The "cooks" on Wall Street created asset-backed securities that were in big demand until a few months ago when mortgage defaults threw their fancy financial masterpieces and the stock market into turmoil. Suddenly the diciest of these securities could no longer be traded because nobody was sure how much they were worth.

Market turmoil erodes SA business confidence ??
BUSINESS confidence slumped to an 11-month low last month knocked by concern over the effect of global market volatility the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) said yesterday. Sacob said last months turmoil which prompted a sell-off in emerging market assets could hold major risks for SAs economy particularly if there was a lasting slowdown in capital inflows.