Phil Abram from Thomson Financial's Corporate Advisory Services group discusses the subprime situation in part 3 of a 4 part series.Transcript:On March 13th, Standard & Poors forecast subprime write-downs could reach up to 285 billion dollars. I'm Phil Abram, bringing you Part 3 of Thomson Financial's Making Sense of Subprime.While Standard & Poors' estimate comes in on the lower end of consensus forecasts, it still means we have another 135 billion dollars to go. Released in a week that saw the Fed step in to coordinate a buyout of Bear Stearns in the midst of its own credit crisis; and Carlyle Capital warn that lenders will seize the remainder of it assets to eliminate a 21.7 billion dollar portfolio of mortgage backed securities; the biggest concern on Wall Street is no longer an "if", it's a "when, where, and how deep." A focus on liquidity has moved toward solvency and uncertainty has been driving an equity sell-off as investors flee to more tangible investment options. The solution from an investor relations standpoint, seems to be communication and transparency. If not directly, nearly every business has been affected by some layer of the sub-prime trickle down. Some sectors obviously fare better than others, but in any case, investors are searching for some level of safety in this volatile environment. This desperation puts a premium on providing enough detail to mitigate doubt. A recent Thomson Financial survey of IR professionals has shown heightened concerns on the part of investors that have been asking different questions since the economic downturn. Initial results have shown a rise in questions pertaining to the company's exposure to broad economic weakness, and how pricing pressure will affect revenue, margins, and ultimately earnings growth. At a more specific level, one large-cap financial company noted an increased focus on its access to debt capital, while free cash flow has been another key metric across several sectors. One mid-cap industrial company even mentioned increased interest in the opportunities that this market has created. Whether it's from an M&A, or international expansion standpoint, some investors are still looking through the negativity for sources of upside, particularly when it comes to capital spending plans.To answer, or even front-run these questions, quarterly guidance, analyst days, roadshows, and conferences have been avenues through which investor relations has reached out to its investors. Several companies have said they've either increased the frequency of their efforts to communicate to the Street, or have just increased the quality of existing practices. When asked if he has altered his pitch to investors given the state of the economy, one IRO from the business services sector said his company is trying to quote, "take more of the pitch out, and be more candid and direct with information that is reasonable...to better understand our businesses, and what trends we are seeing in this so called economic down turn." That'll do it for now, but for the full results of our survey, stay tuned as I'll be bringing you our fourth and final subprime segment.