Global Financial Destruction: Securitized Corporate Debt To Add More Fuel To The Financial System Fi

Global Financial Destruction: Securitized Corporate Debt To Add More Fuel To The Financial System Fire

www.jsmineset.com

The size of the mountain of over the counter derivatives is above $450 trillion dollars. The size of the world economy is slightly above $145 trillion.

What do you think the risk factor is on $450 trillion worth of garbage paper, from CDOs, CBOs and now CLOs? Is it $2 trillion like the London Financial Times said yesterday, is it $20 trillion or maybe even $200 trillion?

The thermometer of this meltdown is the dollar...

(visit the link for the full news article)

I'm posting this with an embellished title because it appears from reading the financial and other posts here on ATS, that very few really have any idea about the scale of the financial problems the world is currently facing.

There is considerable focus on the possibilities of a Middle Eastern/Iran WW3 trigger, but not much awareness of the financial meltdown that is only just beginning, which has just as much potential to cause global disruption.

Most seem to believe this is mainly a US sub-prime issue, and that it is now old news.

However, it would seem that the scale is global, and at a level few can even imagine.

I wonder if there is ANY way out of this mess without some major global financial meltdown.

www.jsmineset.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Here is some more:

Swiss Re reveals sub-prime write-down
David Gow
Guardian Unlimited
Monday November 19 2007

Swiss Re, the world's leading reinsurer, sent shock waves through the European insurance sector today after revealing a SFr1.2bn (£520m) write-down because of the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Its surprise admission, less than two weeks after playing down any exposure, triggered an 8% drop in its shares, prompting a sell-off among other big continental insurers such as Allianz and Axa.

This blow to confidence was intensified by remarks from Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank chief executive, that the credit crisis would last into next year and slow world growth, especially in the US.

However, he ruled out a global recession, pointing to robust growth in emerging markets, oil-exporting states and Europe.

Swiss Re is the first insurer to admit to losses from the sub-prime crisis. It also said it had suffered a SFr300m loss on its own investment portfolio and warned that it could suffer further write-downs. US and European banks are expected to report further sub-prime losses.

www.guardian.co.uk...

Freddie Mac in big trouble:

Losses worsen at US mortgage giant Freddie Mac
2 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) ? Freddie Mac, one of the biggest players in the troubled US mortgage sector, revealed worse-than-expected losses of 2.0 billion dollars Tuesday and warned it will "take time" for market prospects to recover.

The mortgage financing giant said its investment portfolio had been hit by the turmoil enveloping America's housing market, especially falling home values and tightening credit markets.

Freddie Mac, which is headquartered just outside Washington, said its losses more than doubled during the third quarter ended September compared with a loss of 715 million dollars during the same period of 2006.

That equated to a loss of 3.29 dollars per share for the quarter against 1.17 dollars a year earlier.

afp.google.com...