Amid the general euphoria over Tim Geithner’s plan to tackle toxic assets there is one note of caution: while bank stocks have rallied strongly on the plan, the underlying toxic assets have not.

The ABX index, which tracks subprime mortgage-backed securities, has barely lifted from its record lows. The leveraged loan LCDX index has gained a little but is still sharply down on the year. Top-rated commercial mortgage-backed securities have rallied but are only back to mid-February levels, while lower-rated tranches have rallied much less.