You are in Utah and I am in New Jersey, so I assume our regional settings are the same. When I enter your "formula"...
=-" :0"
it returns 0 for me. I am using XL2010 if that might make a difference. As for the OP's original question, like Fluff, I get a #VALUE ! error for what the OP posted in his original message.
On Excel 2007
I do not see any relation