Originally Posted by dteowner
Source?

Based on this source, I'd say you're just a bit off. Quadrillion is a big number. It appears there isn't anywhere close to a quadrillion dollars totally, let alone if you limit it to "unregulated derivitives".

For the BIS, it's more than $700 trillion:

http://www.efinancialnews.com/digest…es-market-size

ISDA follows the BIS data:

http://www2.isda.org/functional-area…h/data-sources

and (ironically) reported in the same magazine from which you got your information:

"Global OTC derivatives"

http://www.economist.com/node/21554558

However,

"Top Derivatives Expert Estimates Size of the Global Derivatives Market at $1,200 Trillion Dollars … 20 Times Larger than the Global Economy"

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/…es-market.html