More than a decade had passed before investors were once again humbled by the desire to reach for yield and use leverage to meet specific return targets rather than considering the relative ratio of risk and reward. In one of the quickest declines on record, the S&P 500 plunged more than 30%, leaving some highly-leveraged pockets of the market down well over 50%.
While the Federal Reserve has temporarily ridden to the rescue, announcing an alphabet soup of lending programs to support assets across the credit spectrum, investors are still clawing back the losses from