21.   Enron filed for bankruptcy in December following revelations that it used questionable accounting methods to mask billions of dollars in debt and inflate profits.

22.   So was their lapse in oversight of top managers who set up complex partnerships that masked debt, inflated profits and made some executives rich.

23.   The company said certain expenses, including discounts and marketing costs, were understated, which inflated profits.

24.   The partnerships and transactions, backed by Enron stock and in part developed and funded by the banks, allegedly hid debt and inflated profits.

25.   The targets were reached at the same time investigators say Enron officials were improperly inflating company profits by hundreds of millions of dollars, thereby buoying share prices.

26.   The structures, backed by Enron stock and in part developed and funded by the banks, allegedly hid debt and inflated profits.

27.   Unlike some firms that were accused of inflating profits, Microsoft faces charges that it artificially diminished its results, the Journal said.

28.   Jackson denounces accounting tricks, which made it possible for the company to artificially inflate profits and conceal debts by using multiple subsidiaries and partnerships with obscure companies.