National Century ran a scheme in which it attracted money from investors under the premise that it was loaning it to hospitals and other medical enterprises against the collateral of short-term receivables.

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Using SWIFT and a global bank like Citi, a corporate treasury can centralize its accounts around the world, giving the treasurer a real-time view of balances, payments and receivables and also permitting consolidation of funds for overnight or other short-term investing.

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In extreme cases, a company could have consecutive quarters of negative operating cash flow and, in accordance with GAAP, legitimately report positive EPS. In this situation, investors should determine the source of the cash hemorrhage (inventories, receivables, etc.) and whether this situation is a short-term issue or long-term problem.

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