Note 2 - Interim Financial Presentation

9 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

2. Interim Financial Presentation

All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the condensed consolidated financial statements. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended August 27, 2011 are not necessarily indicative of results for the fiscal year. These interim condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended November 27, 2010.

We calculate an anticipated effective tax rate for the year based on our annual estimates of pretax income or loss and use that effective tax rate to record our year-to-date income tax provision.  Any change in annual projections of pretax income or loss could have a significant impact on our effective tax rate for the respective quarter. For the three months ended August 27, 2011 and the three and nine months ended August 28, 2010, our tax benefit was primarily due to changes in estimates regarding our accruals for uncertain tax positions. For the three and nine months ended August 28, 2010, no tax benefits on the losses generated were recorded since we remained in a cumulative loss position. For the nine months ended August 27, 2011, our effective tax rate of approximately 6.2% differs from the blended statutory rate of 38.0% primarily due to the expected reversal of the valuation allowance on existing deferred tax assets primarily due to the expected utilization of net operating loss carryforwards and credits to significantly offset the taxable gain on the sale of an affiliate (see Note 7).