21.   That gimmick artificially inflated earnings late in the year, the suit says, allowing top executives to qualify for stock options.

22.   The class-action suits recently dismissed in Mississippi cite numerous instances where bungled integration may have contributed to double-billing and other practices that inflated earnings.

23.   The partnerships served no economic purpose other than to falsely inflate corporate earnings, hide debt and enrich Fastow, the report found.

24.   The report concluded that Enron used the partnerships to inflate its earnings and hide some debt by selling assets to them.

25.   This conservative approach can be misleading if the revenues are used to artificially inflate earnings in future periods.

26.   Various investigators are trying to determine whether Enron concealed its true financial condition by inflating earnings and hiding debt.

27.   Using investigative journalistic techniques, Whitaker exposed a drug research corporation that was employing Enron-esque subterfuge to hide losses and inflate earnings.

28.   Greenspan said current accounting rules, which do not require stock options to be charged as company expenses, allow many corporations to inflate reported earnings.

29.   Enron inflated its earnings and minimized its debts prior to a collapse that left its employees without pensions to fall back on.