Reuters exclusive on SEC throwing a lifeline to financial industry

Reuters was first to tell Wall Street on Sept. 30 that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would not force battered financial firms to use fire sale prices when evaluating their hard-to-price assets. U.S. stocks shot up to session highs in late afternoon trading after the exclusive Reuters story, which was read aloud on CNBC television. The exclusive was based on an internal SEC document. Reuters dominated coverage of the fair value accounting story all day, starting with an interview at 1:25 pm with the SEC`s chief accountant saying the agency planned to release more guidance to the market. That story was also read aloud on CNBC. Bloomberg did not weigh in on the story until 3:03 pm, but the Reuters exclusive based on the SEC’s internal document gave readers clear details about exactly what the SEC would announce. Dow Jones did not have any story.