Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU - option chain) shares are headed higher today with other insurers this morning after the Treasury Department announced it will extend TARP bailout funds to life insurance firms. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on PRU.

PRU opened this morning at $24.77. So far today the stock has hit a low of $23.25 and a high of $25.30. As of 11:35, PRU is trading at $23.42, up 1.32 (6.0%). The chart for PRU looks bullish and S&P gives PRU a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

The Treasury has decided that just bailing out American International Group (NYSE: AIG) to the tune of $122.8 billion and counting is not going far enough. Now it's time to use our money to bail out more insurance companies. As it turns out, the insurers that are likely to get the money are the same ones that took a blood bath earlier this month. The companies seeking a bailout include Met Life (NYSE: MET), Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG), and Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU).

You may be wondering, what crime did I commit that makes it socially acceptable for my money to be used to bailout the insurance industry? Aren't my home, auto, and life insurance premiums up to date? If so, what gives the insurance industry the right to use my taxes to pay for their investment mistakes? Because that is exactly what the insurance companies are doing.

How so? Their books are loaded down with asset-backed securities such as mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that vastly exceed their shareholder's equity. These securities are not worth much -- in fact, a recent report suggested that CDOs were worth 10 cents on the dollar at best. If the insurers have these stated on their books at 60 cents on the dollar, the mark to market process could wipe out a significant portion of their capital.