To be or Not to be.

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
- Hamlet (Act III, Scene II).

As ancient as the wisdom of the 1600s sounds, the question still remains unanswered. Let's consider the fate of CDS(Credit Default Swaps) - one of the instruments of today's economy, and representing 62 trillion$ worth of contract, well, before the bridge of cards came crashing down. Although this figure was an estimate, it tips the balance of financial stability in favor of resolved(enforced) determination.

As we know, CDS are vehicles of investments, which are built around a contract, using which one party transfers the so-called-question to another party, in return, swapping the methodology of payback against a reference obligation. As confusing as it sounds, the process(called derivative) distances the whole concept(of demand and supply) from the normal grasp of simple mathematics, and even confounds it. Everytime the question gets passed around, a part of the beast(called randomness) gets added to the equation.

Honestly, we, as human race, don't have enough resources(information) to tackle the mighty beast. As it is evident when we ask ourselves, how many of us actually understand the whole process and how many claim that we actually do? That's why we invented Money, we would say. Not to create equality but to amplify our free will.

L'man's Demise

Starting the collapse of Lehman the stocks went tumbling down, on a roller-coaster drive, all around the world. Why should Fed play such a gamble and let one of the significant Financial Institution/Investment Banks die down to bankruptcy?
Finding out what changed since Bear-Sterns, may sort out the determination of Fed's Gamble.
- Inflation under control, at least in the US.
- Oil well below 100$.
- Dollar back in business against Euro/Yen.
- Lessened panic in commodities crisis of the last quarter.
- Enough time for Credit Mania and Financial turmoil to get factored-in.

Perhaps, Fed's decision to say NO was not such a bad Idea. In fact, it was a strong signal for other similar troubled financial firms that the only resort for them is to clean up their own mess, and not rely on "tax payer's money".

Moreover, after a sharp fall the stocks did stabilize. No-where to fall when you are already at the bottom.