There are dozens of articles about the run at the Northern...

There are dozens of articles about the run at the Northern Rock bank in the UK. Let's take a look at a handful of them. The Daily Mail is reporting Savers demand their?1.5bn in cash• Police called in to calm crowds of anxious savers• Under-siege cashiers dish out chocolates• Beleaguered Northern Rock boss: 'I'm so sorry'Asked if he believed his bank - the UK's fifth biggest mortgage lender - would be forced to close, a defiant Mr Applegarth [the CEO of Northern Rock] insisted: 'We can go on indefinitely. We have a?100billion mortgage book, so it is not an issue.'[Mish comment: You can go on indefinitely because you have a?100billion mortgage book? What kind of silliness is that? The bigger your mortgage book, the more likely you are to go under when all hell breaks loose.]Financial expert Justin Urquhart Stewart, of Seven Investment Management, said savers were wrong to panic. He said Northern Rock was 'no Barings', it had huge assets and the Bank of England behind it.[Mish comment: What percent of those assets are marked to market?]'It is not in anyone's interest for it to go bust. But despite that, some individuals are saying: 'I'm going to take my money out.''[Mish comment: Leave your money in because 'It is not in anyone's interest for it to go bust.' Exactly what kind of financial advice is that?]Mr Urquhart Stewart added: 'I expect that in a year's time Northern Rock will not exist. As a brand it is shot.[Mish comment: Then why shouldn't both investors and customers pull out?]'It is a great shame. A perfectly good business will be strangled by circumstances.'[Mish comment: If Northern Rock goes out of business it will have been strangled by stupidity not 'circumstances'. Borrowing short to lend long on mortgages in the face of a known housing bubble is just plain stupid.]The Daily Mail is also reporting Bank staring into the abyss if more savers lose their nerve