Enron Avalanche Frosts the Accountants

Classical alchemy never worked. The financial variety, by contrast, has made some people very rich over the past few years. But this dark science was dealt a serious blow in 2001, due mainly to the accounting controversies that prompted Enron's (ENE Quote) dramatic collapse.

Now, Detox isn't predicting an imminent end to the accounting abuses that proliferated in the '90s bull market; companies will always deploy them to mislead investors. But 2001 will go down as the year when it became impossible for anyone to say that book-cooking was a marginal issue. For that, blame Enron, which had been a giant in its sector and a corporate icon before its decline.

How can accounting shenanigans qualify as alchemy? How can something worthless get turned into gold? ...