Time Magazine: Real Estate's Fault Line (subprime crisis)

[antigop]

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1653635-3,00.html

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To further complicate the picture, some firms create new "structured finance" products, called collateralized debt obligations, from pieces of other mortgage securities. These new bonds are re-rated, creating illusion of safety even though the top-rated bonds may include very risky original loans. Last year nearly $500 billion in CDOs flooded the market. Many hedge funds invested heavily in them, often using borrowed money, and thus increasing their exposure. The Contagion

At its core, the entire process is based on using borrowed money (home mortgages) as collateral to borrow more money (mortgage-backed securities) to borrow yet more money (CDOs), and hoping the payment chain doesn't break. Once home-mortgage defaults rise, the whole system can unravel.
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[habitual]

1. that 'article' has interesting bits of info in it, but

it's put together in the crappiest way i've ever seen. what the hell 'time'?

[antigop]

2. The current issue has quite a few graphs -- I think that is the problem

I saw the article in the current issue of Time, went to their website, found the article, and posted a link to it.

The print edition of the article is easier to read and has quite a few graphics.