What is a $6bn loss between friends? Not a lot in the financial markets these days, it would seem.

After all, when the Long Term Capital Management hedge fund imploded in 1998, its losses sent shockwaves through the financial world. But when it emerged yesterday that Amaranth had lost $6bn (the second largest hedge fund loss ever), markets barely blinked. Or as a Wall Street acquaintance notes: "The story is that there isn't a story." At least not in market terms.