Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore

The graphic appearing in this NY Post story earlier today is just too good to pass up - investors must feel at least a little bit like Dorothy and Toto when they awoke in Oz, realizing that everything had changed.


The story isn't bad either:

BUBBLE LEAKING
By RODDY BOYD

The stock market's rout yesterday was driven in large part by the realization among investors big and small that the woes in the mortgage-bond sector are spreading to other parts of the debt market.

While it has been hedge funds that have felt the brunt of pain caused by the giant hiccup in the subprime mortgage market, the latest wave of malaise is affecting everything from leveraged buyouts to what until now would have been considered run-of-the-mill bond offerings.
...
Key Wall Street indexes are telling traders that the rout is not likely to stage a reverse soon.

A highly watched asset-backed bond index comprised of AA-rated bonds - the ABX 07-1 index - dropped six points yesterday. It usually moves a point or two, traders told The Post.

Other ABX indexes covering A-rated to BBB-rated bonds dropped between three and five points.

Bond investors and speculators are casting doubt on the future health of Wall Street's investment banks, which have been shattering quarterly and annual earnings records over the past five years.

Many now hold billions of dollars in mortgage bonds and other illiquid assets, which are expected to weigh on their results in upcoming quarters.

There's no place like home, there's no place like home.