November 8, 2007 (LPAC)--The U.S. commercial paper market shrank by $15.6 billion in the week ending yesterday, Federal Reserve data released today showed, provoking moans that this marks the worst credit crunch since the panic days of August. The contraction was driven by the $29.5 billion drop in the toxic waste called asset-backed commercial paper. The asset-backed paper market, which totalled some $1 trillion in mid-August, is now calculated at $845.2 billion.