it all down on paper now

Some interesting stats just "popped up", that opened my eyes a little.

The stats...

JPMorgan Chase
Total Assets: Approx $ 1.9 trillion dollars
Total Exposure To Derivatives: Approx $ 70 trillion dollars

Citibank
Total Assets: Approx $ 1.3 trillion dollars
Total Exposure To Derivatives: Approx $ 58 trillion dollars

Bank Of America
Total Assets: Approx $ 1.4 trillion dollars
Total Exposure To Derivatives: Approx $ 44 trillion dollars

Goldman Sachs than
Total Assets: Approx $113 billion dollars
Total Exposure To Derivatives: Approx $42 trillion dollars

That means that the total exposure that Goldman Sachs has to derivatives contracts is about 370 times greater than their total assets....and now Goldmans is a member of the Dow Index! Pillar of stability?

Can anyone say that Goldman Sachs is not being incredibly reckless, or is it just another day in the life? Of course derivatives are designed to manage risk, but is there a whale lurking in the management team.

Reportedly the overwhelming majority of these derivatives contracts are interest rate derivatives.
Wild swings in interest rates could set off this time bomb and send the US and global entire financial system plunging into chaos. I guess this is what Warren B was referring to.

But of course this is just scare mongering

Also , for those with an eye for figuresm a good read at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (USA).

http://www.occ.gov/topics/capital-markets/financial-markets/trading/derivatives/dq113.pdf

But it would seem reasonable to conclude that the financial system is intrinsically unstable. (The opposite of gold, which is remarkably physically and chemically stable.)

Does anyone know what % of the GDP comes from the Financial Industry in the USA? Reportedly 48m people on food stamps? They are obviously not in the financial sector!

Food for thought and discussion.

Good luck