Welcome to the major leagues of debt. Collateralized debt obligations, almost always referred to as a CDOs, are horrendously complicated deals that often leave anyone without a MBA wondering what was put into these CDOs.

The first thing to understand about bonds, (aka debt) is that bonds are often backed by something else. Think about your home mortgage. If you don't pay your mortgage, the bank can take the house. You end up homeless, and the bank sells the house to pay off the rest of that mortgage. There is something "backing" that mortgage; something lender can fall back on, if you don't pay your bills like a good human being. That's called collateral.

CDOs are one flavor of an entire sector of investing called structured finance, and they are also backed. CDOs, in the simplest concept, are just bonds backed by something else. In most cases, a CDO is backed by a collection of various types of debt. CDOs can be home mortgages, or other types of debt like credit cards, auto loans, and personal loans. Most of these types of debt are usually considered a bit more risky and they don't have the backing that a home loan does. So, if you think it through, you can imagine that CDOs are usually considered a risky investment.

To take a step further, understand that CDOs have multiple flavors within each CDO. These flavors are called tranches. If you've taken French, you might recognize the word, it means "slice" or "portion." Each slice of that CDO you invest in is a little different and carries different amounts of risk.

You could invest in the lowest risk tranche of the CDO, which would provide you lower risk. But, you don't get a good return on that investment. Or, you can be the heroic adventurer of bonds and invest in the lowest-grade tranche of the CDO. You'll make an amazing return, but if the economy even looks at you wrong, you might lose the entire investment.

CDOs aren¿t easy, and are almost always invested in by mutual funds, insurance companies and hedge funds. As an individual investor, you will probably not come across a CDO you can participate in.

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Friday, June 27, 2008

WellPoint to Cover Rotarix(R) Vaccine

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INDIANAPOLIS, June 27, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP) announced today that, effective immediately, it will cover the rotavirus vaccine, Rotarix(R), designed to prevent a virus which causes vomiting and diarrhea in infants and children.

This decision to cover Rotarix(R), manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, is based on formal recommendations announced this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

ACIP recommended that Rotarix(R) be added to the list of recommended inoculations offered to infants. Rotarix(R) is a liquid given in a two-dose series to infants 6-24 weeks old.

According to the CDC, rotavirus infection is the leading cause of diarrhea in infants and young children, both in the United States and worldwide. Rotavirus disease causes about 410,000 physician office visits; 205,000-272,000 emergency department visits; 55,000-70,000 hospitalizations; and 20-60 deaths among children less than 5 years of age in the U.S. each year.

WellPoint's immunization policy decisions are based on recommendations issued by ACIP and other nationally recognized organizations. ACIP is composed of 15 experts in fields associated with immunization who provide advice and guidance to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and CDC on the most effective means to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases.

The vaccine will be covered for infants whose benefit plans provide coverage for vaccines. Policyholders should confirm their specific benefits by calling the toll-free telephone number listed on their insurance card.

About WellPoint, Inc.

WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health benefits company in terms of medical membership in the United States. WellPoint is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as the Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com .

SOURCE WellPoint, Inc.

http://www.wellpoint.com

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