Woe Is Dell

And the latest legal twist involving an informal SEC investigation into Dell's revenue recognition added to the uncertainty surrounding the computer maker.

During a postclose conference call Thursday, Dell's management downplayed the importance of the investigation, describing it as almost routine.

"We received an informal letter from the SEC, one of, I think, hundreds that they send out each year, asking a fairly broad level of questions, on revenue recognition at our end-of-quarter procedures," said Rollins.

SEC representative John Nestor would not comment on the Dell investigation.

He said that the SEC brings about 600 cases a year in which the commission actually sues a company for securities-law violations, although he would not comment on how many investigations regarding revenue recognition are initiated every year.

While all investigations are handled by the agency's enforcement division, Nestor said that a formal investigation authorizes the SEC to issue subpoenas.

An informal investigation "is just an affirmation by the commission directing the enforcement division to devote the necessary time and resources to determine whether violations have occurred or not," said Nestor.

The SEC has the full range of civil remedies available to it, said Nestor, including fines and penalties. If the SEC sues a company and settles, frequently a restatement will be part of the settlement terms.

Dell has said that it doesn't believe the issues under investigation will have a material impact on its previously reported results, although it has opened its own internal investigation into certain matters it discovered while responding to the SEC.