We've noted that it is expected that many top banks will have to take some massive writeoffs in the first quarter to cover a slew of bad debts. How much? The New York Times notes a diversity of opinion. Meredith Whitney, of Oppenheimer, predicts up to $14 billion in writeoffs. Of course, if the bond insurers fail, that figure could go much higher. The fact is, that many markets are wavering right now. CDOs, CLOs tied to merger activity, SIVs, credit-card debt, commercial mortgage-backed securities...the list goes on and on. The CDS market (see above item) looks rather shaky itself. So we're hardly out of the woods here. A lot of bargain hunters have moved in. We'll see if they get burned. 

For more:
- here's the New York Times article