[Batrachian]

When housing values started falling and foreclosures started piling up then the credit derivatives based on mortgages suddenly became either worthless, or at least worth far less then their paper value, with the values being impossible to determine. They are unsalable. That's the real problem, as far as the markets are concerned, and that's what Bernanke failed to predict.

For the record, I didn't predict it either. Sorry about that.

[Terry Mross]

I have a question. We’re told when the foreclosures started the value of these securities went down. Haven’ there always been foreclosures? Why was it so bad this time? Is it because the value of the property plummeted as well when during “regular” foreclosures the property value stays the same or appreciated. Am I correct?