Author's Note: This coverage is excerpted from the daily Vital Signs Monitor and Vital Signs Monitor: Archives. Also see the dossier Foreclosure of a Dream: Enron's Mirage of Corporate Invincibility.

· Fortune Magazine: Enron Coverage.
· MSNBC Television: Behind the Enron Fiasco.
· The Nation: Enron at Home and Abroad.
· The Smoking Gun: The Beginning of the Enron Paper Trail.
· Washington Post Newspaper: Enron Report.

Wednesday, 20 March 2002

PBS probes the early 1990s financial swindles. Anderson auditors plead not-guilty to charges (forcing a trial in May) as testimony about Enron's lies continues. Andersen's employees are fighting for survival.

Thursday, 14 March 2002

The minimal disclosure precedent. Bush refuses to hand over energy data. Andersen has been charged with "widespread criminal conduct" in shredding Enron's documents. The SEC has established new rules for auditing firms. The Enron-Andersen dance signifies another 1990s bust. Enron claims its first White House victim.

Wednesday, 13 March 2002

Andersen faces charges and doom. What will be Andersen's fate? Deloitte claims it won't pursue a merger. Andersen will be cross-examined by the SEC and Department of Justice.

Tuesday, 12 March 2002

The California Attorney General's office has filed suit against four energy companies. Will Andersen face charges for obstructing audits and be forced to split? Andersen's disappearing act. Anderson's accounting jitters are affecting the market. Anderson dumps The Street over public comments.

Monday, 11 March 2002

Andersen is in merger talks with Deloitte. Some analysts contend that the troubled accountancy firm should split. Enron’s new CEO will earn $1.3 million a year. Will Enron be evicted from its fifty-storey tower?

Thursday, 7 March 2002

Has Enron's management fueled a trend in minimal disclosure? The Justice Department's Leslie Caldwell is probing Enron for further evidence. The White House defends Army Secretary Thomas White. Enron's board will likely be protected from lawsuits.

Wednesday, 6 March 2002

New Enron CEO Stephen Cooper is facing a turnaround challenge. Army Secretary Thomas White remains under fire for his unethical handling of Enron stocks. Bush is considering widespread corporate reform. Can Enron return to power? Enron and the Supreme Court.

Tuesday, 5 March 2002

Bush and Enron drilled for oil together. More on W.'s first Enron deal. Why consulting work and audits go hand-in-hand. Warren Buffet calls on investors to be more adversarial. Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling married former Enron executive Rebecca Carter in a private ceremony on the weekend. Is there an Enron-Cheny-Taliban connection? Jonathan Chaitt defends economist Paul Krugman in the Enron debate. Why the Enron hearings were painful. Enron: the spectacle of a corrupt plutocracy.

Monday, 4 March 2002

Why legislating against future 401k blow-outs may cause problems. Jockeying for a Pulitzer because of Enron coverage: Wall Street Journal staffers complain about their enthusiastic coverage being overlooked and Fortune goes for footnotes. A UBS PaineWebber advisor claims he was fired for telling people to sell their Enron stocks.

Friday, 1 March 2002

Enron's place in the swindle cycle. Online company flamers are facing lawsuits. How will Enron's fallout affect corporate whistle-blowers? The business press on punishing corporate fraud.

Wednesday, 27 February 2002

The White House is ordered to release its energy information. Inside Enron's sexual politics: Watkins v Skilling. Arthur Andersen offers a $750 million settlement to stop the flood of civil lawsuits. Analysts now claim that Enron lied to them. The Enron debacle inspires major accounting changes. Alan Greenspan on the Enron situation (audio).

Tuesday, 26 February 2002

View the beginning of Enron's paper trail. Why Williams Companies could become Enron II (and who the exposers are). Executives confronted each-other in the latest Senate testimony. Why former Enron vice chairman Thomas White must go. Can Goldman Sachs reform Enron? How Enron influenced the Clinton administration. The scandal continues to affect Bush's energy plan.

Monday, 25 February 2002

Are you fed up after Enron? More corporate bailouts we don't need. The Senate will grill ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. View Enron's October 2000 meeting (video). The accounting scandal could trigger positive changes for frontline workers.

Thursday, 21 February 2002

Enron will seek a new start and a name-change. Why the Enron debacle is a re-run of America’s corporate history (view graphic). Why the Enron fallout is spreading. Enron's monster mess. Accounting for dummies. How Enron short-changed the Myths of Capitalism.

Wednesday, 20 February 2002

Enron's Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastrow has claimed that the company faced a 'grey area' in its dealings. The Senate investigation is probing Bill Clinton's deals for links with Enron. A $260 million settlement claim by Andersen has been rejected. Former Enron CEO Ken Lay offered a board seat to Robert Rubin, then treasury secretary. A new business underclass: the betrayed investor. How to make the Enron gang pay.

Tuesday, 19 February 2002

Two Enron aides have claimed that former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling knew of the firm’s accounting problems. Former CEO Ken Lay confirmed this allegation, while selling-off his properties worth $22 million. Congressional investigators have expanded their Enron probe to Wall St. Technology firms are battling Congress initiatives to change rules, because of the Enron debacle, on stock options. Andrew Fastow, Enron’s Chief Financial Officer, is now under scrutiny. Fastow counter-argued that senior Enron management knew and had approved of the deals.

Monday, 18 February 2002

What were business reporters doing before the Enron scandal? Republican Billy Tauzin generates phony Enron rage. Executives face a slew of lawsuits. Army Secretary Thomas White was probed about his Enron ties. Enron's ties with Texas are being exposed. How the Senate made Ken Lay look like a victim.

Tuesday, 12 February 2002

Another guide to the Enron investigations. Meet the Grand Inquisitors of the Enron hearings. Former Enron CEO Ken Lay pleads the Fifth (read statement) before a Senate inquiry. Congress politicians then verbally attacked Lay. Vice President Dick Cheney stonewalls Enron investigations. The dumb tactics of Mitch Daniels on Enron. The AFL-CIO wants Enron's disgraced management to be banished from other corporate boards (forever).

Thursday, 8 February 2002

Who's facing-off Enron on Capitol Hill. Enron's former CEO Ken Lay will appear before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday (12 February 2002), a move confirmed by several Senators. Speculations abound as to what Lay will say. The dark side of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who blamed the collapse due to "a run on the bank." Suicides by Enron executives have been blamed on the investigative probes. Days before its bankruptcy, Enron piled on bonuses for senior executives. Board members have been forced to resign from other firms. Enron's "retention bonuses" were more than $55 million. Its campaign contributions made Enron the biggest player in 1990s state legislatures and Texan politics. Putting limits on 401(k) holdings have drawn fire from corporate executives. Attempts at campaign finance reform will be limited by the continuing fallout. The Pentagon has been ordered to keep its Enron-related documents. Peggy Mahoney: Enron's public relations disaster. Let the Enron Games begin. It ain't all Enron stories out there.

Thursday, 7 February 2002

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skillings had few answers for the House subcommittee (read full text of the hearings). The press got another story. Enron’s Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow wasn’t so lucky: witnesses outlined his actions. The face-off between Enron executives and government investigators has shades of The Usual Suspects. Enron tried to tap Florida's Everglades. Andersen’s dark history of auditing disasters. Citigroup hedged its bets against Enron. The debacle has spread to other firms (especially on earnings cycles). Credit agencies waited months to voice their concerns. The debate about post-Enron pension reform has highlighted America’s fear and greed. Ex-Enron employees are creating an online community. Ralph Nader has condemned Enron’s vote-buying spree. Why did Enron pay-off major journalists?

Wednesday, 6 February 2002

Senior lawyer Jordan Mintz warned high-level Enron executives a year before its collapse that there were problems with the company's nebulous partnerships. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told Congress that the Bush administration would proceed with plans to reform pensions in the light of Enron. Former CEO Jeffrey Skilling has been revealed as a control freak. The debacle is pushing down financial markets and has changed bankruptcy insurance. The Securities and Exchange Commission will undergo a major revamp. By undermining neo-liberal capitalism, Ken Lay could be considered un-American. How new appointee Paul Volcker could reposition Arthur Andersen. How to cure "Enronitis."

Tuesday, 5 February 2002

Former Enron CEO Ken Lay claims he felt 'betrayed' to investigators, who want to extend the exploratory phase of their inquiry. Lou Pai, who sold $270 million worth of Enron stock before the collapse, has emerged from the shadows to answer questions. The US Congress has subpoenaed Ken Lay a second time to testify in hearings. Will Lay's example create a trend in silent CEOs? Enron’s mementos are selling on eBay. The crisis has divided employees along financial lines and hurt a sponsorship deal with the Houston Astros. Enron executives considered freezing company pensions before turning to Enron's phantom stock. The Enron debacle has focused financial analysts on bad accounting practices, the crises of quarterly earnings cycles and suggestions on how to resolve these industry problems. At least two high-level officials will leave the troubled company. Could the same 'logic' help solve the Congress and Senate's fiscal problems?

Monday, 4 February 2002

The Enron debacle has already become a case study for students of business ethics. Read the text of Ken Lay's letter to withdrawal from Congressional hearings. The US Senate will subpoena Lay to testify at its hearings. Continue to play Enron's blame game (which has put "white collar crime" back on the law enforcement agenda). Former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker has been chosen as the new head of Arthur Andersen. If you really want to understand Enron's culture, take a trip to Atlanta City.

Friday, 1 February 2002

The Department of Justice has ordered President Bush to not destroy his Enron-related data. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) has his own Enron problems regarding campaign contributions. The debacle has affected Houston's business community but might not change it. Read the full text of the document that Enron's former CEO Ken Lay gave to Vice President Dick Cheney. Public records have also revealed that the sister and son of Lay benefited from dealings with Enron. William Powers claims that the news focus on Enron makes war-coverage easier. Greg Easterbrook asks why he never received an Enron bribe. Play the Enron blame game.

Thursday, 31 January 2002

Global news outlets have a diversity of views about Enron. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has claimed that Enron executives "are not cooperating" with the Senate investigations. The Enron board allowed debt transfer to outside entities. Why has Andrew Sullivan been selective about his Enron outrage?

Wednesday, 30 January 2002

Enron's Sherrin Watkins may leave a new legacy: how to conduct a 'whistleblowing' campaign. 'Accountability' for Enron was missing in Bush’s State of the Union Address. Former Enron workers are grieving in groups. Why Bush gets the Enron fallout wrong. Did Enron engage in price-gouging? Eulogies have been given for Enron executive J. Clifford Baxter, as the media seeks a copy of his suicide note. Netizens are already surfing discussion groups to find the next Enron (here are some contenders). Jesse Jackson took Enron's campaign money. Andersen's problems may become a Wild-Card for President Bush in Texas. Was NBC too easy on Kenneth Lay's wife and children?

Tuesday, 29 January 2002

House Speaker Dennis Hastert has backed President Bush's decision not to release records of Enron's meetings (Bush claimed that privacy was the key issue). Enron has named an interim CEO and contended that paper shredding only stopped recently. Federal investigators are wondering if Enron influenced Conclusive evidence that proves Enron's fraud may be elusive because of fuzzy accounting. California's power crisis. GOP senators are divided over revealing Enron information. Jake Tapper answers the question on everyone's lips: "How do I become an Enron millionaire?" (Hijack the campaign finance system, stupid.) Bill Kristol claims no, Enron won't equal the "Punditgate" moniker. And will Enron's collapse change America’s profit-making financial system? Enron workers have launched a federal class-action suit. Political lobbying buys inaction.

Monday, 28 January 2002

Ex-Enron CEO Ken Lay's wife has claimed that the couple are broke. Does Enron effectively ‘own’ Washington? The politicians aren’t always hurrying to hand back their campaign contributions. Its political agenda received little media analysis (and had mixed results). Enron executives failed the "tyranny of the bottom line" and other business model truths. The shredded papers and recovered e-mails will hold the key (as will class-action lawyers like Bill Lerach). The scandal will force Andersen to refocus its business and possibly sell-off its consultancy arm. The investment fallout has just begun (view video). More details on the strange case of dead Enron executive Clifford Baxter. TV news goes for the "sexy side" of the Enron story. Tom Tomorrow on Enron: "a non-starter."

Friday, 25 January 2002

US Comptroller General David M. Walker has threatened to sue the White House if it doesn't release Vice President Dick Cheney's task-force papers about the Bush administration’s energy policy. Confused? Read Enron for Dummies. Enron executive J. Clifford Baxter was found dead in his car. Andersen, worried about Enron’s books since early October 2001, has been blasted again for shredding records. The Houston business community is feeling betrayed. The media failed to anticipate the fiasco. Paul Krugman claims that Conservatives have tried to smear him but that he’s ‘clean’ on Enron. James Taranto replies that Krugman is engaging in psychological projection. The Enron debacle has made some media analysts nostalgic for the White House scandals of the past. They have forgotten how they helped create the troubled conglomerate. Nice work if you can get it: Peggy Noonan received $250/hr for her Enron consultancy work. The GOP has a new disease: Enronitis. The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Ralph Reed: Doing God's Work for Enron and Bush."

Thursday, 24 January 2002

The Enron debacle has sparked a House vote on campaign finance reform. The House probe into Enron opened with stonewalling tactics. "Audit Risk" has become the new insurance policy after the Enron debacle. Former Andersen auditor David Duncan has taken the Fifth Amendemnt (view video). Ken Lay controlled his empire through weekly video statements. What did Lay really know? Enron will search for a restructuring specialist as an interim CEO. How Al Sharpton hijacked the Enron circus. Andrew Sullivan is waging his own war against economist Paul Krugman over Enron. Enron workers are finding solidarity in their losses. Read a list of the US committees that are currently investigating Enron.

Wednesday, 23 January 2002

Ken Lay has resigned as Enron’s CEO. David B. Duncan, the fired Enron auditor for Andersen, claims that he informed the energy utility about its accounting problems, and has also refused to testify. Army Secretary Thomas White lost money on Enron stock (as did many Congress staffers). Arianna Huffington describes the Enron cabal’s long list of sins. A Senate committee is seeking Enron’s tax records. Enron’s in-house security has gone private.

Tuesday, 22 January 2002

President Bush has defended the White House's handling of the Enron debacle. Read a special Nation report on the Bush-Enron connection. The FBI began its probe on Enron executives shredding documents. The Congressional probe will subpoena Andersen’s CEO. The five members of the Public Oversight Board, an accounting ethics and oversight committee, has resigned. Enron's audit fee has been criticised. Its exemption in 1997 from limits on offshore accounts helped fuel Enron's overseas operations (al Qaeda used similar arrangements to channel funds). Taxpayers and specific banks may be at risk of defaulting because of Enron investments. The debacle, only the tip of the iceberg, may become the Democrat's secret weapon in 2002. The view that CEO Ken Lay took a "hands-off" role has been challenged by new evidence. Enron's staff have lost millions. Will the Enron debacle be another case to undermine laissez-faire market orthodoxy?

Friday, 18 January 2002

The fallout has revealed that almost 35 Bush administration officials owned stock in Enron. Vice-President Dick Cheney also spoke with Indian officials about Enron (view video). Andersen executives were aware of the crisis in February 2001, a new memo has revealed. Some sites tout the Bush administration and Enron as co-conspirators and joint criminals. The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Enron's Untold Story." The Enron Effect: journalists search for more scandals. Business Week editor Steve Shepherd has slammed the business press coverage of Enron.

Thursday, 17 January 2002

Enron has fired auditor Arthur Andersen as several Congress and Senate committees seek further documentation. Andersen's accounting team had considered dropping the embattled energy utility in February 2001 over concerns about its accounting procedures, insider dealing and avoidance of income tax payments. 401 reasons why. More than one insider warned the senior management. The collapse has affected Houston’s business culture but helped on-line auction sites.

Wednesday, 16 January 2002

A Bush administration audit on the Enron collapse contends that it won't trigger an economic collapse. Other analysts are suggesting that this is "damage control" by the "guilty" Bush administration, whose deregulation policies benefited Enron. The Securities & Exchanges Commission is redrafting its audit rules. Questions are being raised about auditor Andersen: they are cooperating with the US Federal probe yet are also being sued by Enron. The embattled firm faces more scandals in the future. Senator Joseph Lieberman has been warned to quit Enron's board (a former aide has also been implicated). Computer programmers have been called in to recover more Enron documents about its complex deals. Already, evidence has emerged that Enron’s senior management began selling stock in 1998. The full text of a memo by employee Sherron Watkins has also damaged Enron CEO Ken Lay's credibility. An industry body of TV news directors and producers are claiming that the Enron story meets "scandal" criteria but not "political disaster" (other analysts are disagreeing).

Tuesday, 15 January 2002

Evidence is mounting that Enron CEO Ken Lay knew of the utility conglomerate's accounting woes, but Andersen destroyed the files. The Senate Select Committee to Investigate Market Manipulation plans to investigate and has filed subpoenas with Enron's employees. Lawmakers are already returning Enron's campaign contributions. Will President Bush? The crisis has revealed why Enron also funded a network of think-tanks. Business Week staffer Howard Gleckman deploys the Enron scandal to critique Bush economic adviser Larry Lindsey. Former SEC Chairman David Ruder claims, in a revealing interview, that there needs to be a cleanup of accountancy firms and industry watchdogs. Secret notes are already being leaked. Enronomics is dead.

Monday, 14 January 2002

Wendy Gramm has received a subpoena amidst revelations of Enron's contributions to re-elected Congress members and requests for bank bailouts. Yet the impact on employees, who have lost their health plans and retirement benefits, largely goes unreported.

The views expressed above represent the writer and not necessarily those of The Disinformation Company Ltd.