Corporate balance sheets may be showing signs of the wear and tear from the prolonged U.S. recession as accounting irregularities are starting to surface at growing numbers at U.S. companies.

"When things get difficult companies tend to stretch even further and utilize whatever games that they can get away with and sometimes they don't get away with them," David Tice, chief portfolio strategist for bear markets at Federated Investors, said in an interview with Reuters television on Wednesday.

Accounting irregularities are increasingly showing up in U.S. regulatory filings and corporate announcements.
Shares of Apollo Group Inc (APOL) sank 18%on Wednesday after the parent of University of Phoenix said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had launched an informal inquiry into its revenue recognition practices.
Apollo is just one of several big name companies that have disclosed they