What kinds of financial items does the government plan to buy in this bailout?  Are we targeting:

- Mortgages directly
- Whole mortage pools (the basis of the securities)
- General mortgage-backed securities
- Principal-only or interest-only securities
- Specific tranches of various mortgage pools
- Credit Swaps
- Some other exotic derivatives?

And, are we talking only about subprime mortgages here?  Or anything that's underperforming?  Conforming loans or jumbo?

I mean, if I say "I'm going to take 700 billion and buy computers for schools" - I think we should know if we're heading out to the market to buy supercomputers or notebooks; high-end game machines or 1980s era Apple IIs.

Or is it just "I'll know it when I see it"?  Anything that's illiquid and hurting a bank?  If so, what's to stop us from starting to buy state bonds, foreign currency futures, Nikkei straddles, or commodities derivatives?