In order to give you a better idea of the degree to which the credit markets are frozen, take a look at the passage below: 

(From the WSJ): "Banks and other finance companies making loans for autos, credit cards and college tuition are having virtually no success in selling those loans to other investors, a potent sign of just how tight credit markets remain.

The market for selling such loans -- by packaging, or securitizing, them into bonds -- had just one $500 million deal for all of October, according to Barclays Capital. That compares with $50.7 billion worth of deals made one year earlier, according to market-research firm Dealogic. The overall market for so-called asset-backed securitization is estimated at $2.5 trillion.

This creates repercussions for lenders and consumers alike.

Banks and other finance companies are stuck holding more loans on their balance sheets, which crimps their ability to offer new loans. That, in turn, shrinks available credit for consumers, who need it to finance an education, buy a new car, or pay for household expenses using a credit card. Banks were already reining in lending to customers as they try to reduce exposure to loans that may ultimately go unpaid.

For years, the asset-backed securitization markets fueled the explosion in consumer borrowing, as it allowed lenders to spread their risk to other investors such as pension funds, hedge funds and insurers. But the securitization pools have dried up after losses in the mortgage markets, where risk was also widely dispersed via securitized bonds.

The October dry spell has caused year-to-date securitization volumes to drop. Credit-card volumes are down 31%, auto loans are off 45% and student loans have fallen about 41%, according to Barclays. October's sole transaction came from AmeriCredit Corp., which provides auto loans to less creditworthy borrowers.

"We are at a standstill," said Craig Leonard, a structured-debt syndicate banker at Barclays Capital said.

The deals that are getting done are also more expensive for the banks. At the end of October, the risk premium charged on a triple-A rated credit-card deal reached 4.67 percentage points over comparable two-year Treasury yields, up almost 3.2 percentage points from June, according to J.P. Morgan data.

Even through June of this year, securities backed by student loans and credit-card debt remained popular with investors.