The suspect can be debts, stocks, commodities, hedge funds, private equity firms, carry trades, derivatives, just to name a few. The market value of any one of the above categories is measured in terms of billions of US dollars. Indeed, we witnessed last year  BIS Review 54/2007  1  the fall of two substantial hedge funds.
In February this year, the unwinding of Yen carry trades sent worldwide stock markets tumbling down. Recently, global financial markets fret about the possible collapse of U.S. real estates market which may interact with the default of subprime loans to form a vicious cycle. Fortunately, the global financial system appears to be more resilient than what we expect.