culminating in a consent decree entered on November 2, 1999.
The FDA has inspected ADD's facilities several times since 1993. Each time it has noted shortcomings in Abbott's quality control policies and practices. Abbott operated under an FDA-monitored compliance plan from July 19, 1995, through February 26, 1998. Upon terminating the plan, the FDA noted its continuing concerns about Abbott's compliance. The FDA conducted another inspection from September 8 through November 4, 1998, and informed Abbott of regulatory violations at meetings on November 12, 1998 and January 8, 1999. Abbott made no mention of these outstanding regulatory issues in its 1998 10K, filed March 9, 1999.
The Abbott shareholders' alleged class period began on March 17, 1999, when the FDA issued a warning letter to Abbott. This letter identified several11     Third quarter press release

Other than the September 29 release, none mentioned the ongoing FDA compliance issues.
During this period several pertinent events occurred. On April 13, 1999, White exercised options to purchase 130,453 Abbott shares. He financed this transaction by "selling" 89,895 shares, representing 30 per cent of his Abbott holdings, at the $52.72 market price. Bloomberg News reported the warning letter on June 15, with no substantial market reaction. The FDA conducted another inspection from May 10 through July 8, 1999, at the conclusion of which it served Abbott with a Form 483, noting further regulatory violations. During and immediately following this audit Abbott announced two acquisitions: ALZA on June 21, 1999, and Perclose, Inc. on July 9, 1999. The target companies' shareholders