Enron Corp. - University of California | Office of The President

financial condition and investment grade credit rating. Enron stock soared to its all-time high of
$90-3/4 on 8/23/00. The stock continued to trade at these high levels for months – at $90-3/8 in mid-
9/00, $89-15/16 in late 9/00, $88-11/16 in 10/00 and $83-13/16 in 11/00, as shown below:
Dollars Per Share [adjusted for 8/13/99 2 for 1 stock split]
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
Enron Corporation
Daily Share Prices From 1/2/97 - 11/10/00
01/02/1997
07/21/1997
02/05/1998 08/24/1998
03/12/1999
09/28/1999 04/13/2000
11/10/2000
04/11/1997
10/27/1997 05/15/1998
12/01/1998
06/21/1999 01/05/2000
07/24/2000
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Enron
10/19/98
Start of Class Period
Peer
Group
16. This apparent success drove Enron's stock price to its all-time high and kept its
preferred and debt securities trading at high prices. It also enabled Enron to credibly forecast strong
revenue and profit growth for the next several years. In combination, these favorable factors gave
Enron ready access to the capital markets by which defendants, working together, raised billions of
dollars of short-term financing for Enron via the commercial paper market and billions of new long-
term capital to fund Enron's rapidly expanding businesses by selling newly issued Enron securities
to public investors.
17. However, the apparent success of Enron was a grand illusion – a false picture created
by manipulative devices and contrivances – a scheme to defraud and a wrongful course of business
by defendants that operated as a fraud and deceit on the purchasers of Enron's publicly traded
securities. Defendants' scheme was accomplished by Enron, Enron's insiders, Enron's accounting
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
10/19/98=100