May 28, 2004 -- The Federal Reserve raises the Money Supply (M-3) by unprecedented, almost crisis proportions, up another $46.8 billion in one week, bringing the total over the month of May to $155 billion. This equates to a $2.0 trillion annualized pace, a 22.2 percent annualized rate of growth. These numbers are huge. May 5, 2006 -- In possibly the first casualty of the looming subprime crisis, Kirkland, Washington based Merit Financial Inc. files for bankruptcy and closes its doors, firing all but 80 of its 410 employees; Merit’s marketplace decline about 40% and sales are not bringing in enough revenue to support overhead May 17, 2007 -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said growing number of mortgage defaults will not seriously harm the U.S. Economy. June 2007 -- Concerns grow on Wall Street as two hedge funds of the New York investment bank Bear Stearns move toward collapse due to Bear Sterns' extensive investments in mortgage-backed securities.
Oct. 1-24, 2007 -- Swiss bank UBS announces losses linked to U.S. subprime mortgages. Investment bank Merrill Lynch reports losses of $5.5 billion. Citigroup announces $6.5 billion third quarter losses. Merrill Lynch announces losses to be over $8 billion. September 7, 2008 -- Government takes control of the mortgage giants, putting the liability of more than $5 trillion of mortgages onto the backs of U.S. Taxpayers. September 15, 2008 -- Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy. This is the largest bankruptcy filing in the history of the U.S., at almost $650 billion. After a weekend of negotiations, potential buyers such as Bank of America