Then, after the big write-off is taken, another decline in value might not lead to any write-down.

The company took a big write-off during the period, and also said it would sell more of its assets.

Another big chunk would allow small businesses to take bigger write-offs when they bought new equipment.

But much of that was because of a big write-off related to environmental insurance costs.

The big write-offs came a couple of years later, when the company's overall financial picture looked better.

The transfer will produce write-offs big enough to cause a $200 million loss for Mellon in the third quarter.

But you have to know just how to structure them for big write-offs.

But many of the biggest write-offs this year represent losses that are quite real.

For the full year, the giant computer company lost $2.8 billion, in part because of an additional big write-off to pay for retirees' health-care benefits.

But it doesn't, so everybody avoids the ongoing effects, and then takes one big write-off.