I know you are getting an impossible volume of advice right now . . .  but that's not going to stop me from piling on a little more.

	I believe everything we have been saying: we have the best business model, we are making great money, we are growing, we are addressing our issues and we have all of our capabilities intact.  We are poised for even greater growth.  Even so, we will not be able to fight off the negatives on our stock and on our reputation right now.  Our problem is not a problem about getting the message out.  

	Part of the problem we can't do anything about:  almost all equities have suffered this year.  But part of our problem (the part we can do something about) is that we are faced with too many bad, but true (or at least plausible), allegations that we have to deal with every time we try to tell our story.  These current circumstances are not necessarily bad:  I think we can use them as a great opportunity to drive some overdue changes.  But no amount of communication or "spin" will work right now.  We have to directly address the issues. 

	The difficult allegations we face include:

Creative or aggressive accounting (both in reporting and deal structuring);
Black box reporting;
Over-hyping of the stock or the prospects for unproven businesses;
A near mercenary culture which encourages organizations to hide problems (until those problems have become very big), discourages cooperation and teamwork, and drives off people who demand at least a modicum of civility in their work environment.

	I have some answers.  First, I would hold our actions to the standard we apply to everything else:  the market standard.  We should do the economically rational thing in every transaction and business and let the chips fall where they may.  Instead of tying ourselves in a knot about managing earnings or write downs or avoiding an asset sale because it's on the books for more than the market, we should just make the rational economic decision.  

	Second, I would open up our reporting.  Make it as transparent as the analysts want; indeed, set a new standard for transparency and integrity.  I know we are looking at these things and have been for some time.  I also realize that at some levels of disclosure we risk disclosing positions.  I'm just saying we should drive right up to the edge.  

	Third, I think IR should be all about the facts: disclosing facts and correcting misunderstandings.  I would not "spin" in this function.  Our audience is too sophisticated.  If we make the economically rational decisions over and over, the stock price will come along.  We have lost credibility by overhyping businesses we haven't proven yet and it's hard to see why we do it.  To get early credit in the stock price?  I'd rather wait.  To prove that we are a growth company?  I think a track record of growth and a rational and circumspect discussion of our opportunities will take care of that.  I want us to be a company which is bold in its business moves, not in its approach to analysts or in its accounting.  The reputation I would like to have with investors is that we never overstate, we never dissappoint and that we can always be trusted.  I am not being critical of our team.  We have the best, most organized, hardest working, and most effective IR team in the business.  I am just concerned that we have sent them speeding down the wrong path.  Similarly, I am not critical of our accounting organization.  We have the finest accounting organization in the industry.  They need to be the best in order to get sensible accounting rules and interpretations to accurately reflect the results of our unique and innovative business.  They need to minimize our tax exposures etc.  I am not arguing that anyone has done anything wrong or ineffectively.  I simply believe that it is time to reassess how we do these things (and I don't consider my organization to be exempt from that same reassessment).

	Finally, our culture.  As I said the other day, there may be a relatively small number of individuals who are commercially successful, well paid, regularly promoted who have little or no respect for their coworkers or other human beings in general.  When others see them rewarded, it matters not at all what we say about our values.  Dealing with a few people directly will send a message that spreads like wildfire through the organization.  Additionally, compensation structures and a PRC process which explicitly rewards teamwork (and which includes broader representation than just the commercial groups) will go a very long way toward changing the level of civility in the organization.

	I hope it's clear to you that I love this place.  I have poured my heart and soul into it.  It is the finest organization I have ever been part of.  Like everyone, I have had some time to reflect lately.  I have recommitted myself to this place and to your leadership.  Part of that recommitment will be my concerted effort to make things even better.