stock manipulation

America's CFOs Admit: Lots of Companies Fudge Their Numbers

Investors, it turns out, you really can't trust the numbers you see in those quarterly reports: Researchers at Emory and Duke universities say that at any given time, about 20% of publicly traded firms are misrepresenting their earnings.

Why Stock Buybacks Are a Waste of Shareholder Resources

So far in 2010, U.S. companies have announced stock buybacks totaling more than five times as much as they had at this time last year. But evidence suggests that such buybacks a more likely to be money losing propositions -- except for the CEOs whose bonuses they artificially inflate.

Is Jim Cramer playing the market or playing his audience?