A dose of reality not a bad thing right now. Bumped by carol in the interest of sanity. Originally posted 2008-03-11 08:22:47 -0500.

If you are old enough, in 4th grade, accustomed to jig saw puzzles, and then looking at a map of the world, you might have thought: "gees, this rounded protruding part of South America looks as if it could fit right into this shallow depression along the edge of Africa." (Okay, I know that fourth graders don't talk like that, but hopefully you get the picture.)

The title is a phrase used in the banking world to describe entities which are cornerstones of the financial system and there's NO WAY they can be permitted to fail.

JPM, or J.P. Morgan is too big to fail because it is one of the Member Banks of the Federal Reserve Banking System.

The Federal Reserve Bank is even MORE too big to fail as they would tend to see it.

Watch this video on YouTube: Bear Stearns, Jim Cramer, The Federal Reserve, JP Morgan

Bernanke is going to start buying mortgage-backed securities, perhaps including some in default, from banks holding them. The Fed announced the creation of a $200 billion facility to do this today, along with a $100 billion swap facility with the European Central Bank, British central bank and Swiss National Bank. Last week the Fed announced it was doubling the size of its existing facility to $200 billion. Net $500 billion is going into the banks. The stock market was up more than 400 points as a result.

Seems like Chairman Bernanke is urging banks to offer a deal to borrowers by forgiving part of their mortgages. Well, they're supposed to be borrowers who look like they will have trouble meeting hire interest rates or refinancing. But hey, I've got my troubles, haven't y'all. Seems to me it might be time for a "rent strike" like in the 'sixties only this time round it would be a mortgage strike.

Nick Benton weighs in on current depression fears in his latest op ed, Reprinted with permission from Nicholas Benton, owner/editor of the Falls Church Press.

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