Apple's stock plunge last week has also stung investors who bought complex, bond-like "structured products" tied to the shares, on which losses could top 30%.

WSJ: What's News

Precisely one year after his return as chief executive of MBIA, JayBrownJay Brown formalized his plan to separate the insurer's municipal bond business from the structured finance business that has given it so much trouble.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Brown was careful to point out that the structured finance piece of MBIA will be completely separate from the municipal bond segment and will not be a burden on the latter.

FORBES: Municipal Bonds

Anybody in a ratings agency who equates a 1989-style Brady Bond with what is being proposed now might stand guilty of that old "structured by cows" problem.

BBC: The state of play in Athens

Ambac shares have lost 90% of their value since January 2007 and William Ackman, a short-seller who runs the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, has railed against them (to his own benefit), saying the bond insurers could be insolvent by the second quarter because of their exposures to the structured finance market.

FORBES: Deja Vu All Over Again

Since February 2007, 69 securities class action lawsuits have been filed related to the subprime meltdown, including 11 brought by investors in auction-rate securities, two by investors in bond funds that had losses, and two against investment banks for their hand in creating the structured product market.

FORBES: Off With Their Heads!