Fears of systemic risk rising

I defined systemic risk in a previous article--Systemic risk defined--Too Big to Fail. Fears of systemic risk are rising and this is being evidenced in the widening of interest rate spreads for credit default swaps (CDS). The credit default swaps on the venerable Berkshire Hathaway widened to more than 500 basis points this week. This, a clear sign that the market is worried about mounting losses at the company headed by Warren Buffett. Spreads in the CDS market are rising across the board. Investment grade spreads are now out to the 200 basis point area. In the junk area spreads have widened to more than 1100 basis points.

The jitters in the market continue to spread. Much of the focus this morning is on GE, GM, and HSBC.

My guess is that GM is nearing bankruptcy, an event that would lead to a market capitulation in stocks.

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Bob DeMarco is a citizen journalist, blogger, and Caregiver. In addition to being an experienced writer he taught at the University of Georgia , was an Associate Director and Limited Partner at Bear Stearns, was CEO of IP Group, and is a mentor. Bob currently resides in Delray Beach, FL where he cares for his mother, Dorothy, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Bob has written more than 500 articles with more than 11,000 links to his work on the Internet. His content has been syndicated on Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Pluck, Blog Critics, and a growing list of newspaper websites. Bob is actively seeking syndication and writing assignments.

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The Technology Tech Leaders Fear the Most

clipped from blogs.wsj.com You know that cool Web site you found or the device that makes you more productive? Better not bring it to the office: The majority of corporate tech leaders say that these tools don’t belong in the workplace. That’s according to CIO Magazine, which found that 54% of the 311 tech leaders it surveyed said that technology designed for consumers was inappropriate for corporate use. Here are the top nine Voice-over-the-Internet software Online productivity software. This surprised us, but software like Google Apps and Zoho Digital cameras Remote storage Smartphones Social-networking Web sites. Ten percent of tech leaders are frightened by sites like MySpace and Facebook. Instant Messaging. Online chat is a large enough security threat that 11% of tech leaders said it was their biggest fear. Web-based email accounts. Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail topped the list Portable storage devices. A runaway winner, devices like USB drives were the biggest fear for 43% of tech leaders.