CDO IN A POKE

"The Pig-in-a-poke scam originated in the late Middle Ages. The con entails a sale of a (suckling) "pig" in a "poke" (bag). The bag ostensibly contains a live healthy little pig, but actually contains a cat (not particularly prized as a source of meat, and at any rate, quite unlikely to grow to be a large hog). If one buys a "pig in a poke" without looking in the bag (a colloquial expression in the English language, meaning "to be a sucker"), the person has bought something of less value than was assumed, and has learned firsthand the lesson caveat emptor. Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Russian and Polish speakers employ the expression "buying a cat-in-the-bag" when someone buys something without examining it beforehand. In Sweden, Finland and Estonia, the "cat" in the phrase is replaced by "pig", referring to the bag's supposed content, but the saying is otherwise identical. This is also said to be where the phrase "letting the cat out of the bag" comes from, although there may be other explanations." WIKIPEDIA

CDO-in-a-Poke scam originated around 2007. The con entails a sale of a CDO  in a synthetic "portfolio" (bag). The bag ostensibly contains live healthy CDOs, but actually contains synthetic cat shit(not particularly prized as a source of profit, and at any rate, quite unlikely to grow to be a large NAV). If one buys a "CDO in a Poke" without looking in the bag (a colloquial expression in the City of London, meaning "to be a sucker"), the person has bought something of drastically less value than was assumed, and has learned firsthand the Wall Street lesson caveat emptor. Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Russian and Polish bankers employ the expression "buying  cat-shit-in-the-bag" when someone buys a Synthetic CDO portfolio from Goldman Sachs without examining it beforehand. In Sweden, Finland and Estonia, the "cat" in the phrase is replaced by "pig", referring to the bag's supposed content, but the saying is otherwise identical. This is also said to be where the phrase "letting the cat out of the bag" comes from, although there may be other explanations.