$550 Billion Coming Due

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aP7BZw9X19P8&refer=home

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Ottimo Funding LLC, whose name is Italian for ``excellent,'' has the highest possible credit rating and doesn't own subprime mortgage bonds. That made no difference to investors who refused to buy Ottimo's $3 billion of short-term debt this month as losses on home loans to risky borrowers infect the global credit markets.

The $1.1 trillion market for commercial paper used to buy assets from mortgages to car loans has seized up just as more than half of that amount comes due in the next 90 days, according to the Federal Reserve.

Some notable quotes:

``We're dumping all this collateral into the market and it becomes a death spiral for the assets,''

``This has moved beyond temporary. It's gotten beyond bailing out some hedge fund and into the broad economy.''