Only a few lines to give my personal opinion on the choice of issuers for structured products ...
First of all cited as examples in Icelandic banks, Enron, Worldcom, Railtrack or more recently Lehman Brothers.

Curiously, no European firm belonging to the iTraxx has broken down as belonging to the iTraxx credit index.

By the way the index is the world iTraxx credit Eurostoxx same as the European stock exchange. The difference is 125 firms (bonds) instead of 50 (shares).

In this sense the Europeans should be proud. In reality, this indicates that many European companies (France Telecom, Electricite de France, etc..) Dad would be helped by breaking state before, but that is another story. Although it takes us to the moral: "The next time you invest in European issuers Think about him first."

Gradually, as the reader will encroach on these lines is proving that I'm not talking about derivatives and structures ....

Why?

Because today is the king credit, the issuer or rather the guarantor of the issue we are buying.

The next time you buy a bond, instead of looking at the type of structure, focus your attention on credit risk by looking at the quality of the issuer.

How?

Thanks to the rating or credit score. Must be at least investment grade. (> BBB-)

Although I recommend a minimum of AA, to be sure.

Why AA?

Because although the rating A (single A) was commonly accepted as a great rating in 2007/2008, there have been three cases of "book" of direct migration from the A to bankruptcy in less than a month: Icelandic banks, Enron and Lehman Brothers. I'm talking head. Sure there have been many more.

In summary ...

The next time you buy a bond structured ... pay a little more and buy AA. You'll thank me.