commission elevated to a formal investigation i= ts inquiry into Enron Corp.'s financial dealings with partnerships headed b= y its former chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow.=20 Enron disclosed the SEC action late yesterday. As a matter of policy, the S= EC doesn't comment on what it is or isn't investigating. A formal investigation involves the SEC's enforcement branch going to the f= ive-member commission and obtaining formal subpoena power to pursue its inq= uiry. A person familiar with the SEC probe said the agency felt it needed s= ubpoena power to compel the release of information by parties that have don= e business with Enron.=20 Enron last week disclosed that the SEC had contacted the company as part of= what it described as an informal inquiry into the Fastow-related partnersh= ips. At the time, Enron said it welcomed the inquiry and that it would coop= erate fully with the SEC -- a position the company has restated repeatedly = since.=20 While a formal order of investigation doesn't indicate that the SEC has dec= ided that there is wrongdoing, it is a sign "of a decision to pursue the in= vestigation," said former SEC enforcement attorney Jacob Frenkel. "It clear= ly is one level up" from an informal inquiry, he said.=20 As part of its efforts to deal with the overall situation, Enron also annou= nced the appointment of University of Texas law-school dean William Powers = to its board. Mr. Powers will head a four-member board committee to look in= to the Fastow-related transactions and other matters.=20 Former SEC enforcement chief William McLucas, who is now with the Washingto= n D.C. law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, has been retained to advise = the committee, Enron said.=20 The other members of the four-person board committee are all outside Enron = directors: Frank Savage, chief executive of Savage Holdings LLC; Paulo Ferr= az Pereira, executive vice president of the Brazilian-owned investment bank= Group Bozano and Herbert S. Winokur, Jr., chairman and chief executive of = Capricorn Holdings, Inc. Enron chairman and chief executive Kenneth Lay has= asked the committee to "take a fresh look at these transactions and take a= ny appropriate action," the company spokeswoman said.=20 Enron has consistently said its dealings with the Fastow-connected partners= hips were legal and properly disclosed to investors. According to Enron fil= ings with the SEC, the company did deals involving billions of dollars of a= ssets and Enron stock with entities related to the Fastow partnerships. Int= ernal partnership documents indicate that Mr. Fastow and possibly others ma= de millions of dollars from the partnerships. Mr. Fastow, who was replaced = as chief financial officer last week, has consistently declined to be inter= viewed.=20 News of the SEC investigation came at the end of what lately had been a rar= e up day for Enron in the stock market. After plummeting for 10 straight tr= ading sessions, Enron shares rose by nearly 25%. In 4 p.m. New York Stock E= xchange composite trading, Enron rose $2.74 to $13.90 a share and was once = again the Big Board's most active issue, with about 43.8 million shares cha= nging hands. A little more than two weeks ago, Enron shares were above $33 = each. About a year ago they were around $85.=20 Analysts and other observers said the rebound was partly due to bargain-hun= ting as well as continued speculation about a possible takeover bid for Hou= ston-based Enron, given its current severely depressed stock price. Startin= g about two weeks ago, Enron suffered a sharp loss in investor confidence f= ollowing big third-quarter write-downs, partly related to the Fastow partne= rships, and the disclosure of the SEC inquiry.=20 Enron officials argue that investors have been overreacting and say the com= pany is fundamentally sound. They have promised to be more forthcoming abou= t the company's extremely complex finances. Investors need to know more abo= ut the company's potential liabilities, said A.G. Edwards analyst Michael H= eim. "Until you know the worst-case scenario, it is hard to move forward," = he said.=20 To improve its liquidity, Enron is nearing completion of a new bank credit = line of roughly $1 billion to be secured by gas-pipeline assets, say people= familiar with the matter. The new line would supplement existing credit fa= cilities, which were largely used up last week when Enron drew down about $= 3 billion to help it weather the current crisis.=20 ---=20 Jathon Sapsford and Michael Schroeder contributed to this article. Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =09 Broadband Trading's Prospects Narrow Fast By Elliot Spagat Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal 11/01/2001 The Wall Street Journal C1 (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) Create a market, and they will come?=20 Last year, companies led by Enron Corp. envisioned a fast-growing, and very= profitable, new market trading broadband capacity. As demand burgeoned for= fiber-optic lines that carry Internet and other data to offices and homes,= they figured, people with too little or too much capacity would be eager t= o trade it -- much like soybeans, oil and electricity. But instead of a bustling market, it has pretty much been a bust, so far an= yway. Plummeting broadband prices, a dearth of creditworthy customers and n= ow Enron's financial woes have stalled the nascent market, and the costs ar= e adding up.=20 Enron's broadband unit, for instance, had an $80 million operating loss in = the third quarter on revenue of $4 million, down from revenue of $162 milli= on a year earlier. The company also recorded a $180 million third-quarter c= harge to restructure its broadband unit, which included cutting 400 to 500 = jobs and losses on the sale of inventory, and plans to close offices in Lon= don and Singapore.=20 Enron handled just 405 trades in the third quarter, down from 759 in the se= cond quarter. Currently, the broadband market -- in which contracts to buy = and sell capacity on fiber-optic networks are traded by brokers by telephon= e, rather than on the floor of a physical exchange -- records fewer than tw= o dozen trades a day. Many of the transactions take place between energy co= mpanies rather than between users and suppliers.=20 That's less than what Enron and others creating the new market, including D= ynegy Corp. and El Paso Corp., had expected. With characteristic bravado, t= hey saw in telecommunications many of the same factors that drew them to ga= s and electricity: a newly deregulated market, plenty of inefficiency and w= hat seemed to be insatiable demand for the fiber-optic lines to carry Inter= net and other data.=20 For example, if a big corporation needed to quickly expand its internal "In= tranet" service to send traffic among its various offices around the U.S., = it could in effect buy the capacity on the new market.=20 After making hundreds of millions of dollars trading in natural gas and ele= ctricity, the companies were confident they could outmaneuver the giant tel= ecom carriers, which never welcomed them, because the telecom companies wan= ted to control capacity rather than see it become a tradable commodity. "It= 's worked so well for us in gas, it's worked so well for us in power," said= Stephen Bergstrom, Dynegy's president and chief operating officer. "There'= s a lot of differences, but there's also a lot of similarities."=20 The energy companies, nearly all of which are based in Houston, saw the tel= ecom industry as slow and secretive. Telecom carriers typically spend six t= o nine months arranging multiyear deals to exchange network capacity or to = serve major business customers. Their contracts, which aren't disclosed pub= licly, often involve custom work -- for which they could charge premium pri= ces. And if their service turns out to be unreliable, the buyer has little = recourse.=20 Through trading of broadband capacity, Enron in mid-1999 saw the chance to = offer telecom customers prices that were easy to understand and compare, be= cause they would be based on standard contracts and instant delivery. Penal= ties would be assessed when service faltered. Contracts could change hands = frequently and last for as little or as much time as the customers wanted. = Enron figured that time on fiber lines could be treated just like kilowatt = hours of electricity.=20 Enron "kind of made it happen. The other energy players look like followers= ," noted Martin Gray, vice president for trading and risk management at Lon= don's Cable & Wireless PLC, one of the few telecom companies to take a seri= ous interest in bandwidth trading.=20 To back its efforts, Enron erected an 18,000-mile fiber network offering co= nnections at blazing speed, and built 25 delivery points for companies to e= xchange bandwidth. It also relentlessly prodded carriers and large business= es to rethink the rules.=20 But most telecom carriers never warmed to bandwidth trading. "Houston is a = bad word in their mind," said Jack Blunt, senior vice president of finance = at RateXChange Corp., a San Francisco-based bandwidth broker that also oper= ates a small electronic broadband-trading exchange. "The energy merchants a= re perceived as cutting in on their business and trying to create a commodi= ties market."=20 Efforts to create hubs, or points where service could be delivered, stumble= d when other traders balked at how much information they would have to shar= e if they used Enron's sites. Meanwhile, bandwidth prices were falling shar= ply, in part because telecom companies overbuilt their fiber-optic networks= , and in part because demand, while growing, didn't grow as quickly as expe= cted. As a result, customers were reluctant to buy contracts for fiber-opti= c capacity that would lock them into prices that might be much higher than = rates they could get just a few months later.=20 At the same time, upstart phone companies and Internet service providers --= among the biggest potential clients for excess capacity traded on a broadb= and market -- were running into serious problems, reducing the number of cr= editworthy customers.=20 El Paso initially planned to invest $2 billion in its telecom business. A f= ew months ago, it cut its projected investment to $1.5 billion. Last week, = the company said it would cut back "radically" and limit its focus to its e= xisting network in Texas and a delivery hub in Chicago. "The clear line of = sight to success has become very opaque," said William Wise, chief executiv= e of the Houston-based company.=20 Dynegy, which operates a 16,000-mile fiber-optic network connecting 44 U.S.= cities, reported a relatively moderate $15 million third-quarter loss in i= ts telecom business. "We are not big on [being] first mover," said Mr. Berg= strom. "We were second mover in gas, second mover in power, and we were sec= ond mover in telecom."=20 Still, the Houston crowd isn't giving up on the market. An Enron spokeswoma= n said the company remains committed to telecom, but is reviewing costs. Th= e company remains a chief cheerleader in trying to develop hubs and set sta= ndards.=20 Dynegy is "comfortable" with its current position, a spokeswoman said. Chuc= k Watson, its chief executive, said demand has picked up sharply since Sept= . 12 as companies have conducted more business by phone. He expects demand = to grow substantially next year. But executives at several companies acknow= ledge that it may take months, if not years, to create an active trading ma= rket.=20 If Enron retreats further, the biggest winners would be the giant telecom c= arriers that considered Enron a threat to their decades-old ways of doing b= usiness, analysts say. "All eyes are on Enron," said Seth Libby, an analyst= at the Yankee Group research firm in Boston. "When they came into this mar= ket, they were the catalyst, and they still are the catalyst to create band= width as a commodity." Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =09 BEFORE THE BELL: Microsoft Up Off Possible Antitrust Deal By Shaheen Pasha Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 11/01/2001 Dow Jones Commodities Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is leading the action before = the bell Thursday.=20 The company and the U.S. Justice Department have agreed on the outlines of = a settlement in the long-running antitrust case. Sources close to the matte= r say the wording of the agreement has not yet been finalized and negotiati= ons could still potentially break down. Still investors are heartened that the antitrust saga may be coming to an e= nd. The stock has gained $1.91 or 3.2% to $60.05, according to RediBook ECN= . Shares finished the primary session at $58.15.=20 What goes up, must go down. Enron (ENE) shares are once again sinking after= some strength in Wednesday's market. The company named William Powers Jr. = to its board, which appointed a Special Committee to examine transactions b= etween Enron and third parties and work with the SEC in its investigation o= f the energy trading firm.=20 Enron shares have slipped $1.10 or 7.9% to $12.80 in the pre-market, after = closing Wednesday's session at $13.90.=20 WebMethods (WEBM) stock has gained $1.01 or 10.9% to $10.20 after Morgan St= anley upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral. The company's shares c= losed at $9.19.=20 Morgan Stanley wasn't quite so kind to shares of International Business Mac= hines (IBM). The firms initiated coverage on the stock at neutral on valuat= ion concerns, sending IBM shares down before the bell. IBM recently traded = down 72 cents or 0.6% to $107.35 after finishing the primary session at $10= 8.07=20 Ballard Power Systems Inc. (BLDP) shares fell before the bell after reporti= ng in-line third-quarter losses Wednesday. However, the fuel cell maker sai= d it expects to report losses for the next several years due to the capital= spending program it needs to commercialize its product.=20 The company's stock fell $1.76 or 6.5% to $25.05 after closing at $26.85.= =20 Lantronix Inc. (LTRX) also fell in early trading after the company reported= first-quarter pro forma earnings of 1 cent a share, one penny below Wall S= treet estimates.=20 The company's share recently changed hands at $6.30, down 12 cents or 1.8%.= It closed Wednesday's trading day at $6.43.=20 -By Shaheen Pasha, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2312; shaheen.pasha@dowjone= s.com Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =09 COMPANIES & FINANCE THE AMERICAS: Enron's weakness may be a buyer's strengt= h: Sheila McNulty, Matthew Jones and Julie Earle on the risks of buying int= o the group:=20 Financial Times; Nov 1, 2001 By JULIE EARLE, MATTHEW JONES and SHEILA MCNULTY With Enron's share price hovering around its low for the year, the question= of whether this is the right time to buy into the US's biggest energy trad= er is not only being asked by small-time investors but also by potential ac= quirers.=20 As of the market close on Tuesday, Enron's stock was down 67 per cent from = October 16, when the company disclosed a surprise Dollars 1.2bn charge agai= nst shareholders' equity that has provoked a crisis of confidence in the co= mpany. The selling has hacked Dollars 17bn off Enron's market value in two = weeks.=20 "The situation is one where Enron is likely to survive, but it is hard to a= nalyse because we don't have all the information yet," says John Olson, vic= e-president of research at Sanders Morris Harris, an investment banking fir= m. "With the stock being crunched so badly, only people with a high appetit= e for risk should buy."=20 That goes for acquirers as well, analysts say.=20 The SEC is conducting an unofficial enquiry into Enron's financial dealings= . Andrew Fastow, Enron chief financial officer, has been replaced. Sharehol= ders have subsequently filed a series of lawsuits against Enron. And not on= ly has one of the main rating agencies downgraded Enron's long-term debt, b= ut the other two are reviewing it for potential downgrade.=20 Other outstanding issues include how much Enron will get from the Dollars 4= .5bn in asset sales it has been planning, including its Dabhol power projec= t in India, where Enron and its foreign partners want to retrieve their Dol= lars 1bn in costs spent building the now-defunct plant.=20 Analysts warn there may be more losses to come at the company's poorly perf= orming broadband division, where Enron has warned it sees no immediate pros= pect of recovery, despite recent comments by Dynegy, its rival, that the br= oadband market is improving.=20 And there are worries Enron may have to take extra charges on its other off= -balance-sheet vehicles.=20 Kenneth Lay, chief executive, has said the company is watching closely its = operations in India, broadband and California, where Enron is one of severa= l energy traders facing questions over accusations of a manipulation of pow= er prices - which it denies. But if Enron had other impaired assets, it wou= ld have announced them, he added.=20 The potential risks make it more likely, analysts say, that acquirers would= rather buy one or more of Enron's business units than the whole business.= =20 Mr Olson says Enron's trading, outsourcing and pipeline businesses are all = good growth businesses. The trading business, which has been growing 31 per= cent a year, has been making a 23 per cent return on equity, he says.=20 Energy outsourcing, growing at 50 per cent a year, has ROE of 62 per cent, = and ROE at pipelines, where growth has been 7-8 per cent a year, has been 2= 4 per cent.=20 At midday yesterday, Enron's shares were trading at Dollars 12.64, up 13.26= per cent.=20 "The valuations are compelling," says Andre Meade of Commerzbank Securities= . Enron is the number-one marketer of natural gas and power in North Americ= a. Mr Meade says Enron is the best platform to get into these two big busin= esses.=20 Banking sources in London say Royal Dutch/Shell and BP have considered buyi= ng Enron but have backed off because of concerns about a culture clash and = the level of Enron's debts.=20 Banks have approached Enel, the Italian power utility, about acquiring Enro= n, but it is understood to have rejected the idea.=20 Eon, the German utility group, was also named as a potential European buyer= , but analysts say the regulatory hurdles may be too high because it is sti= ll in the process of gaining approvals for its purchase of Powergen, the UK= electricity group with interests in the US.=20 "At this price a number of large utilities and oil groups will be looking a= t Enron but the business is imploding so quickly that it's a real risk," sa= ys one banker. Additional reporting by Fred Kapner=20 Executives campaign round the rating agencies=20 Executives from Enron, the embattled energy trading company, was visiting N= ew York rating agencies yesterday as part of a campaign to defend the compa= ny's investment-grade rating, write Sheila McNulty in Houston and Robert Cl= ow in New York.=20 The team, led by Greg Whaley, Enron's president and chief operating officer= , was to meet separately with Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's = and Fitch.=20 Moody's this week downgraded its long-term debt, citing deterioration in En= ron's financial flexibility over the past two weeks.=20 At the same time as the company was launching the charm offensive it was pu= tting the finishing touches to a financing deal. Enron said over the weeken= d that it was searching for sources of liquidity to bolster its financial p= osition.=20 In spite of its troubles, Enron's energy trading business has continued to = thrive.=20 But that might no longer be the case if the company was downgraded below in= vestment grade. Then Enron's trading counterparties might increase the amou= nt of collateral they demand from Enron, putting pressure on margins. "Our = concern is that a reduction in the debt rating could impair their ability t= o operate their trading and marketing operations," said Raymond Niles of Sa= lomon Smith Barney.=20 Even after the Moody's downgrade, Enron's long-term debt is still rated a f= ew notches above junk by all rating agencies. Fitch, however, has put Enron= on review for possible downgrade and Standard & Poor's has changed Enron's= credit outlook to negative from stable.=20 Copyright: The Financial Times Limited COMMODITIES & AGRICULTURE: EIA to take over US gas report=20 Financial Times; Nov 1, 2001 By MARY CHUNG The US Department of Energy said yesterday it would take over a closely wat= ched weekly survey on natural gas from an industry trade group that has bee= n publishing the data for the past seven years.=20 The report will be picked up by the Energy Information Administration (EIA)= , the department's statistical division, after the American Gas Association= (AGA), which represents US natural gas producers and utilities, said it wo= uld discontinue publication of its gas storage estimates at the end of the = year.=20 Spencer Abraham, US energy secretary, said in a statement: "I believe it is= important the Department of Energy continue the reporting responsibility f= or this vital resource."=20 The AGA's decision to stop providing the data follows allegations of manipu= lation by some traders in the natural gas market over revisions in the surv= ey.=20 "There was a flap over revisions in the numbers. That did cause us to re-ex= amine the whole storage survey process," said Daphne Magnuson, an AGA spoke= sperson.=20 The weekly data are used by many in the trading community to buy and sell n= atural gas futures contracts, so any advance knowledge of storage volume re= visions can give participants an unfair trading advantage.=20 Several complaints were filed by traders to the Commodity Futures Trading C= ommission, the US regulatory agency, about discrepancies in the survey's da= ta.=20 A CFTC spokesperson said the commission acknowledged the "exchange of infor= mation with the AGA, which is still under review" but it would neither conf= irm nor deny the existence of any investigation.=20 The natural gas market is a Dollars 90bn a year industry, representing 189 = producers and local utilities including Duke Energy, Enron and El Paso.=20 Copyright: The Financial Times Limited WORLD STOCK MARKETS: Wall St falters after modest morning revival=20 Financial Times; Nov 1, 2001 By MARY CHUNG US equities ended mixed yesterday as technology stocks edged higher, while = blue chips lost their momentum after investors digested better-than-expecte= d third-quarter gross domestic products data.=20 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 46.84 at 9,075.14 after an ear= ly rally evaporated. The S&P 500 index dipped 0.01 at 1,059.78. The Nasdaq = Composite rose 22.79 at 1,690.20.=20 After two sessions of heavy losses, investors breathed a sigh of relief aft= er GDP figures showing the US economy had shrunk for the first time in eigh= t years this quarter - edging closer to a recession - were not nearly as ba= d as Wall Street had expected.=20 Leading the Dow lower was Eastman Kodak, down 8 per cent at Dollars 25.57, = after Moody's Investors Service downgraded the company's long-term rating.= =20 Other Dow components including Microsoft and IBM reversed early gains and l= ost 1.2 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively. Intel, the world's biggest = chipmaker, however, rose 3.7 per cent to Dollars 24.42 following positive c= omments from the company about long-term growth.=20 Sun Microsystems led the Nasdaq in volume, up 6.4 per cent at Dollars 10.15= after the company said orders were tracking higher than they were at the s= ame time last year.=20 Juniper slipped 3 per cent at Dollars 22.29, still suffering from a downgra= de by Merrill Lynch. Cisco System gained 2 per cent at Dollars 16.92 and De= ll gained 3 per cent at Dollars 23.98 after the company said it was on targ= et to meet third-quarter revenue estimates. Qwest Communications, however, = fell 19 per cent at Dollars 12.95 after reporting quarterly earnings that f= ailed to match expectations.=20 NextCard was the biggest decliner on the Nasdaq, down 84 per cent at 87 cen= ts after the online credit card provider's management said it was looking t= o sell the company to a larger financial institution.=20 Adobe Systems dropped 8 per cent at Dollars 26.40 after the maker of deskto= p publishing software warned of weaker fourth-quarter results, and said it = would cut 5 per cent of its workforce. Enron, the embattled energy trading = company, rebounded 24.5 per cent to Dollars 13.90.=20 Other bright spots included the retail sector as Dow components Wal-Mart an= d Home Depot gained 1.6 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively.=20 Toronto ended higher, led by gains in technology, bank, and oil and gas sto= cks after the US economy contracted less than expected. The S&P 300 composi= te index rose 60.29 to 6,885.70.=20 Nortel Networks closed up 9 cents at CDollars 9.25 and Celestica gained CDo= llars 2.90 to CDollars 54.90, but Research In Motion fell 16 cents to CDoll= ars 25.94.=20 Aerospace manufacturer Bombardier ended days of losses with a 16 cents gain= to CDollars 10.20.=20 Copyright: The Financial Times Limited Nov. 1, 2001, 12:06AM Houston Chronicle What went wrong with Enron?=20 Since its stock hit a zenith in January, the company has been in a downward= spiral=20 By LAURA GOLDBERG and MICHAEL DAVIS=20 Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle=20 For Enron Corp., it's a long, long way back to late January, when Houston's= biggest company was flying high.=20 Jeff Skilling, who played a central role in transforming Enron from a pipel= ine company to a trader of everything from electricity to paper to the weat= her, was days away from taking over from Ken Lay as chief executive officer= .=20 The stock had acquired a high-tech gloss, as the world's largest energy tra= der had moved aggressively into the broadband business, where it hoped to p= rofit from buying and selling space on high-speed data wires.=20 Today, the snapshot could scarcely be more different.=20 Enron's shares, which hit a closing high for the year of $82 in late Januar= y, have been trending downward since mid-February. They hit a nine-year clo= sing low Tuesday of $11.16.=20 Skilling is gone, Enron's credibility on Wall Street is in shambles, its br= oadband unit has been significantly scaled back, and there's speculation th= e company could be a takeover target.=20 The Securities and Exchange Commission is digging into business deals betwe= en Enron and investment partnerships formerly run by its ousted chief finan= cial officer.=20 Enron, which last week disclosed the SEC had begun an informal inquiry into= its affairs, said Wednesday it's under formal investigation.=20 The financial hits Enron revealed earlier this month, related to the invest= ment partnerships known as LJM Cayman and LJM2 Co-Investment, quickly trigg= ered an expanding round of unanswered questions about Enron's balance sheet= and overall financial stability. A sharp decline in the stock price follow= ed.=20 Investors and analysts, who are irked because they believe Enron won't expl= ain its complicated affairs, are painting their own worst-case scenarios.= =20 If Enron doesn't move to calm investor fears, they could become a self-fulf= illing prophecy, Jeff Dietert, an analyst with Simmons & Co. International = in Houston, wrote in a research report.=20 The vicious cycle potentially goes like this, he said: Fears drive down the= stock, the lower prices force credit agencies to consider downgrades, pote= ntially lower credit ratings force trading partners to reduce business with= Enron, and Enron's ability to generate earnings and cash flow suffers.=20 But the fact is, questions have surrounded Enron for months. Enron has been= faulted for some of its deals outside of its key business of energy market= ing and trading, which at the moment is considered healthy.=20 Wall Street's complaints that Enron's financial statements and disclosures = were hard to follow and lacked key details were more easily brushed aside w= hen Enron's stock price was high.=20 But this month's financial disclosures and Enron's steadily falling stock, = which has shaved tens of billions of dollars from the company's market valu= e, catapulted those questions to center stage.=20 A series of problems hung over Enron:=20 ? In California, Enron was among Houston companies painted as chief villain= s by Gov. Gray Davis and other top state officials earlier this year in Cal= ifornia's energy crisis. Enron, still owed $570 million for unpaid power bi= lls in California, drew negative publicity nationwide for its perceived arr= ogance.=20 ? Broadband lost its glow in March, when Enron and Blockbuster called off a= deal to bring movies over the Internet into homes. Almost a month later, E= nron revealed it had cut about 250 jobs from its broadband unit. More cuts = followed. The telecommunications industry melted down, but some analysts fe= lt Enron was slow to disclose its troubles.=20 ? Expensive investments Enron made in asset-based projects internationally,= such as power plants, didn't generate high enough returns. Enron has been = trying to unload billions worth of these assets for two years. Earlier this= year, it said it would try to sell its $875 million stake in Dabhol Power = Co. in India, which has been nothing but trouble for Enron almost from the = time it got involved in the early '90s.=20 ? Enron was still cleaning up Azurix, its unsuccessful foray into the water= and wastewater business. Part of a $1.01 billion write-down in the third q= uarter related to Azurix.=20 ? Over the past year, several high-ranking Enron executives have left. No d= eparture was more jarring to investors than the August departure of Skillin= g, who spent just six months as CEO.=20 Out of the blue, Skilling announced he was leaving for personal reasons. La= y, who had remained as chairman, reclaimed the CEO's job.=20 The fact Enron's shares were already sagging fed speculation about the "rea= l" reasons for Skilling's departure. Wall Street began cranking up its requ= ests for better disclosures in Enron's financial reporting. Lay faced the i= mmediate challenge of restoring Enron's credibility and convincing Wall Str= eet more bad news wasn't on the way.=20 Then, something that until last week's earnings report hadn't gotten much b= road attention acted as a lightning rod to focus all of Wall Street's conce= rns.=20 Earlier this year, some analysts and investors criticized Enron for letting= its chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow, run the private LJM investment= partnerships that did business with Enron.=20 They wondered if Fastow, wearing his LJM hat, was doing deals that benefite= d LJM but hurt Enron. Fastow, in June, stepped down from LJM, and Enron als= o ended its financial arrangements with LJM.=20 When Enron released third-quarter earnings Oct. 16, the report contained $1= .01 billion worth of charges in write-downs aimed at cleaning up problems d= istracting Enron from its core business.=20 Included was $35 million recorded because of ending its relationships with = the LJM partnerships. Because of that move, Enron also reduced shareholders= ' equity by $1.2 billion, something it mentioned briefly in its conference = call with analysts but didn't note in its earnings news releases.=20 Wall Street was hoping Enron's third-quarter report would begin an era of f= inancial frankness. While Enron did break down some of its data in new ways= , Wall Street felt Lay tried to slip the equity reduction by it.=20 Instead, a national spotlight was turned on the LJM partnerships, including= in a series of stories in the Wall Street Journal.=20 Almost a week after earnings, Enron disclosed that the SEC was looking into= the LJM matters. Shareholder lawsuits quickly piled up, and Enron replaced= Fastow.=20 Investors and analysts have been trying to get details out of Enron about o= ther financial vehicles it used to make investments without immediately tak= ing on new debt or issuing shares. They fear Enron will be on the hook for = billions of dollars of obligations related to these partnerships.=20 Meanwhile, Enron's stock price kept plunging and Moody's Investors Service = on Monday cut Enron's credit rating a notch, though it still remains at a k= ey investment-grade status.=20 Analysts believe Enron doesn't face an immediate cash crisis, nor do they t= hink it's in danger of losing its investment-grade rating. If it were to lo= se that rating, Enron would face a variety of negative consequences, includ= ing some that would damage its trading business.=20 At the moment, analysts believe Enron's wholesale energy trading business, = which is responsible for as much as about 90 percent of the company's opera= ting earnings and relies heavily on access to capital and credit, is fine.= =20 Wall Street hasn't gotten a sense that major trading players are pulling bu= siness or increasing credit requirements with Enron.=20 There is evidence, though, that some smaller traders are shifting business = away from Enron or requiring different trading terms.=20 Spokesman Mark Palmer said Enron is working with traders, mostly smaller on= es more concentrated in Europe, "to arrange credit terms that they are more= comfortable with."=20 Enron represents 20 percent to 25 percent of the domestic wholesale energy = market, so significant problems with its operation would cause widespread d= isruption. On just one day last week, Enron handled about $4 billion worth = of transactions through its EnronOnline.=20 Traders say Enron's problems haven't damaged commodities markets in general= .=20 Enron, in an unsuccessful move to shore up investor confidence, last week d= rew down about $1.1 billion from credit lines and banked it. It used anothe= r $2.2 billion to pay off short-term debt obligations, known as commercial = paper.=20 "We're going to do better," Palmer said, adding that he realizes Enron has = its work cut out. "We are going to provide as much information as we can to= begin restoring investor confidence in this company."=20 On Wednesday, Enron took a step aimed at stemming concerns. William Powers = Jr., the dean of the University of Texas School of Law, joined its board an= d will head a special committee that will review deals between Enron and en= tities with links to company insiders, such as LJM.=20 The company hasn't yet made its regular, detailed 10Q quarterly filing with= the SEC. The 10Q will include a balance sheet and various financial footno= tes, which analysts will scour looking for signs of trouble or solidity.=20 Enron also must execute international asset sales worth about $600 million = scheduled to close by the end of this year. Shedding other assets would als= o help, though there is concern Enron will be forced to accept fire-sale pr= ices, leading to more big write-downs.=20 Keeping a deal to sell power utility Portland General Electric on track is = also important. The sale should bring Enron $1.55 billion in cash and take = about $1.1 billion in debt off its balance sheet. The closing isn't expecte= d until the latter part of next year.=20 Speculation is swirling that Enron is a takeover target for the likes of Ro= yal Dutch/Shell, General Electric Co.'s GE Capital and others; could be sol= d off in pieces; or is a bankruptcy candidate. Analysts believe bankruptcy = is unlikely.=20 While Enron may make an attractive acquisition target, a buyout offer is un= likely until the SEC inquiry is resolved, they said. Shares in Enron closed= up $2.74 to $13.90 Wednesday, likely on takeover speculation and because i= t had been trading at such a cheap price.=20 Another possible outcome, said Anatol Feygin, an analyst with J.P. Morgan S= ecurities in New York, would be another large player taking a minority stak= e as a strategic investment in Enron, providing liquidity to shore up its b= alance sheet.=20 At the moment, Wall Street is inclined to give Lay some time to fix the pro= blems.=20 "As time goes on in this crisis, the likelihood of Ken Lay emerging unscath= ed gets lower and lower," said Feygin.=20 Nov. 1, 2001 Houston Chronicle Formal upgrade of Enron investigation gives subpoena power to SEC=20 By TOM FOWLER=20 Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle=20 Federal regulators have upgraded their inquiry of questionable financial tr= ansactions at Enron Corp. into a formal investigation, giving officials the= power to subpoena witnesses and documents.=20 Enron disclosed the move by the Securities and Exchange Commission late Wed= nesday, saying it involved some, if not all, of the off-balance sheet finan= cing partnerships the company has been criticized for in recent weeks.=20 The primary difference between the informal inquiry the SEC started more th= an a week ago and a formal investigation is the power it gives regulators t= o force companies to submit information. Changing an inquiry into an invest= igation is relatively easy for regulators to do, legal sources say. The off= icials simply ask the five-member commission for subpoena powers, a request= that is rarely turned down.=20 The SEC doesn't comment on investigations as a matter of policy, so it's no= t immediately clear why the extra steps were taken.=20 Enron officials say they have cooperated fully with the SEC, but since the = investigation most likely covers transactions involving companies other tha= n Enron, it's possible subpoenas may be needed to gain information from tho= se entities.=20 "There's no request from the SEC that we have failed to comply with," Enron= spokeswoman Karen Denne said. "We've cooperated voluntarily from the very = beginning."=20 Enron's board of directors also formed a special committee to investigate t= he transactions earlier this week and on Wednesday named William Powers, de= an of the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, to its board of dire= ctors to lead the special committee.=20 The committee will serve as a primary contact between the company and the S= EC and will concurrently make its own detailed investigation.=20 If needed, the committee has the power to take disciplinary action against = any Enron employee, officer or director who it determines "improperly parti= cipated in the transactions," Denne said.=20 Powers, a career academic, is known for his studies in product liability. H= e will be joined on the committee by board members Frank Savage, chief exec= utive of Savage Holdings; Paulo Ferraz Pereira, executive vice president of= Brazilian-owned investment bank Group Bozano; and Herbert Winokur Jr., cha= irman and chief executive of Capricorn Holdings.=20 The committee has named William McLucas, the former director of the SEC div= ision of enforcement -- the group investigating Enron -- as counsel.=20 McLucas' Washington-based law firm, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, retained De= loitte & Touche to provide independent accounting advice.=20 The SEC inquiry began shortly after Oct. 16, when steep losses in Enron's t= hird-quarter earnings drew renewed attention to a pair of investment partne= rships created by then-Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow.=20 The partnerships, referred to as a form of off-balance sheet financing, wer= e formed using Enron equity and outside capital as a way to hedge against t= he risks involved in some of the company's new lines of business, such as I= nternet broadband trading.=20 Fastow's dual roles as Enron CFO and managing director of the entities were= a cause for concern for Wall Street, which pressured Fastow to cut ties wi= th the outside partnerships in June. The company said it was careful to ens= ure that the interests of Enron and its shareholders were protected, but wh= en the partnerships accounted for significant losses for Enron and a $1.2 b= illion loss in equity value, analysts began to demand more details.=20 Last week the company replaced Fastow and began providing a few more detail= s about its finances in order to maintain investor and client confidence. T= he company has declined to give out further information on the partnerships= , however, because of the ongoing SEC investigation.=20 Enron tapped a $3.3 billion line of revolving credit last week, putting abo= ut $1.1 billion in the bank to ensure it has cash on hand and using the bal= ance to repurchase short-term debtinstruments. The company is expected to a= nnounce today or Friday that it has lined up another $1 billion to $2 billi= on in credit from banks.=20 Financial Enron Discloses SEC Probe 11/01/2001 The Washington Post FINAL E02 Copyright 2001, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved Enron said the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a formal inves= tigation into apparent conflicts of interest in dealings the company had wi= th partnerships led by the company's former chief financial officer. The co= mpany also said it created a special committee headed by University of Texa= s law school dean William Powers to respond to the investigation. The commi= ttee has hired as counsel William R. McLucas, a former SEC enforcement chie= f who is now a partner in the law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering.=20 http://www.washingtonpost.com=20 Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =09 Enron Corp. Cut to Near-Term `Neutral' at Merrill 2001-11-01 07:43 (New York) Princeton, New Jersey, Nov. 1 (Bloomberg Data) -- Enron Corp. (ENE US) was downgraded to near-term ``neutral'' from near-term ``accumulate'' by analyst Donato J. Eassey at Merrill Lynch. The long-term rating was cut to ``neutral'' from ``buy.'' --Michael O. Donohue in Princeton, New Jersey, (+1)609-279-3756. SEC opens formal investigation into Enron, company says By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press Writer 11/01/2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. HOUSTON (AP) - The financial roller coaster ride for Enron Corp. is gaining= speed.=20 After dropping to a nine-year low a day before, shares of the nation's larg= est natural gas and power marketer rose 25 percent on Wednesday to close at= $13.90 amid speculation the Houston-based company was a strong takeover ca= ndidate. But shares then fell 5 percent in extended trading after the company's anno= uncement that the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a formal in= vestigation into apparent conflicts of interest in dealings the company had= with partnerships led by its former chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow= .=20 The company, in a news release late Wednesday, said it created a special co= mmittee headed by University of Texas law school dean William Powers to res= pond to the investigation. Powers also was elected to Enron's board of dire= ctors.=20 "I have asked the board to take this action to address fully and forthright= ly investors' questions and concerns," said Enron chairman and chief execut= ive Kenneth L. Lay. "We will also make every appropriate public disclosure = during the course of the SEC's investigation."=20 However, Duane Grubert, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein and Co. in New= York, said Enron still has much to do to restore investor confidence.=20 "With (stock) values this low, you've got two camps of investors: guys that= hate Enron and guys that want to be cautiously attracted to Enron," Gruber= t said. "It's lead to the trading range being irrationally low and shares b= eing oversold. It's not something the company wants."=20 Enron's stock is off 60 percent since the company reported a $638 million t= hird quarter loss just over two weeks ago, dragged down by a one-time charg= e of $1.01 billion attributed to various losses.=20 Some of these losses have been tied to partnerships managed by Fastow, who = was ousted last week.=20 Earlier this week, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the company's long-= term debt and warned of possible further downgrades.=20 Since reporting its disappointing third quarter losses, Enron has been nego= tiating with banks to establish new credit lines.=20 Carol Coale, an analyst with Prudential Securities Inc. in Houston, said We= dnesday's stock price surge, after two weeks of selling, was likely a react= ion to a The Wall Street Journal report on rumors of a possible takeover of= Enron.=20 Others may be buying figuring the stock has hit bottom, she said.=20 On Tuesday, Enron's stock closed at $11.16, its lowest level since 1992.=20 Potential buyers include General Electric's GE Capital unit, Warren Buffett= 's Berkshire Hathaway and Royal Dutch Shell, the Journal said.=20 Grubert said Shell, which has a small presence in energy marketing, would b= e a good fit.=20 "To buy into an established franchise must be attractive to Shell," he said= .=20 The special committee Enron formed has retained William R. McLucas, a partn= er in the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, as its counsel. McLucas i= s a former head of the Division of Enforcement of the SEC.=20 While Enron's stock price has made it attractive, Coale said the energy mar= keter's problems present a substantial drawback.=20 "I would fault a company for acquiring Enron with all of this hanging over = it," she said. "There are too many uncertainties."=20 ---=20 On the Net:=20 http://www.enron.com AP Photo XNYR310 of Oct. 29=20 Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =09 Business SEC probe of dealings is official, Enron says From Tribune news services 11/01/2001 Chicago Tribune North Sports Final ; N 3 (Copyright 2001 by the Chicago Tribune) Enron Corp., in a sign of mounting legal problems, said Wednesday that an i= nformal inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission had become a full= -scale probe of questionable financial dealings that have rocked the compan= y in recent weeks and sent its stock plummeting to a nine-year low.=20 The nation's largest energy trader, scrambling to head off another shock to= its damaged credibility, said it elected University of Texas law school de= an William Powers to its board of directors and that he would head an inter= nal inquiry into transactions that caused Enron to take a $1 billion charge= to third-quarter earnings and name a new chief financial officer. The company said Oct. 22 that the SEC was looking into its finances, but st= ressed that the agency had only requested information. The disclosure that = it was now a full-blown, formal investigation may indicate that regulators = did not like what they saw.=20 Before the announcement, which came after the stock market closed Wednesday= , shares of Enron jumped nearly 25 percent amid speculation the company was= ripe for takeover. Enron stock rose $2.74, to $13.90, to end a 10-day tail= spin that saw its market value fall by $17 billion.=20 Investors had been dumping Enron shares following disclosures that the comp= any did off-the-balance-sheet transactions with two limited partnerships ru= n by former CFO Andrew Fastow, who was replaced last week.=20 Concern about possible conflicts of interest arising from the deals and the= company's failure to explain them had dropped stock levels to levels not s= een since the early 1990s, caused a downgrade in credit status and brought = the SEC in.=20 An SEC spokesman would not comment on the matter. Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =09 Exchanges Add OTC Products as Option to Enron. 11/01/2001 The Oil Daily © 2001 Energy Intelligence Group. All rights reserved. Trading exchanges on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have added new cleari= ng and trading products and services for the over-the-counter (OTC) natural= gas market in the US and both gas and power markets in the UK.=20 Though both the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and OM London Exchange= , owner and operator of the UK Power Exchange, said their actions were in r= esponse to a market need, the exchanges clearly are stepping up to fill a r= ole US energy trading giant Enron has handled for OTC customers. Enron's li= quidity problems and stock-price collapse have prompted other gas and power= buyers and sellers to seek an alternative provider. "Recent events in the natural gas market have served to reinforce the neces= sity of counterparty credit risk management and have accelerated the exchan= ge's plans to introduce a full array of risk management tools under the umb= rella of our clearinghouse," said Nymex President J. Robert Collins Jr.=20 OM London will partner with Spectron Group, Europe's largest independent sp= ecialist energy broker of physical OTC gas and power contracts, to provide = a clearing service for UK customers in the first quarter of 2002.=20 The companies also expect to extend the service to include continental Euro= pean power contracts in the near future.=20 The Nymex plan will include introduction of exchange of futures for swap (E= FS) transactions and large-order execution, along with the previously annou= nced electronic trading of cleared natural gas swaps and basis contracts.= =20 EFS transactions will work similarly to exchange of futures for physical tr= ansactions. Two parties will be allowed to negotiate privately the executio= n of an integrated over-the-counter swaps and related futures transaction o= n pricing terms agreed upon by both.=20 The transaction must involve equal but opposite sides of market quantities = of futures and swap exposures in the same or related commodities and
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