Derivatives Are The Bets That Broke All The Banks

We all know why Tim Geithner is going so slow. The news is devastating. The major banks are dead men walking.

"America's five largest banks, which already have received $145 billion in taxpayer bailout dollars, still face potentially catastrophic losses from exotic investments if economic conditions substantially worsen, their latest financial reports show.

Citibank, Bank of America, HSBC Bank USA, Wells Fargo Bank and J.P. Morgan Chase reported that their "current" net loss risks from derivatives — insurance-like bets tied to a loan or other underlying asset — surged to $587 billion as of Dec. 31. Buried in end-of-the-year regulatory reports that McClatchy has reviewed, the figures reflect a jump of 49 percent in just 90 days."

There is no easy way out, but what is most annoying is the same conservative people who wanted the government out of the markets are the loudest ones criticizing that the government has not done enough or has not done it exactly the way you want. Face it, you don't know much, you rode your fake capitalism into the ground, now step back and shut up.

Source: McClatchy