Milestones in the ( Global ) meltdown

Marketwatch ^ | 1:01 p.m. EDT March 13, 2009 | William L. Watts, MarketWatch

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

LONDON (MarketWatch) - Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 most powerful industrialized and emerging nations begin meeting Friday in an effort to come up with a uniform plan to deal with a historic global recession and persistent financial turmoil. See full story.

How did we get here? Here are some of the major milestones - so far -- in the financial crisis.

Bear warning

Warning signs had been visible for years, but became increasingly apparent in 2007 as losses began to mount on subprime loans and the once-booming housing market began to lose its luster.

Investment bank Bear Stearns in July 2007 offered one of the first glimpses of how bad things were going to get. Bear announced the virtual collapse of two hedge funds with losses of around $1.5 billion after bets went bad on subprime mortgage securities and other credit instruments. See full story.

Meanwhile, once-abundant flows of cheap credit continued to dry up as banks increasingly hoarded cash amid fears about their own balance sheets or worries that loans to fellow banks in the crucial wholesale market might not be repaid.

'Complete evaporation'

But it was an Aug. 9, 2007, announcement by French banking giant BNP Paribas that is widely cited as the start of the global credit crunch. The bank said it would stop valuing three of its funds and suspend investor withdrawals.

"The complete evaporation of liquidity in certain market segments of the U.S. securitization market has made it impossible to value certain assets fairly regardless of their quality or credit rating," the bank said in a statement. See full story.

[Texas Eagle]

Finance ministers and central bankers from the 20 most powerful industrialized and emerging nations begin meeting to come up with a uniform plan to deal with a historic global recession and persistent financial turmoil.

OH, hey. I know. How about a single form of currency?