Ambac writes down $176 million in CDOs in April

Ambac, one of the top bond insurers in the country continued to hemorrhage cash on bad mortgage-related bets. Ambac reported a loss of $228 million in CDOs and its investment portfolio in April. Many of the CDOs include subprime mortgage debt. From the Associated Press on Ambac's subprime mortgage backed CDO losses for April: Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. said Wednesday it continued to take millions of dollars in charges in April tied to its credit derivative and investment portfolios. Net write-downs on its credit derivatives holdings totaled $176 million in April, with the bond insurer taking a write-down of $228 million on the value of collateralized debt obligations. Those write-downs were partially offset by $52 million in gains among other credit derivative holdings. Shar