A 1.1 billion dollar loss for a company currently valued at 234 million sounds unusual to me too.  Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. (TKTM)   seems to be in more trouble than its company executives would like to admit.  With its massive operating expenses covering approximately 6,700 independent sales outlets and 19 call centers worldwide, and now including a series of acquisitions, Ticketmaster stock has plummeted during its short lifespan as an independent company.  This has caused a massive 1.1 billion dollar goodwill impairment charge.

In Ticketmaster's case, this could be significant because they are now 865 million dollars in debt with a cash position in decline.  Creditors would have looked at the goodwill on the balance sheet as a positive excuse to lend to the company.  Now, they will see their total asset line cut by almost 40%.  Ticketmaster's CFO, Brian Regan stated that they are "well within" their debt covenants, which are based on EBITDA earnings and cash.  The impairment charge almost guarantees they will hit a brick wall when it comes to being lent any more money unless things dramatically change.

Without the impairment charge, the company missed the Q4 earnings expectations of analysts by about 45%, despite the fact that revenue was in line with expectations.  The company said this was due to their recent acquisitions, which apparently contributed the majority of the company's adjusted operating income.

This suggests that without the acquisitions of TicketsNow, Paciolon, SLO and Front Line, Ticketmaster may not have been "well within" their debt covenants at all. In other words, economic conditions likely forced Ticketmaster to make the acquisitions or else default on their loans.

Further concern was raised by an…