$800 Billion Market Becomes Unhinged.

" On Wall Street, where the $800 billion market for mortgage securities backed by subprime loans is coming unhinged, traders are belatedly acknowledging what they see isn't what they get. "

Moody's downgrades are making explicit what everybody was refusing to acknowledge all this time. Downgrades are pending from S&P.

" More than a few investors would like to know what took the New York-based rating companies so long to discover a U.S. liability of Iraq-sized proportions. "

That really is a good question. Find the answer, find the money... or follow the money and you'll find the answer.

" Investors depend on guesswork by Wall Street traders for valuing their bonds because there is no centralized trading system or exchange for subprime mortgage securities. Credit rating companies supported high prices because they failed to downgrade the debt as delinquencies accelerated. "

Source: Subprime Losses Drub Debt Securities as Ratings Drop (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601009&sid=aDjWdjsLHeZM&refer=bond)