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There's a debate in financial circles over whether banks are unfairly penalized by the requirement that they "mark to market" their holdings. Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains what that term means.

If you've been following the problems encountered by the banks, you've probably come across the phrase "toxic assets." They've poisoned banks' balance sheets and brought them to the brink of failure. But what is a toxic asset, exactly? Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains.

Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's latest plan to get the economy moving -- and the risk involved.

The practice of short selling has been blamed for the collapse of several major companies' shares during the financial crisis. What is short selling? Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains.

Now the Federal Reserve has effectively cut the target lending rate to zero, it only has one more weapon in its arsenal. Quantitative easing. Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains what this "nuclear option" it is, and what the Fed hopes it'll do.

Hedge funds used to occupy a dark, undisturbed corner of the financial world, but over the last year they've been thrown under the spotlight. Still, many people don't know exactly what hedge funds are, or what hedging actually means. Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains.

Leveraging -- or borrowing -- has been cited as one of the contributors to the financial crisis. Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains how the move to deleverage -- or reduce debt -- is prompting wild market swings and concerns about deflation

Mortgages aren't the only financial instruments that get turned into securities. Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains how companies make money by buying credit card debt and bundling it.