And what % of annual GDP is that? Will it all default? Will it default tomorrow or over the next 1, 3, or 5 years? How much of it will get settled? How much is hedged? How much is covered by default swaps?
I'm not trying to sound like a horses a$$ here, but I am getting sick of people tossing numbers that may or may not be accurate, are definately not placed in context, and make it sound significant. I hate to go so low on you my FRiend, but you sound like a journalist...
I remember a great quote: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Right now, credit markets are pinched simply because no one knows what is lurking on each others balance sheets. Just MHO, but I think the paranoia is as overblown as the election year hyperbole. Most of what is "bad paper" is already allowed for, haircut, hedged, swapped, or able to be unwound, refi'd, or sold at a minimum hit discount over the next few months and years. Yes a few idiots will take some major lumps (i.e. Brookstreet Securities). But the vast majority of financial firms out there will come through with a couple of substandard quarters and mostly intact equity. Just my $.02 worth.
” remember a great quote: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Yeah, I like that quote too, but America is now run by whores, and whores don’t care about anyone but themselves.
“And what % of annual GDP is that?”
Irrelevant. All markets are perception, not the bottom line.