Bank Of America, Goldman And Others' Insanely Large Derivative Holdings Visualized [INFOGRAPHIC]

Roughly a decade ago, billionaire Warren Buffett pronounced derivatives, or securities based on a contract between parties, "financial weapons of mass destruction," saying they carried "potentially lethal" dangers within them.

Still today that derivatives market appears as daunting as ever, especially thanks to Oto Godrey's Demonocracy.info, an economic infographic site. In fact, if the nine banks with the largest derivatives holdings turned them into piles of cold hard cash, most said holdings would stack higher than the headquarters of the corporations they belong to.

All told, the nine banks seen below, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase, own $228.72 trillion worth of derivatives. That's just a little off from topping the total U.S. debt 15 times over!

Click on any of the images below to go directly to Demonocracy.info:

As something of a key, here's what money looks like when stacked:

Now, onto the banks.

Bank of New York Mellon

State Street Financial

Morgan Stanley

Wells Fargo

HSBC

Goldman Sachs

Bank of America

Citibank

JPMorgan Chase

Holdings of the nine banks combined

Comments

[McKeaton]

07:25 AM on 04/30/2012

fractional reserve system...

[DanoX]

07:09 AM on 04/30/2012

NEAT! Glad to see our nation is still incapable of learning from it's mistakes!!

[VPerry24]

05:30 AM on 04/30/2012

The same person who did this derivative comparison also made the US Deficit against the WTCs.
Sure would be nice to see so people can see what the politicians have pulled on us! I do have a copy. Goldman and BoA claim a profit yet their derivatives is 3 times the world's economy. What a disaster still to come!

[smoknjoe]

03:27 AM on 04/30/2012

"That's just a little off from topping the total U.S. debt 15 times over!" If that is the case then let the companies pay 1/15th of that money to the Government and zero out our debt.

[artgurrl]

01:38 AM on 04/30/2012

All of these institutions are zombie banks and investment houses.

[artgurrl]

01:34 AM on 04/30/2012

Didn't the treasury secretary Geithner and Larry Summers and many of the GOP advocate NOT regulating the derivatives market? And they still are advocating that. So, these companies are still creating derivatives. I want to know when the next giant sink hole is going to happen in the economy. I really want to make sure I'm prepared.

[carolgregor]

09:54 PM on 04/29/2012

We are broke, do people know that yet? I am wondering if the wealthy upper middle class realizes how close they are to doomsday, along with the 99%. Only the super rich will survive this.

[rudy in la]

07:15 PM on 04/29/2012

I wonder if there really is a practical way to undo this without the pain of just letting everything collapse first. I hope there is. In any case, it's not impossible to start undoing the damage now. At least take a useful first step.

[Genosse Joe]

04:40 PM on 04/29/2012

Should we get ready for another bailout with money we do not even have?

[John Shuck]

03:36 PM on 04/29/2012

Look at today's financial structure. It is in the form of an inverted pyramid. Can you imagine a structure less stable?

[John Shuck]

03:35 PM on 04/29/2012

It Can't Happen Here.....Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention....being sarcastic as usual.

[avg american]

01:02 PM on 04/29/2012

Almost 4 years after the 2008 financial collapse, we are still having this discussion.
Unbelievable.
Our Congress, our government and our financial system are broken and corrupt.
Rich people are just like everyone else, they need rules. They cannot self-correct.


Start creating State-run banks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_North_Dakota

Americans in North Dakotat are not communists or socialists, they are Americans and they made a decision to keep the money in their state, to serve the people of North Dakota.
So too can you.

Listen people, the interest (PROFIT) that Goldman Saks, Citiegroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, etc. make off of your loans and foreclosures goes into their pockets which theses bankers use for derivatives gambling.

We the people can stop this without congress. Legislate, state-by-state for state run banks. The interest (PROFIT) from the loans goes back into the state for parks, schools, etc. Not into the derivatives casino.



Abolish the Fed.

Reinstate Glass-Steagall act.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/insidejob/

[artgurrl]

01:37 AM on 04/30/2012

Amen! We're still having this discussion because the past and current treasury secretaries and economic advisers do not want derivatives regulated. As a result, they are still being bundled, bought and sold. Time to start a people's economic movement and each state having it's own state run bank is a great start.

[VPerry24]

05:32 AM on 04/30/2012

Because both parties are the same, both did us in. And why is it that people don't notice until it is way too late?

[therainisgone]

11:21 AM on 04/29/2012

what exactly do these mountains of imaginary wealth contribute to anything --

other than pain and anguish when someone craps out --cant pay

and the great great grand children are saddled with the debt

[VPerry24]

05:32 AM on 04/30/2012

Do ask why we start wars and don't fund them? What is their ultimate goal?

[therainisgone]

11:13 AM on 04/29/2012

well if that doesnt shake your confidence in the stability of the financial system --what will????

228 trillion is side bets at the casinos on wall street --------why stop there lets see if we can triple it before the sun rises

[IDIOTA]

09:10 PM on 04/28/2012

To spend a trillion in one year you would have to spend 1.9 million per minute.

[JDLA]

09:58 AM on 04/30/2012

The feds are spending 7.5 million per minute