The weekend's unprecedented upheaval--culminating Sunday night in the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America--bared theAchillesheelofthe industry: Brokers finance their daily operations using funding that is apt to disappear quickly and with little warning.
Separately, Bloomberg reports that the Maestro himself, Alan Greenspan, is so concerned about a sudden sharp increase in interest rates that every day he checks the rate ofthe 10-year note and 30-year bond calling them the critical Achillesheelofthe economy.