That's our national investment banking strategy... not losing their own shirts so much, but your shirt. Well you weren't really planning on wearing it anyway, were you? For anyone who hasn't read Nassim Taleb's book The Black Swan, it is well worth the effort. It shakes the foundations of much of what we assume about how the world works. Working from home may soon be your only option (just kidding, I hope)!

A current essay The Fourth Quandrant: A Map of the Limits of Statistics, a bit heavy going at times, continues the discussion and addresses some of the current financial banking mess.

[In discussing] the fate of close to 1000 financial institutions (includes busts such as FNMA, Bear Stearns, Northern Rock, Lehman Brothers, etc.). The banking system (betting AGAINST rare events) just lost > 1 Trillion dollars (so far) on a single error, more than was ever earned in the history of banking. 

I'm not worried though. I have my head buried deeply in the sand.