Madoff-style firepower

Glossary of difficult words

firepower - the destructive capacity of guns, missiles or a military force; in this context, the amount of financial resources available for achieving a stated goal; 

red flag - a red flag as a warning sign of danger or a problem; 

feeder fund - a fund that conducts almost all of its investment through another fund; 

leveraged capital - borrowed money used to increase one's speculative capacity and to increase the rate of return from an investment; 

sovereign debt - government bonds; 

to leverage-up - to increase the amount of debt.