Letter sent to Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal columnist, Holman W. Jenkins (Stock Option Fiends Revealed, August 30, 2006) placed Nobel Laureates and Warren Buffett at opposite ends of the stock option expensing debate. This detracted from what otherwise was a useful contribution to the niggling question of why companies readily expense stock-based compensation in their tax returns, but reluctantly so in their financial statements. The last time Mr. Buffett found himself in a room with Nobel Laureates representing Long-Term Capital Management, they stood cap-in-hand seeking a bailout. Investors would do well to stick to Mr. Buffett's "equivocation fallacy" - as characterized by Mr. Jenkins - that "If options aren't compensation, and compensation isn't an expense, what is it?"

Sincerely,

Albert J Meyer