from colin twiggs today

The Credit Crunch
The IMF, Moody's and Goldman Sachs estimate that banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other investors collectively stand to lose as much as $1 trillion dollars worldwide, during the current credit crisis. While the figure rolls easily off the toungue, we need to remind ourselves that this is a million x $1 million — or the annual GDP of a medium-sized economy like Australia, India or South Korea. With only about $200 billion of write-downs reported so far, it would be advisable to stay clear of the financial and insurance sector until the dust has settled.