Over the course of 2003, operating earnings at S&P 500 corporations surged almost 25 percent, bringing profit margins to their highest levels in several years. Fourth, risk premiums fell substantially last year as corporate governance scandals receded and investor sentiment turned markedly more positive. The recovery in stock prices reflects this brighter view.
Law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed by the sheer size and sophistication that criminals are now employing to perpetrate their illegal deeds. The efforts on crime prevention are now compounded by globalization that has created what one may say is a global economy in which organized crime groups and individuals can and do generate huge sums of money.