by Tanta on 8/08/2007 08:04:00 AM

Boy howdy, things had really calmed down there for a while on the purple prose front. It's been a few days since I've seen anything like this:

The credit default swaps market is an immature market, prone to irrational swings as a sudden spike in uncertainty can breed fear among traders. Such fears have spread like wildfire as evidence mounts that credit defaults in the so-called subprime lending market are spilling over into consumers with stronger credit histories, calling into question the reliability of credit ratings on which investors have relied.

Who among us cannot relate to the image of the CDS as the hormonally turbo-charged adolescent, moodily breeding--

Uh, no. Let's not go there. Stick to fears spreading like wildfire as defaults spill over like water--

No. No. We'll go with uncertainty spiking as evidence mounts.