The last time the NASD warned that investors were perhaps taking on too much leverage was back in 2003. This time around, the warning seems just as apt, for retail and wholesale investors. The amount of margin debt incurred by investors soared to $321 billion in February. For the last two months, the figure has been above a previous peak of $300 billion set in March 2000. So some would argue that all this points to a market top. As for the wholesale guys, the Fed has been warning that perhaps banks need to look at their lending practices when it comes to hedge funds. But the bottom line is that another Long-Term Capital Management does not seem to be in the offing, thanks to rules that actually have limited the leverage of such funds.

For more:
- here's a Financial Times article