Financial Services Bloodbath

Few
Americans have heard of credit default swaps, arcane financial
instruments invented by Wall Street about a decade ago. But if the
economy keeps slowing, credit default swaps, like subprime mortgages,
may become a household term.

The
market for these securities is enormous. Since 2000, it has ballooned
from $900 billion to more than $45.5 trillion — roughly twice the size
of the entire United States stock market.

Turmoil in Credit Default Swaps and other derivatives is now affecting the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group.