The quote is a little less scary in context: "But the "mystery" of Amazon's surging valuation over recent years becomes a lot less mysterious when we stop tryi

The quote is a little less scary in context: "But the "mystery" of Amazon's surging valuation over recent years becomes a lot less mysterious when we stop trying to understand it by looking at financial statements that were developed long ago for bondholders in an industrial economy, not for stockholders in an information economy – statements that don't tell us what matters most to investors." The article had nothing to do with creative accounting or misleading financial statements. To the contrary, Amazon's compliance with accounting rules is a key part of the author's argument -- that Amazon's expenditures on R&D and advertising, though resulting in lower earnings per share right now, are investments that will pay off in the future. Full Disclosure: Amazonian.