Generally, you'll find that this information is not the sort that is likely to make or break an investment case for or against a particular stock. The importance of the footnotes is to prevent you from misunderstanding other information that will have a greater influence on your investment decisions.

The Sbarro footnote is especially important in this regard. For a long time, this company had maintained a dividend payout ratio that was way above the Restaurant Industry average, and the stock's yield had been quite high by standards of non-utility companies. Suddenly, Sbarro cancelled it's dividend. Without further information, you might interpret this as a sign that the Directors turned pessimistic about company prospects. The footnote tells you that this is not so and that the dividend was suspended pending a buyout offer. If you are looking for high yields, you may still decide to bypass Sbarro. But now, at least, you understand why the dividend was cut and you may choose to evaluate the stock from a completely different perspective; the pending buyout offer.

The other samples reflect events that are more typical of those that are subject to footnotes. Be particularly sensitive to footnotes alerting you to quarterly reporting periods that aren't of the standard 13-week duration. If you analyze quarterly comparisons on a year-to-year basis (comparing this year's second quarter to last year's second quarter), this issue won't be important. But if you choose to look at results on a consecutive-quarter basis (comparing this year's second quarter to this year's first quarter), it's essential that you know if the periods are of equal length.

Speaking of non-comparable reporting periods, look at the Footnote section for Burlington Coat Factory:

Now, we've gone beyond quarterly periods that aren't comparable to the idea of an 11-month year, which came about when the company changed the date of its fiscal year end.

Interestingly, some might argue that the most bullish footnote you can see is one that is completely blank. As demonstrated above, when this section contains information, it is usually there for the purpose of explaining some issue that could lead to confusion if unaddressed. But on Wall Street, all else being equal, simplicity and clarity are preferred. We're not telling you to avoid complicated companies. But be mindful of the fact that as complexities mount, one by one, it can be hard to know precisely when the investment community will decide there's one too many. Stock P/E multiples in the real world have suffered because of this (case in point: the Conglomerate sector). Indeed, this is why you often see shares jump when companies announce restructuring programs designed to simplify their operating structures.

The bottom line, here, is that the Footnotes section of the Market Guide reports might, at first glance, seem like something that can be safely ignored. But in truth, the information presented there is often vital, and can make a difference in whether or not you reach the correct conclusions from your study of all the other information pertaining to a company.