THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!

Truth needs no law to support it. Truth is self-evident to all. Truth withstands re-examination. Truth survives questions. Throughout history, from Galileo to Zundel, only lies and liars have resorted to the courts to enforce adherence to dogma." -- Michael Rivero

 

Traders' worst fears realised at Lehmans auction

Investors who had placed bets on Lehman's creditworthiness held an auction aimed at clarifying who owes what to whom after the investment bank went bust four weeks ago, and analysts believe that several hundreds of billions of dollars will change hands.

Credit default swaps are a kind of insurance, which investors used to protect themselves in the event that Lehman defaulted on its bonds. Unlike traditional insurance, however, any financial firm could write a credit default swap contract so banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and traditional fund managers are among those now being required to make investors whole.

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