Subprime issues will bring many more financial consultants within cross hairs!.

Implications: The experts will always be a likely target when the wind shifts unfavorably on financial guidance. The precedent being set up under these Subprime issues may open up the flood gates to very vocal opinions marching up court house steps. 

Analysis: More needs to be instituted to place what are in many cases sophisticated consumers from claiming they had no way of knowing or simply were relying on the company they hired to have the expert to not get them involved in the first place, to place better safeguards or to enable them to pull out sooner-Plan B's.  We may be facing another Penn Square Bank for those that can remember or tried to forget.  Not only could have a lot of that been avoided, but so can looking for blame on the sub prime issues.  The thrust of the potential class actions is that Merrill's statements "were materially false due to their failure to inform the market of the ticking time bomb in the company's CDO portfolio due to the deteriorating subprime mortgage market,".  Can't get more general than that.  All in all, Kate bar the door if this goes thru.  Consumers need to start stepping to the plate on issues of clear risk, if not congress needs to get involved and offer some, what seem to others is stupidity protection.  Call it what it is.  For some ABC's on the subprime issues see http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/mar2007/pi20070313_837773.htm and these issue possibly going into 2008- http://www.americablog.com/2007/10/warren-buffet-subprime-problems-to.html