HSA, CDO, Frankenpet

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

HSA

   From the WALL STREET JOURNAL, 23 December 2003, pg. A14, col. 1:

   The new year will bring something of a revolution in American health care.  Insurance companies such as Golden Rule, Fortis and Aetna will soon be marketing Health Savings Accounts, which promise a new era of individual choice for health insurance.
   HSAs, the saving grace of the Medicate prescription drug bill, are the new and improvedversion of Medical Savings Accounts.  They promise individuals and employers relief from spiraling health costs, and without the need for restrictive HMOs.

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CDO

  Also in today's WALL STREET JOURNAL, pg. C1, col. 2:

   As with high-profile bankruptcies by other companies, such as Enron Corp and WorldCom Inc., some of the biggest losers from the Parmalat filing likely would face exposure as a result of holdings in financial products known as collateralized-debt obligations, or CDOs.  These products package dozens of loans and other types of credit risk, which are then sliced into portions offering varying amounts of risk and return.

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FRANKENPET

   From the new free newspaper, AM NEW YORK, 23 December 2003, pg. 1, col. 1:

_"Frankenpet"--_
_dog sans fleas_
   Scientists believe they areclose to a hi-tech cure for the most common curse upon man's best friend--etenocephalides canis, the common dog flea.

(That's great!  Now, as the saying goes, you lie down with dogs, and you wake up with...dogs?--ed.)