Staring down the 21st

``The $6 billion figure is low, but not impossible at all. Nobody really had any idea how much credit protection was written on Lehman debt and the numbers I’ve seen -$300 to $400 billion – seem to just be estimates based off the amount of debt Lehman had on its balance sheet. DTCC says it recorded CDS on $72 billion of Lehman debt, which is a much smaller number. The $6 billion figure is what will be paid on October 21. Given the way CDS works, much more of that has most likely already been handed over...''