[palmer]

Yes the moral hazard of F&F backed up by government made our mortgages much cheaper than they should have been. But the packaging was not the creation of F&F, it was done by very smart Wall St types. The excessive liquidity at short rates that fed the monster came from Easy Al and Japan (especially Japan, have you looked at the carry trade unwind lately?)

[BigEdLB]

Markets in Europe Tanking :

Symbol Name Last Trade Change Related Info
^ATX ATX 1,944.78 7:58AM ET 216.58 (10.02%)
^BFX BEL-20 2,114.91 8:13AM ET 125.97 (5.62%)
^FCHI CAC 40 3,128.25 7:59AM ET 314.45 (9.13%)
^GDAXI DAX 4,427.33 7:58AM ET 459.67 (9.41%)
^AEX AEX General 264.12 8:13AM ET 17.85 (6.33%)
^OSEAX OSE All Share 290.86 7:58AM ET 19.87 (6.39%)
^MIBTEL MIBTel 15,497.00 8:13AM ET 1,022.00 (6.19%)
^SMSI Madrid General 978.98 8:10AM ET 87.12 (8.17%)
^OMXSPI Stockholm General 197.26 8:15AM ET 11.29 (5.41%)
^SSMI Swiss Market 5,410.57 8:13AM ET 388.27 (6.70%)
^FTSE FTSE 100 (UK) 3,977.14 7:58AM ET 336.66 (7.80%)