Probes netting bigger fish

Dallas Morning News: Most of us would love to turn back the clock. If we could, many would run straight to Vegas to place a big bet, comfortable knowing we would have all the right winners in last weekend's football games.
That's just fantasy, of course. But consider a corresponding reality -- the stock options backdating scandal, which betrays shareholders.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and other bodies are investigating more than 130 corporations for possibly backdating option grants that built in financial gains for top executives.
Bigger fish
The probes are beginning to net bigger fish, the latest being William McGuire of UnitedHealth Group, who left the health insurance firm after an internal probe found that his stock-option grants might have been manipulated. A few weeks earlier, Apple Computer legend Steve Jobs, who is not accused of wrongdoing, acknowledged that Apple has some favorably timed option grants in its past. Several Texas companies, including Michaels Stores and Affiliated Computer Services, also have been involved in backdating inquiries.