March 16: Bear Stearns, $29 billon
Sept. 6: Fannie/Freddie, $200 billion
Lehman Brothers: sorry baby no bail
AIG: $85 billion
Who is the next???
Essentially Fed/Treasury are transfering the downside risks from individual companies to the fed/treasury/greenbacks. Note the money pledged to support Fannie/Freddie/AIG could exceed the original number if the problem worsens.
I can only say: gold, baby, gold!