According to the most recent figures released, the Fed's Total Assets as of 21 November 2012 was about USD 2.873 trillion. This is an increase of more than USD 58 billion since the end of August.Almost all of this increase (98.1%) is related to mortgage-backed securities (MBS) held outright by the Fed, as announced it would do in mid September this year. As of 21 November the Fed holdsUSD 900.583 billion worth of mortgage backed securities.At the outset of 2008, the Fed's total assets amounted to USD 897.532 billion and mortgage-backed securities held were zero.