There were many large write-downs of goodwill on the balance sheet after FASB 142 went into effect at the beginning of 2002.
Specifically, this chapter refers to JDS Uniphase Corp. (ticker: @JDSU), AOL Time Warner (U:TWX), and Nortel Networks (C:NT) having to take multi-billion-dollar write downs in 2002 for acquisitions completed in previous years.
Look at the financial statements for the three companies for the fiscal year ending in 2002.28
How much do intangible assets on the balance sheet change for the companies between 2001 and 2002 (between 2000 and 2001 for Nortel)?
How much of a corresponding change do you observe under extraordinary charge-pretax on the income statement?
Did the companies perform as badly as suggested by their net incomes in the year they took the extraordinary charge [look at Inc.(Dec.) in Cash & Short Term Investments in the cash flow statement]?
Does this tell you if the goodwill write-down is a cash or a noncash expense?