[BigV]

I strenuously disagree. Mark to market is a good accounting practice. Without it, how in the world could you know the value of a company's assets? When the news is good, we'll tell you. When the news is not good, we'll just pick a number we like?

wtf?


eta:

For example:

You have a net worth. It is some value, some number. How do you reach that number? Well, today, you'd add up all your debt, then add up all your assets, subtract your debt from your assets and voila'! Your net worth.

But how do you assign a value to your debts? Well, I look at my loan statement. It tells me what I still owe. And your assets? How do I add them up? How do you value an asset? Your car, for example. What value is assigned to the car? *Your car is worth what you can get for it today.* No more, no less. Notice you don't have to sell your car to get that value, but you do have to make an estimation of what you would get if you did sell. That's mark to market. And the same goes for your house. And your baseball card collection. Without mark to market, what would you use as the basis for your valuation of your assets (or of the assets of a company)?