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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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Harris Corporation Awarded $15 Million Contract to Provide Tactical Radios to Polish Ministry of National Defense

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PARIS, June 18, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ----(Eurosatory Booth H200a) -- Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS), an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a $15 million contract to supply the Polish Ministry of National Defense with tactical communications equipment and accessories.

Harris will provide Falcon II(R) RF-5800H and RF-5800M manpack radios, vehicular installations, accessories and spare parts to the Combat Net Radio program of the Polish Armed Forces. The contract from the Ministry of National Defense was awarded through Military Communications Works (MCW) No 2 (Wojskowe Zaklady Lacznosci Nr 2), located in Czernica, Poland. "The multi-year partnership between Harris Corporation and MCW will lead to greater efficiency of Polish C2 systems," said Mr. Jerzy Surma, president of MCW No. 2.

"Through this contract, Harris will continue the standardization of the RF-5800H and RF-5800M radios in the Polish military," said Ed Lockwood, vice president of sales, International Government Systems, Harris RF Communications. "Our radios will allow Polish peacekeepers to use state-of-the-art tactical communications systems to complete their missions in deployed areas."

The Harris Falcon II RF-5800H is the most advanced high frequency (HF) radio in the world. The radio features Automatic Link Establishment (3G-ALE) data rates up to 9600 bps with advanced error-free protocols, an embedded GPS receiver, MELP (Mixed-Excitation Linear Predictive) digital voice, Citadel encryption, digital ECCM (Electromagnetic Counter-Counter Measure) techniques, and a built-in Internet Protocol (IP) interface. The radio also has an extended range that provides access to low-band VHF. The built-in multi-waveform modem and 600/2400 bps vocoders provide high data throughput and secure digital voice over the most challenging HF channels.

The Falcon II RF-5800M transceivers are software-programmable digital radios supporting continuous VHF/UHF operation across the 30 to 512 MHz bandwidth. Each transceiver has numerous ECCM modes available to defeat enemy-jamming systems in a single compact and lightweight package. The Harris RF-5800M meets military and civilian ground-to-air and ground-to-ground requirements, and includes Harris Quicklook 1A, which allows for compatible operations with other Harris ECCM radios.

Harris RF Communications is a leading supplier of secure voice and data communications products, systems, and networks to military, government, and commercial organizations worldwide.

About Harris Corporation

Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual revenue of more than $5 billion and more than 16,000 employees - including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications(R) products, systems, and services. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements about the expected value of the contract to Harris are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. Other factors that may impact the company's results and forward-looking statement may be disclosed in the company's filings with the SEC. Harris disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Harris Corporation

http://www.harris.com

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