In summation, a bear run on Bear by Chase, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank sealed their fate [with the collusion of Geithner, of course] - - because they allowed themselves to be situated in a vulnerable position, open to financial attack. Bear had [if I recall correctly] $190 billion of external debt, with $2 trillion CDSes, or naked swaps, taken out on it, which might have yielded a payout out of 100 times that, far more than the Global GDP, or all the money in existence! There's that credit default swap again, thanks to Blythe Masters and JPMorgan Chase.