How many misfortunes of its own making can a company reasonably sort through per quarter? We'll soon find out, since Dell is in the news again today in a negative light. The business news this Monday is highlighting new troubles the PC company is having with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Dell is putting off releasing its second quarter reports after the SEC has raised questions about, among other things, Dell's accruals, reserves and other balance sheet items. According to statements made by Dell, these "questions" may ultimately end up affecting previously reported results.

Dell has also been in the news lately after over four million laptop batteries were recalled because of incidences of the batteries actually bursting into flames. Additionally, the company has of late been all but christened the Poster Child for bad customer service, an unsavory distinction usually reserved for cable and wireless companies.

The SEC probe was, in fact, launched over a year ago, but Dell has only recently made the issue public, perhaps unwilling to bring yet another negative issue to the forefront.

TES