ray explained these two stories of finical meltdown thusly:

Basically, to wit:

-People trading in subprime-anything aren't buying. Either players are
holding on, waiting to see if there's any value left in them at the end
of the rollercoaster, or they desperately want to sell but nobody wants
to touch them with a 3,000-mile-pole. Or both. Which means that
portfolios have no trade price to value themselves by, which means that
anybody trying to withdraw their money can't be sure how much they're
supposed to get.

-Someone's prognosticating doom, either because it's going to happen,
or some computer model said it'll happen, or by saying it's going to
happen, it won't. Someone's trying to make a shitpile or make sure
they don't lose a shitpile. Either way, it's brilliant and stupid at
the same time. Which means a hedge fund, for sure. With deep pockets
and leverage that would make Archimedes weep.