Is the US bankrupt?

[AliEnvy]

Originally Posted by Zoomerang96

anyone else think if things don't settle down soon, war could be round the corner?

that's a pretty open question, but things could get a little more desperate yet.

This type of pre-Cuban missile crisis posturing by both the US and Russia is certainly not reassuring.

Expert: Russia-Venezuela military exercises reaction to U.S. moves - CNN.com

BBC NEWS | Europe | Q&A: US missile defence

[financeguy]

Re Fortis

As someone said elsewhere, the 20th largest business in the world by revenue and they couldn't swallow a €6 billion loss. Something not right there.

[Vincent Vega]

Fortis was now saved by Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands (BeNeLux), B&B is getting nationalised and news are now making the rounds that Hypo Real Estate, a German mortgage bank, is in serious trouble.
The thing is, however, you don't really need to be in financial trouble. It just needs to be rumoured about and picked up be the media and your stocks will tank. Banks are tumbling more through rumour than through actual imbalances.