One measure of the sudden slide in confidence yesterday in the merits of Macquarie Bank as an investment - apart from the sliding share price - is that the bank shared the dubious distinction of being the issuer of one of only two corporate bonds whose yield increased in price.The yield on the May 2012 fixed rate bonds of Macquarie Bank increased by 10 basis points, to 7.63 per cent yesterday.The corresponding debt of other A- rated issuers such as Suncorp Metway, Vodafone and Wesfarmers fell by around seven basis points. The yield on five-year Commonwealth government securities fell by about 11 basis points yesterday.The only other corporate borrower to experience a blow-out in yield yesterday (according to Yieldbroker, at least) was SLM Corp, the parent company of US student loan company Sallie Mae which, unsurprisingly, is suffering from the contagion created by the rising loan defaults and failing business models that characterise the US sub-prime mortgage market.The genesis of the sell down in Macquarie Bank's share price yesterday - by $8.80, or 10.7 per cent, to $73.70 - was the disclosure late on Tuesday of an expected decline in net asset values of the Macquarie Fortress funds that invest in prime corporate securities (or so Macquarie say).The announced plans for the liquidation of a second tier US mortgage lender and the late news of the closure of a third Bear Stearns fund helped trigger the wider rout in share prices on the Australian market in general and among select "diversified financials", to use the ASX classification, that includes Babcock & Brown, Allco and Challenger as well as Macquarie.Macquarie's share price is now down 25 per cent from its $98.45 peak in May, while B&B is down nearly 30 per cent from its $34.78 peak in June. Babcock responded to the sharp price slump by announcing that two of its funds had insignificant exposures to the CDO market and were not subject to any market falls. B&B chief executive Phil Green said Babcock had established its CDO platform in February 2005 but had approached the market cautiously and its investment in the area was immaterial. Only two transactions had been closed where it acted as collateral manager and a third transaction had been priced but not closed.According to Green: "This approach has placed us in an excellent position to take advantage of opportunities that may arise as a result of the shake out in this market."Other companies that have been pursuing a similar model of advisory services and specialist funds also fell sharply yesterday. Allco Finance Group lost 7.5 per cent while Challenger Financial Services Group lost 6.6 per cent.The value of Macquarie Fortress Notes fell 24 per cent.The financials index fell 3.4 per cent on the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday, slightly more than the fall of 3.2 per cent in the All Ordinaries Index.