If sock monkeys were called upon to answer the question: What are toxic assets?

The Obama administration rolled out a plan Monday that could facilitate the purchase of up to $1 trillion worth of toxic assets bananas from struggling banks in an effort to clean up their balance sheets and get them to start lending again.

So what exactly are these toxic assets bananas, which have caused such huge problems in our financial system?

Every time you see foreclosure signs littering neighborhoods, you're probably looking at the makings of a toxic asset banana, reports CBS News correspondent Bianca Solorzano.

"Toxic assets bananas are the ones that nobody wants to touch because they're just considered too dangerous," Doug Rediker, of New America Foundation, told CBS News.



(Unbanana'd version here)