Billions of dollars' worth of profits-and paper profits-had disappeared.

价值数十亿的收益和账面利润泡汤了。

youdao

Paper profits do not make the pie bigger. They give you a bigger piece. You take it from somebody else. It does not help the society.

账面利润不会使饼变大，他们给你一片比较大块的，你是多拿了别人的份，对社会并没有什么帮助。

youdao

Have ironclad financial discipline. Collect on your receivables when they are due and make sure your paper profits translate into cash at the bank.

要严格控制财务，应收账款到期了就要收款，并确实让账面获利转换成银行户头中的现金。

youdao

He is also lead author of the paper, Fast Profits: Investor Sentiment and Stock Returns During Ramadan. Reporter Cecily Hilleary asked him to explain the so-called Ramadan Effect. During the Holy Month, we find that on average, stock returns are almost nine times higher in predominantly Muslim countries than during other times of the year.

VOA: standard.2010.08.05

SOEs would soon learn to invest rationally and to run their operations for cash, not for paper profits.

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Come to think of it, the same thing happened in 2000 when a flood of investors borrowed on their tech stock paper profits, only to see their portfolios melt when the tech bubble burst.

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Paper profits can quickly turn into losses.

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