INVESTOR PODCAST: UNDERSTANDING “PRINCIPAL PROTECTION” - The retail market for structured notes with principal protection has been growing in recent years. While these products often have reassuring names that include some variant of "principal protection," "capital guarantee," "absolute return," "minimum return" or similar terms, they are not risk-free. Any promise to repay some or all of the money you invest will depend on the creditworthiness of the issuer of the note-meaning you could lose all of your money if the issuer of your note goes bankrupt. Also, some of these products have conditions to the protection or offer only partial protection, so you could lose principal even if the issuer does not go bankrupt.  To learn more about structured notes with principal protection and the risks that come with them, check out a new podcast from FINRA ..