Houston We Have a Problem

"Financial services companies face an “overwhelming concentration of redemptions,'’ as a record amount of debt comes due over the next year, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts. Merrill Lynch & Co. and Wachovia Corp. are among banks that have $660 billion of debt maturing over the next year and $871 billion by the end of 2009, including $589 billion of floating- rate notes, analysts Alex Roever and Cie-Jai Brown wrote in a report on Aug. 15"