Collateralized Debt Obligation
A financial magic device that collects massive debts, repackages them into deceptively safe-looking bundles, and sells them at a premium. When asset models and rating agencies—our modern oracles—declare them "safe," they take pride of place in investors’ portfolios. The more tempting the yield appears, the deeper the hidden seeds of unquantifiable risk. In moments of mania they are worshipped, and in collapse they unleash an invisible curse dragging everyone down. A tragic protagonist destined to star in financial crises for eternity.