The following information comes from one of those fringe type places. The indications of trouble for Bank of America have been around for a long, long time now, but those indications are really getting more intense now. The rumored potential imminent collapse of Bank of America would come as now surprise to anyone who has suffered through the futility of working with Bank of America. The arrogance, the lack of respect, the total failure of rational and reasonable business judgment has become synonymous with Bank of America…not too hard to imagine that they may not pull out of this nosedive…and now for the details:
https://themancommon.blogspot.com/2011/08/bank-of-americas-backdoor-bailout.html
Failure is a key component of capitalism. You can’t get away from that fact, no matter how big the bailout. Sooner or later mismanaged banks and financial institutions must fail. The role of a capitalist government should be to ensure an orderly bankruptcy of mismanaged institutions, not prop them up with bailouts. Purging the economy of the mismanaged financial sector is the first step to restarting our economy. Next is to prosecute the offenders that caused this catastrophe. And restore the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 to separate ordinary business and personal banking from the Wall-Street casino world of derivatives and other weapons of economic mass destruction.
$52T notational isn’t the same as the net position. It might be $26T on one side and $26T on the other (albeit different instruments) where the net amount is $0 (unlikely), but it’s not accurate to portray it as a $52T bet. Not that I think it’s not a massive risk (counterparty, etc.), but it’s important for credibility’s sake to describe it accurately.