Is a post OT if it is an on-topic reply to an OT post?
Anyway, I seem to recall there are a couple of people here associated with Merrill Lynch. Over the past couple of weeks, the part of ML that funds subprime lending (eg undocumented home mortgages etc) appears to be tightening credit lines to loan originators and even - allegedly - sending out margin calls. If so, they would be the first of the half-dozen major players in that space to do so.
Whether this turns out to be "smart" or "paranoid" only time will tell.
Or...this could be ML making a massive bet in one area...and using its leverage in another area to make the bet come good.
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