OK, so after everything I wrote yesterday, I saw this article this morning: http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=RXNPH5PSAYMYKCRBAE0CFFAKEEATGIWD?type=businessnews&StoryID=1198165
Coca-Cola said it would expense all future stock option grants based on the fair value at the date options are granted. That value will be determined from stock prices received from financial institutions that trade Coke shares under terms identical to the options. It would be curious to see the exact accounting treatment (whether the options are revalued each quarter, what happens when they expire, what happens when they're exercised, etc...) but the article doesn't say. - Joel
