Going-Concern Opinions: Broadening the Expectations Gap

A rash of high-profile bankruptcies has led to a search for answers. Many hold auditors responsible for not detecting the potential for bankruptcy during the most recent audit. The Weiss Report, a study of several dozen bankrupt companies submitted to the U.S. Senate during its deliberations on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, found a broad and massive failure on the part of auditors to raise yellow flags that indicate potential bankruptcy. The authors examined Weiss\u27 methodology and found that, applied to a broader group of companies, Weiss\u27 criteria would have incorrectly predicted bankruptcy for nearly half of the non-bankrupt companies studied. This failure to accurately predict undermines the credibility of the subsequently enacted legislation

Possible canted antiferromagnetism in UCu9_9Sn4_4

We report on the new compound UCu${}_9$Sn${}_4$ which crystallizes in the tetragonal structure \emph{I}4/\emph{mcm} with lattice parameters $a = 8.600{\rm\AA}$ and $c = 12.359{\rm\AA}$. This compound is isotyp to the ferromagnetic systems RECu${}_9$Sn${}_4$ (RE = Ce, Pr, Nd) with Curie temperatures $T{}\rm_C$ = 5.5 K, 10.5 K and 15 K, respectively. UCu${}_9$Sn${}_4$ exhibits an uncommon magnetic behavior resulting in three different electronic phase transitions. Below 105 K the sample undergoes a valence transition accompanied by an entropy change of 0.5 Rln2. At 32 K a small hump in the specific heat and a flattening out in the susceptibility curve probably indicate the onset of helical spin order. To lower temperatures a second transition to antiferromagnetic ordering occurs which develops a small ferromagnetic contribution on lowering the temperature further. These results are strongly hinting for canted antiferromagnetism in UCu${}_9$Sn${}_4$.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figures, SCES0