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CNN Live At Daybreak
Coke Probe
Aired June 18, 2003 - 06:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little business buzz right now. Coca-Cola is admitting that some of its employees engaged in deceptive marketing tactics.
For more on that, let's head live to the Nasdaq market site and Carrie Lee.
Good morning -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
A lot of news surrounding Coke today. Now, as you just indicated, Coke is now acknowledging that some of its employees rigged marketing test results of frozen Coke three years ago at some of its Burger King franchisees. And these revelations are the result of an internal investigation by the soft drink giant.
Now this investigation stems from a lawsuit that was filed back in May by a former company executive, he has since left the company, who claimed that Coke committed accounting fraud and engaged in deceptive marketing tactics.
Now Burger King says it's disappointed by the news. Coke says that its investigation refutes most of these allegations. However, the company added that it's going to take a $9 million charge to correct some of these accounting issues.
At the same time, the SEC has now launched an informal investigation into the company. And, Carol, you know when the Securities and Exchange Commission comes knocking, that generally does not bode well for stock prices. And Coke, by the way, is a Dow component. So this is certainly a stock we're going to be watching today.
COSTELLO: Yes, it's never good to open the door and see those SEC investigators standing there. What's frozen Coke?
LEE: Frozen Coke, I think it's almost like a slushy or a Slurpee, that sort of thing. I haven't tried one myself, but I think that that's what it is generally.
Also, if we can talk about the markets quickly, looks like we're going to see a mixed start to the session. Yesterday we ever -- we ended ever so slightly in the positive range, the Dow up four points, the Nasdaq up almost two. We don't have any major economic reports to focus on today, but we do have some profits coming out from some brokerages such as Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns. So it looks like investors are going to be focusing on news in that nature today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand. Carrie Lee, we'll get back to you in the next half hour, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 18, 2003 - 06:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little business buzz right now. Coca-Cola is admitting that some of its employees engaged in deceptive marketing tactics.
For more on that, let's head live to the Nasdaq market site and Carrie Lee.
Good morning -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
A lot of news surrounding Coke today. Now, as you just indicated, Coke is now acknowledging that some of its employees rigged marketing test results of frozen Coke three years ago at some of its Burger King franchisees. And these revelations are the result of an internal investigation by the soft drink giant.
Now this investigation stems from a lawsuit that was filed back in May by a former company executive, he has since left the company, who claimed that Coke committed accounting fraud and engaged in deceptive marketing tactics.
Now Burger King says it's disappointed by the news. Coke says that its investigation refutes most of these allegations. However, the company added that it's going to take a $9 million charge to correct some of these accounting issues.
At the same time, the SEC has now launched an informal investigation into the company. And, Carol, you know when the Securities and Exchange Commission comes knocking, that generally does not bode well for stock prices. And Coke, by the way, is a Dow component. So this is certainly a stock we're going to be watching today.
COSTELLO: Yes, it's never good to open the door and see those SEC investigators standing there. What's frozen Coke?
LEE: Frozen Coke, I think it's almost like a slushy or a Slurpee, that sort of thing. I haven't tried one myself, but I think that that's what it is generally.
Also, if we can talk about the markets quickly, looks like we're going to see a mixed start to the session. Yesterday we ever -- we ended ever so slightly in the positive range, the Dow up four points, the Nasdaq up almost two. We don't have any major economic reports to focus on today, but we do have some profits coming out from some brokerages such as Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns. So it looks like investors are going to be focusing on news in that nature today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Understand. Carrie Lee, we'll get back to you in the next half hour, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
