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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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

EXFO Launches Industry's First PBT/MPLS Field-Test Solution

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Comtex

QUEBEC CITY, Jun 17, 2008 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) ----EXFO expands Ethernet testing portfolio with new software suite for end-

to-end validation of Carrier Ethernet services

EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO, TSX: EXF) announced today the release of new test enhancements for its FTB-8510B/FTB-8510G and IQS-8510B/IQS-8510G Packet Blazer Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GigE) test modules.

With this new software release, the FTB-8510B/FTB-8510G and IQS-8510B/IQS-8510G Packet Blazer Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet test modules now support Provider Backbone Bridge-Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE) and Internet Protocol/Multi-Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) functionalities in a single module, allowing network service providers (NSPs) and network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) to fully validate carrier Ethernet services and network equipment.

In addition, this new software suite introduces a number of testing features including support for advanced multi-stream traffic filtering techniques and 1X and 2X Fibre Channel testing. These new capabilities on the FTB-8510B and FTB-8510G Packet Blazers, combined with full-line rate TCP throughput testing and bi-directional RFC 2544 measurements, offer NSPs a comprehensive and portable tool for deploying, maintaining and troubleshooting next-generation Ethernet services.

The FTB-8510B/FTB-8510G Packet Blazer modules, designed for portable field-test applications, are compatible with the FTB-200 Compact Platform and more advanced FTB-400 Universal Test System. The IQS-8510B/IQS-8510G Packet Blazer modules, purpose-built for manufacturing and R&D test applications, are hosted inside the IQS-500 and IQS-600 platforms. All of these platforms support a wide range of additional test modules, including optical, transport and datacom, at various transmission rates reaching up to 43 Gbit/s.

"The successful deployment of Ethernet services depends on carrier-grade scalability, reliability and quality of service (QoS)," said Etienne Gagnon, EXFO's Vice-President Product Management and Marketing. "PBB-TE and IP/MPLS are two choice technologies enabling NSPs to efficiently deploy Ethernet services with high levels of configurability and resiliency. Our Packet Blazer test modules continue to evolve with market needs through the industry's first field-test solution that supports PBB-TE and MPLS and strengthens the ability of NSPs to expand their Ethernet infrastructures in a cost-efficient, quality-assured manner."

EXFO representatives will be on-site to demonstrate the industry-leading functionality of the FTB-8510B and FTB-8510G Packet Blazer at NXTcomm08 in Las Vegas, Nevada, from June 17-19, 2008.

For more information about the FTB/IQS-8510B and FTB/IQS-8510G Packet Blazer test modules, please visit www.EXFO.com.

About EXFO

EXFO is the second-largest provider of portable test and measurement solutions in the global telecommunications industry and is positioning itself as a leader in next-generation network (NGN) testing and monitoring applications. The Telecom Division, which represents about 85% of the company's business, offers a full suite of test solutions and monitoring systems to network service providers, cable TV operators, network equipment manufacturers and component manufacturers in approximately 70 countries. EXFO is the global market leader for portable optical test solutions with an estimated 25.5% market share in calendar 2006, a technology leader in NGN protocol test and monitoring solutions, as well as in access network test solutions, to enable triple-play deployments and converged IP networking. The company's modular AXS-200, FTB-200, FTB-400, IQS-600 (Windows/PC-based) and InterWatch platforms host a wide range of test solutions covering all layers on a network infrastructure and extending across the full technology lifecycle. The Life Sciences and Industrial Division offers value-added light-based solutions in high-precision medical device and opto-electronics assembly sectors, and advanced fluorescence microscopy and electrophysiology solutions for the life sciences sector. For more information about EXFO's Telecom Division, visit www.EXFO.com, and for its Life Sciences and Industrial Division, visit www.EXFO-LSI.com.

SOURCE: EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc.

Vance Oliver, Manager, Investor Relations, (418) 683-0913, Ext.
   3733, vance.oliver@exfo.com

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