[Torie]

Well I am amazed that the signed off change orders are not quantified for year end audits. They certainly should be. Is this brouhaha all about the quantity of change orders versus the estimate of same? That seems intuitively to be entirely too simple an explanation, if that is the genesis of the explanation.

[Texasforever]

Of course they are quantified. Halliburton is at peril if it allows change notices to go un-counted and booked as receivables. Halliburton spends REAL money and builds REAL things. It is not a "stock" driven company in the same way as Enron or a vapor-service scam. Halliburton cannot create profits; it can only build real things at a profit. If Halliburton does not win major projects there is NO way to make it look as if it did and hide it from the shareholders. I guess the simple answer is that if you build houses there is no way to claim you have the money from houses that you did not build. There are about 10 major firms like Halliburton worldwide fighting tooth and nail for about 100 major petro-chemical projects worldwide per year. The success of that effort is what drives stock prices NOT accounting tricks.