Petard

Petard
/pɛˈtɑːd/ (n.)
A small bomb, comprising a box filled with powder, used to blast down a door or to make a hole in a wall.

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Let it work,
For ’tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petard; and ’t shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon.

—Hamlet, III, iv

A squib; a firecracker.

Hence, to be hoist by one’s own ~: to blow oneself up. Something that financial institutions are periodically prone: if a little bomb goes off on your balance-sheeet will frighten the bejesus out of the financial analyst community and may cause a bank run.

See also

• Lucky
• The first rule of Systemic Solvency Club