Sentence:  "There is sort of a <WSD>panic</WSD> going on, and that is not what ought to be," Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, said at a press conference in Washington today. "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were never bottom feeders in the residential mortgage market." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Rapid reduction in asset prices due to broad efforts to raise cash in anticipation of continuing decline in asset prices.