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Man vs. Markets: Simplifying the language of Wall Street

Aug 28, 2012
Marketplace's senior producer of personal finance breaks down economics plainly and simply in his new book, "Man vs. Markets."
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

What's an index of credit default swaps?

May 11, 2012
Big bets on an obscure index lay at the heart of JPMorgan's losses this week. Sr. Producer Paddy Hirsch explains how an index of CDS works.
A Chase sign is viewed at the company's New York headquarters in New York City. Big bets on an obscure index lay at the heart of JPMorgan's losses this week. Sr. Producer Paddy Hirsch explains how an index of CDS works.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

'London Whale' taking big bets in debt market

Apr 6, 2012
A financial trader known as the "London Whale" is making a splash on Wall Street, taking a huge bet worth possibly tens of billions of dollars on corporate credit default swaps.

Did writing off debt in Greece count as a default?

Mar 9, 2012
In Greece, private investors have agreed to write off about 75 percent of their loans to the country.

Explainer: Greece's 'selective default'

Feb 28, 2012
Yesterday, Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece's credit rating to "selective default." It's a move that everyone expected, but what's the difference between that and the messy default it was trying to avoid?

Untangling credit default swaps

Oct 8, 2008
When the analysts and experts talk about the current financial crisis, they often refer to "credit default swaps." So, what exactly is a credit default swap? Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch goes to the whiteboard for this explanation.
Whiteboard Credit default swaps
Marketplace

Untangling credit default swaps

Oct 8, 2008
Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch is back with the second of his Crisis Explainer videos. This time he goes to the whiteboard to make the...

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