Big Investment Firms Tapped Fed for $13.4 Billion a Day

Source : http://www.cnbc.com/id/23730205

"Big Wall Street investment companies are taking advantage of the Federal Reserve's unprecedented offer to secure emergency loans, the central bank reported Thursday.The lending is part of a major effort by the Fed to help a financial system in danger of freezing.Those large firms averaged $13.4 billion in daily borrowing over the past week from the new lending facility. The report does not identify the borrowers."
... "On Wednesday alone, lending reached $28.8 billion, according to the Fed report."

Reminds me of the legendary Atlas from Greek Mythology and the encounter with Heracles.

"Encounter with Heracles
One of the hero Heracles' Twelve Labors involved the acquisition of some of the golden apples which grow in Hera's garden, tended by the Hesperides and guarded by the dragon Ladon. Heracles went to Atlas, the father of the Hesperides,and offered to hold the heavens for a little while in exchange for the apples, to which Atlas agreed. This would be an easy task for Atlas since he is related to the Hesperides who tend the apples in Hera's garden. Upon his return with the apples, however, Atlas attempted to trick Heracles into carrying the sky permanently by offering to deliver the apples himself. Heracles, suspecting Atlas didn't intend to return again, pretended to agree to Atlas' offer, asking only that Atlas take the sky again for a few minutes so Heracles could rearrange his cloak as padding on his shoulders. When Atlas set down the apples and took the heavens upon his shoulders again, Heracles took the apples and ran away."

In today's context, Bernanke and the federal reserve is trying to shoulder the mortgage backed securities for a few minutes so that the investment banks can adjust themselves and it remains to be seen whether they'll be running away with the real money leaving Bernanke behind with all the funny paper they have generated in the past few years and let the tax payers shoulder the burden.