So Wonks Anonymous has found out what a reverse auction is:

Unlike in a traditional auction in which would-be buyers submit bids to the seller, in a reverse auction the buyer solicits bids from would-be sellers. Often, the buyer agrees to pay the second-highest bid submitted to encourage sellers to compete by lowering their bids for all the assets. The buyer often also sets a reserve price and refuses to pay any more than that price.

Which quote appears in a piece in the NY Times on valuing the less than liquid assets currently held by the financial sector.

This is not as silly as Wonks Anonymous had previously thought but still pretty silly. Why not take the lowest bid? And what happens to the sellers that made higher bids? Do they get a new auction? What if the sellers collude? Why would you even think for a moment that they would not?

Well you folks know where this is headed. No bailout without equity!