In an odd twist, the current regulation doesn't require mark-to-market accounting in every situation.

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The appropriate asset allocation should be tailored to your personal financial situation, accounting for your risk tolerance, time horizon, expected withdrawals, and legacy wishes, among other factors.

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Ideally, accounting should simply abstract the situation, describe it in numbers.

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And note that this is the situation among companies that have already adopted proper accounting methods.

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"This situation is a good example of why traditional accounting methods aren't an accurate way to determine value for research and development, " IV says in a statement.

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And without universal accounting standards, perhaps imposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, we may never know how bad the toxic asset situation is.

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