Enron Corp.’s stock lost another 20.8% on Tuesday in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange, pushing the Houston-based energy trader to its lowest level since 1992. The stock lost $2.86 from Monday’s close, finally ending at $10.95 in the10th straight day of losses. The last time Enron traded below $11 was in July 1992, when it was mostly a pipeline company and a long way from being the largest energy trader in the world.

In the past two weeks, Enron has lost more than $15 billion in its stock value, following its $1.2 billion third quarter writedowns and disclosures of off-sheet balance transactions that followed (see Daily GPI, Oct. 17). Enron also gave CFO Andrew Fastow a leave of absence last week, replacing him with Jim McMahon. Fastow had been general manager of the off-sheet financial transactions that have come under scrutiny by the financial community as well as federal regulators.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested information from Enron regarding the transactions set up by Fastow, and the inquiry has been moved from SEC’s regional office in Fort Worth to headquarters in Washington, DC. Apparently, the move was done to expedite the request and allow SEC to determine whether an investigation is warranted. According to Chairman Kenneth Lay, who also serves as CEO, Fastow’s decisions regarding the third party transactions were made with the Enron board’s knowledge and approval, and no decisions were made that could jeopardize Enron’s shareholders. However, following questions of impropriety earlier this year, Lay said Fastow relinquished his authority in the related party dealings in July.

According to documents supplied by lawyers who have filed various shareholder lawsuits against Enron, the company has done business with about 15 other related-party transactions besides the ones being questioned by the SEC. Enron’s dealings with the related parties and the value of the holdings has not been disclosed.

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