"Qwest announced yesterday that the SEC upgraded its informal inquiry to an investigation, giving it the power to subpoena documents and testimony. ... The SEC is investigating changes that Qwest made to its phone-directory publishing schedule that may have artificially increased its stated revenue in 2000 and 2001. ... [From Reuters: Qwest stock has plunged about 44% in 2002 as the company struggled to relieve a cash crunch, revive investor confidence, and boost revenue growth.] ... Qwest was a fledgling company when it purchased US West ... Joe Nacchio won over Wall Street ... but [didn't] anticipate the network capacity glut or the slowing of the global economy. That thing about the phone-book publishing schedule is straight out of the Cook Report. It sounds silly at first, but apparently it costs a *lot* of money to print and distribute phone books." SEC Steps Up Probe Of Qwest Finances | 
