The precedent was set in March of 2009 when Bernanke and Geithner threatened the wimpy accountants at the FASB and forced them to waive the mark to market accounting rules, so the Too Big To Trust Wall Street Criminal Banks could lie and produce fictitious financial statements. When you're insolvent, just make up the numbers on your financial statements, with the blessing of the government, federal reserve and FASB.

It seems the mega-corporations that make up the S&P 500 have taken the lesson to heart. When your profits are falling, just produce alternatives numbers that show them rising. As someone with an accounting degree and a CPA license I can tell you they don't teach NON-GAAP accounting in college. There are no questions on the CPA exam referencing NON-GAAP accounting. That is because NON-GAAP means nothing. It is nothing but a lie. Both the Wall Street shysters and the captured corporate MSM report this bullshit with a straight face as if it is the truth. It's not.

Everyone knows the BIG LIE works if you state it loud enough and keep repeating it. There are executive stock options to cash and Wall Street banker bonuses to be paid out. Truth is treason in an empire of lies.