The problem now is that we know the US government will do...

The problem now is that we know the US government will do anything to keep these big banks in business. Therefore, the big banks will be allowed to do anything to the markets to stay afloat. No point crying foul to a regulator. They have been told not to regulate, upon threat of their jobs. The US Government has essentially said: go for it - see how much of the remaining trader/hedge fund/pension fund assets you can clean up by gaming the various world markets.

The most frightening thing of all in the OCC report is that the value of these derivatives is still increasing at a mind-boggling rate: up $24.5 trillion in Q408 alone!

Sinclair is right: this is complete insanity. I can't see anyway it can end well.