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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Thursday, October 09, 2008

Governor Schwarzenegger Showcases California Solar Solutions at Applied Materials

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SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct 09, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Today California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dedicated the 2 megawatt solar power system at the Applied Materials campus in Sunnyvale, California, one of the largest corporate solar power installations in the United States. The Governor praised Applied's work in the solar industry after viewing the extensive parking lot-based solar array as well as a demonstration of the company's thin film solar technology.

"Applied Materials is a real California solar success story and they are demonstrating the potential of turning parking lots throughout the state into power plants at a time when we need innovative solutions to the growing energy crisis," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "The panels in the system were manufactured by a California company on equipment provided by Applied Materials, another California company, and they take advantage of one of our state's most famous and abundant resources, the California sun."

"California has the best solar program in the United States thanks to Governor Schwarzenegger's vision," said Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials. "He has shown great leadership for the adoption of solar power in California through his Million Solar Roofs Plan and his support of the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32), but we still have a long way to go as a state and as a country."

The Applied Materials solar system in Sunnyvale incorporates more than 7,000 wafer-based solar panels made by SunPower Corporation using Applied's Baccini(TM) Cell Systems, and is capable of generating approximately 2 megawatts of power each year. The parking lot-mounted system tracks the sun to increase the efficiency of the panels while also serving as shade for several hundred employee cars. The solar power system is expected to prevent more than 2,700 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of approximately 450 passenger cars.

"This is the new face of solar power, parking lots becoming power plants and solar panels incorporated into the middle of our urban landscape," continued Splinter. "Solar is a tremendous economic development opportunity for our state and our country and with the support of leaders like the Governor we have the opportunity to make solar a truly meaningful part of our energy supply."

The Governor also viewed a working, SunFab(TM) thin film solar panel, the largest commercially-available solar panel in the world. Applied demonstrated how a single Applied SunFab(TM) thin film production line, operating at full capacity, can produce enough panels for an installation the size of Applied's Sunnyvale system in about eight days. As an example of how manufacturing scale can change the industry and dramatically increase the availability of solar panels, Applied also showed how a gigawatt-scale SunFab factory with multiple production lines could produce the required number of panels in about one day.

For more information about Applied Materials' solar energy system, visit: http://www.appliedmaterials.com/news/solar_energy_system.html.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) is the global leader in Nanomanufacturing Technology(TM) solutions with a broad portfolio of innovative equipment, service and software products for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat panel displays, solar photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient glass. At Applied Materials, we apply nanomanufacturing technology to improve the way people live.

SOURCE: Applied Materials Inc.

 Applied Materials Inc. Dave Miller, 408-563-9582
   (business media) Betty Newboe, 408-563-0647 (technical media) Robert Friess, 408-986-7977 (financial community)