Credit default swaps are most used to protect investments in corporate or government bonds. They involve speculating on the creditworthiness of companies or countries that you’re investing into.

A credit default swap is, essentially, insurance purchased against the possibility of default. Credit default swaps became famous (or, rather, infamous) during the financial crisis of 2008-09.

"The virtually unregulated over-the-counter market in credit default swaps has played a significant role in the credit crisis, including the now $167 billion taxpayer rescue of AIG," SEC Chairman ...

Credit default swaps are like insurance for investors. Buyers pay a fee to protect themselves in case the borrower — in this case the U.S. government — can't repay their debt.

Credit-default swaps, or CDS, are instruments that effectively allow a lender to insure against default by a borrower. An investor who owns a corporate bond, bank credits or government debt, can ...

Nomura Asset Management’s Richard Hodges began the year by buying credit default swaps, worried that rate cut bets were becoming too aggressive. He reduced the hedge when the cost of protection ...

Credit default swaps are like insurance for investors. Buyers pay a fee to protect themselves in case the borrower — in this case the U.S. government — can't repay their debt.