The SEC is investigating some of the accounting numbers at IBM, concerned that the company may have improperly accounted for stock options in the most recent quarter. Right now, it's only an informal investigation, so there's no need to panic and dump your IBM stock.

However, it does raise the rather thorny question of how companies can account for stock options in a way that won't raise any eyebrows at the SEC. (anyone with even a passing familiarity with finance knows that the valuation of stock options is really a black art, not a science) IBM actually seems to have been more cautious than it needed to be in expensing its stock options -- which makes the SEC investigation a bit unusual. In fact, one Wall Street analyst says that the SEC is "over-reaching" its authority in the matter.