A few months ago I made the assumption that banking share prices couldn't go any lower I had seen HBOS share values plummet from a high of £10 a share in October 2007 to about £2.60 a share. This in my mind was the best time to buy, I had assumed they may go a bit lower but when they came back they would be at their highest ever, right? Well I wasn't far off the mark, after I had purchased some HBOS shares and they went up to around £3.40 on some days (not bad hey?). I had decided I was in this for the long term and that if I waited it out by the end of the credit crunch we would have some really high valued HBOS shares at around £9 a share which would have made for a great investment. Unfortunately the fall of Lehman Brothers bank appeared to have scared the hell out of anyone investing in anything that had a high exposure to mortgage investments. The share values of HBOS tumbled by as much as 48% at one time and then it was announced they would be bought out by Lloyds TSB at a paltry  £2.40 a share....damn..

I had assumed because HBOS was such a giant, that there would be no risk of them going bust. They had been around for so many years and were a well known brand, how wrong  was I? It made me think that almost nothing was safe. Looking at various online money web sites and forums some are saying the best place for your money is under your pillow or in gold bullion. While they may be joking you can't help but feel they have a point there. Ironically enough a lot of people have started to put their savings into Northern Rock, the only financial institution in the UK where your money is100% guaranteed by the treasury and the government.