Refer to Note 19 on page FS-48.

     Goodwill  Goodwill resulting from a business combination is not subject to amortization. As required by FASB Statement No. 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, the company tests such goodwill at the reporting unit level for impairment on an annual basis and between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount.

     Contingent Losses  Management also makes judgments and estimates in recording liabilities for claims, litigation, tax matters and environmental remediation. Actual costs can frequently vary from estimates for a variety of reasons. For example, the costs from settlement of claims and litigation can vary from estimates based on differing interpretations of laws, opinions on culpability and assessments on the amount of damages. Similarly, liabilities for environmental remediation are subject to change because of changes in laws, regulations and their interpretation, the determination of additional information on the extent and nature of site contamination, and improvements in technology.

     Under the accounting rules, a liability is generally recorded for these types of contingencies if management determines the loss to be both probable and estimable. The company generally records these losses as “Operating expenses” or “Selling, general and administrative expenses” on the Consolidated Statement of Income. An exception to this handling is for income tax matters, for which benefits are recognized only if management determines the tax position is “more likely than not” (i.e., likelihood greater than 50 percent) to be allowed by the tax jurisdiction. For additional discussion of income tax uncertainties, refer to Note 16 beginning on page FS-45. Refer also to the business segment discussions elsewhere in this section for the effect on earnings from losses associated with certain litigation, and environmental remediation and tax matters for the three years ended December 31, 2008.

     An estimate as to the sensitivity to earnings for these periods if other assumptions had been used in recording these liabilities is not practicable because of the number of contingencies that must be assessed, the number of underlying assumptions and the wide range of reasonably possible outcomes, both in terms of the probability of loss and the estimates of such loss.