Bloomberg is running an article today about 3 mortgage securities traders that helps foster the largest financial threat of this century. Greg Lippman (Deutsche Bank), Rajiv Kamilla (Goldman Sachs), and Todd Kushman (Bear Sterns et al) sat down one night and hatched up a scheme to standard securities contracts.  ” The new standardized contracts they created would allow firms to protect themselves from the risks of subprime mortgages, enable speculators to bet against the U.S. housing market, and help meet demand from institutional investors for the high yields of loans to homeowners with poor credit.”  The market it created, however, became so murky, that it remains difficult for banks to calculate the depths of their trouble.