The word on the streets and on the wires is that US Treasury is considering injecting $15 billion into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A rescue package may be announced ahead of the opening of the US markets Monday morning, perhaps prior to the opening of Asian markets, if you believe the hype.
First question: what happened to all those assertions that Fannie and Freddie were "adequately capitalized"? Or were we supposed to know that was a lie just because it was so damned implausible.
Absolutely no one is quoted in this story, however. Not even a "person familiar with the matter." Does that make it more or less plausible? We forget.
It probably goes without saying that you should exercise extreme skepticism about this, especially after Friday's triple head fake. You remember that, right? First we heard that the government was going to takeover the pair and wipe out shareholders. Then Bernanke was opening the discount window to both. And then he wasn't. It's all been very suspicious, very third-world and banana republic, very unfree market. Watching all this is like engaging in Kremlinology.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae future may rest with US Treasury [Telegraph]
Update: Paul Kedrosky cites a Times of London story, and adds much the same warning.
This story is so thinly sourced that I was initially hesitant to post it, to be frank. These are skittish and perilous times, and no unnamed person is even quoted indirectly in the article, let alone directly. In many ways it sounds like an echo chamber version of what was discussed all day Friday by the chattering class.That makes it hard to know what to make of it. Are we just hearing a cross-Atlantic repeat of what was discussed Friday, or is this story sourced sufficiently well so as to make it anything other than a stupid, contagious and dangerous rumor?
Posted by guest , Jul 12, 2008 10:37PM
anyone know what's good tonight thats not on the uws?
Posted by guest , Jul 12, 2008 11:52PM
Perhaps no industry has been hit harder by our country's "mental recession" than the mortgage banks, and two in particular, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been in the news lately after the Treasury Department hinted that it may bail them out. Although Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said today that a bailout is not "on the horizon" (but is somewhere in the troposphere) that doesn't mean you should rush to your neighborhood Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac store and load up on subprime mortgages.
Or does it? And what's the deal with this couple? Who are they? Why should we give a hoot? Look no further than FAQ: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; http://www.236.com/news/2008/07/11/faq_fannie_mae_and_freddie_mac_7677.php
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 12:12AM
First sentence from telegraph story
"inject as much as $15bn (£2.75bn)"
I know USD is doing quite bad, but not this bad. You should suspect the intelligence and the sources of a reporter who can't convert USD to GBP.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 1:16AM
$15 billion is small sum in the overall scheme of things. It is not going to help Fannie and Freddie to overcome their predicament.
Funnily enough, $15 billion is the current market capitalisation of the two combined. A coincidence? I'm not so sure.
I just can't see Bernanke and Paulson backtracking from their "adequately capitalized" remarks at the congressional committee hearing last Thursday. But if they do, then all hope and faith are lost. It effectively tells the world that even they have no idea of what is happening and the whole thing is out of their control.
Also, how can you justify propping up listed companies with taxpayer funds? I know we have passed the point of moral hazard a while ago but this is a BAD precident and one which we will look back as a grave mistake in the future. The only semi-plausible reason Ben and Hank has to justify this course of action is to stop the financial system from imploding in the next week or so.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 4:26AM
On friday I heard each entity was going to get $12 billion before USA open on Monday. But that was one of about 4 different ways the fed was going to "assist" freddie and fannie (others all discussed by JC in this post). Perhaps Ben and Hank don't know what the f**k to do as they really are in "no mans land". The cannot let them fail as the whole financial system will implode (please tell me how they could fail without a systemic implosion as i would seriously like to be proved wrong on this matter) So the issue is how do they preserve freddie and fannie. Perhaps all the "bail out" rumors are real ideas that the fed are considering.
Regardless of what Ben, Hank and any Bank CEO says the tape doesn't lie. We are in unprecedented trouble.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 8:31AM
"This story is so thinly sourced that I was initially hesitant to post it, to be frank. "
Carney, post whatever the hell you want. You always do, why stop now?
Don't worry, nobody reads Dealbreaker for information anyway. Truthfully, people just come here to kill time, maybe even get a light chuckle from the endless post-adolescent comment threads.
Posted by StMarc , Jul 13, 2008 9:12AM
@1:16 - You can't, but if you were going to pretend to justify it, bailing out the GSE's *is* a little different than bailing out RandomCorp. What with the G and the S and all.
And generally, if anybody on Eris' sweet earth still believes that anybody in Washington has any idea what is happening to the economy, they're too stupid to worry about overmuch, in my very, very cynical opinion. It's as if the guys at LTCM had been put in charge of the whole shoot'n match. "But our models say that this kind of thing just can't happen!"
Or as Bill Bonner likes to say, government economists all think that the economy is like a big machine, and they have the control panel in front of them with buttons and levers marked "Change Interest Rates" and "Change Government Spending" and "Change Reserve Requirements" and so forth. They think that if they just pull and push in the right sequence, the economy will go beep and boop and do what they want it to do.
Only people who are not familiar with machinery think that machines behave this way.
It's more like how on "Black Gold," which is a show about oil drilling rigs in Texas and kind of fun to watch, the other day a piece of scrap plastic blocked the mud flow port and ruined a $70,000 diamond drill bit in less than a day. Brand new rig, highly experienced driller. And a hundred grand gone, poof, just like that. When She decides to mess with you, you will be messed. Pull on your levers all you want: you're done when She says you are.
M
(The "She" I refer to sometimes is Eris, the Goddess of Chaos. It's a metaphor, mostly.)
Posted by NotNasser , Jul 13, 2008 10:19AM
"It's a metaphor, mostly."
I hear an echo of Eric Cartman there.
"They mostly come at night. Mostly."
Posted by StMarc , Jul 13, 2008 11:05AM
Actually, when you're talking about Her, it's best to think of the original inspiration for the quote. :)
Anyway, more news:
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080712/fanniemae_freddiemac_wsj.html?.v=1
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080713/bs_nm/fanniemae_freddiemac_securities_dc_2
Summary: Not-So-Tall Paul ain't bailing out no shareholders, damn it. Freddie has a $3B short-term offering Monday. Treasury and the Fed are making phone calls to subscribers saying, "Buy that debt, damn you, or we'll burn down your houses and piss on the ashes."
Okay, that quote is highly speculative on my part. But my guess for tomorrow is that the Street collectively says, "What's another three billion dollars at this point? Let's buy the debt today and see if the Feds take over this week. They don't dare let the bonds default so we should be pretty safe."
M
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 11:13AM
Regardless of what happens.
This week is going to be anything but boring.
Good luck all!
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 11:29AM
There's no point for Ben and Hank to guarantee any new debt offerings by Fannie and Freddie.
How can they guarantee the new offerings and not the existing debts in circulation already?! If they guarantee the new debts and not the existing debts, holders of existing debts will dump them and make things even worse.
Ben and Hank should concentrate on putting a 'floor' on the housing market instead. It is infinitely more preferable for the Fed and the treasury to bail out the mum-and-dad homeowners than a couple of listed companies (regardless of their government sponsored status). The question is how do you bring 5 trillion dollars of rubbish onto the books of the Treasury without causing Treasury bonds to plummet and killing the US dollar?
Posted by StMarc , Jul 13, 2008 12:14PM
I should clarify that when I said, "the bonds," I meant *all* of the GSE bonds, not just the offering Monday. The USG does not dare let those bonds default. They might not pay interest. They might suspend payments temporarily "while they straighten things out." But letting them default would cause a dash for the exits of the US Dollar that would make everything to date look like a leisurely amble to the concession stand. They'll print the money to redeem them before they'll let them default. (Which would be about 95% as bad, but that's just a planning number.) The stockholders can go fuck themselves for all of the USG, but the bondholders have to get their capital back, even if it's in worthless play money.
There's nothing the Terrible Twins can do about the housing market. It is bigger than they are, and once it takes the bit between its teeth, it's going to run until it can't run anymore. At best, they could ask the President for an Executive Order suspending all foreclosures and P&I payments on residential mortgages for some period of time. (Yes, the President has the de facto authority to do this.) That would, of course, cause the mortgage market to completely seize up, but if your ultimate goal is to prevent homelessness among the former middle class, that would do it.
If you want to see at least a reasonably coherent fictional account of that sort of everything-goes-to-shit situation, read the novel "Full Faith and Credit" by James Cook. Ignore all the moralizing bullshit (for instance, whenever the guy from the CFTC who worships Lenin appears, just skip five pages) and it's a pretty good example of how once this kind of thing gets going, there's nothing the Fed or the Treasury can do to stop it.
M
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 2:01PM
How on Earth does one place a floor in the housing market when the foundation hasn't stopped shaking? If you look at the insane increase in the price of houses over the course of this cycle, it tracks nicely with the internet bubble on Nasdaq. The problem here is that the "Correction" has a ways to go. And the frothiest and priciest market, yep, the one we all live in, hasn't even cracked yet. Keep your seatbelts on, as we are not even at the end of the beginning yet.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 2:36PM
bloomberg has come out too so looks like those 2 lame cocks*ckers can't print $3bln in time.
this is serious. everyone knew gses were insolvent, but if they're illiquid too it's bad.
eastguest
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 2:46PM
What time is the fnm/fre auction tomorrow?
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 3:08PM
Bernanke: Hey Paulson, it's me. Should we suspend our regular Candyland game?
Paulson: Was kind of looking forward to it. I am 0-3 and I think I can beat you this time.
Bernanke: Might be a busy week.
Paulson: I think we can squeeze in our regular game.
Bernanke: You know, the whole thing can unravel.
Paulson: I know, but that leaves more time to play, no?
Bernanke: True. K, talk to you tomorrow
Paulson: Oh wait, what about Monday?
Bernanke: My magic 8 ball says do nothing.
Paulson: K dude, later.
Posted by StMarc , Jul 13, 2008 3:10PM
@2:46 - According to Freddie's web site, auctions open at 8:00 a.m. ET and close at 9:45 a.m. ET.
Tomorrow's scheduled sale is $3B in Reference Bills, http://www.freddiemac.com/debt/products/refbills.html. I didn't look to see if Fannie also had a sale scheduled.
According to the Washington Post, Freddie is also planning an equity offering. Ooh, sign me up, that'll go fast. Especially since they're also considering suspending part of the dividend!
M
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 3:44PM
@ 3:10, At 9:45 the auctions results come out?
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 3:51PM
Freddie, Fannie and the whole family : a credit crisis visual dashboard :
http://www.lacrisepourlesnuls.com/
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 3:59PM
This off bloomberg.....negotiations/meeting underway now.....
"Freddie Mac is scheduled to sell $3 billion in short-term notes tomorrow. Officials are negotiating plans for a possible funding backstop mechanism in case the McLean, Virginia-based company can't find enough investors for the debt, said the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations haven't been announced.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 4:36PM
is this a way to balance the budget...?
believe, for a moment, that defaults are a minimum-- that highly credit worthy mortgage holders either pay off their mortgages or retire them early, or that the govt repackages the implicitly guaranteed loans into non-guaranteed, private issuances. aren't we going to make money here? won't we make their spread over treasurys? forget about giving fannie and freddie the lay up trades anymore. let's nationalize their profits for once.
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 4:44PM
@4"36
Yes, looking out to the long term it is possible. The problem is the short term. If the Fed is forced to step in here, we have a got a short term problem the likes of which we have never dealt with, a complete lockup of the economy under relatively healthy conditions. Not unlike cruising down the highway in a really nice ride, hear some strange noise, and in the rearview mirror the transmission lays in the middle of the road. What's the most pressing concern? Getting into a town and find a garage? Or the highway bandits?
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 5:56PM
"WASHINGTON — Alarmed about the sharply eroding confidence in the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, the Bush administration will ask Congress to approve a rescue package that would give the government the authority to buy billions of dollars in stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and also lend to the companies to meet their short-term funding needs, people briefed about the plan said on Sunday."
Here we go, boys. Batten down the hatches.
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 5:59PM
The source is NY Times online
As part of the plan, the administration will also call on Congress to raise the national debt limit, people briefed on the plan said. And it will ask Congress to give the Federal Reserve a role in setting the rules for how big a capital cushion each company must hold. Giving the Fed a consulting role in the companies’ oversight is seen as yet another way to reassure nervous markets.
"
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 6:02PM
Okay, the biggest question of last week has been settled without a sliver of doubt. The taxpayers are ON THE HOOK. Congressional action is required for the rescue, and the ceiling on the debt is to be raised........Can we hear from those who thought this was retarded as much as 48 hours ago?
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 6:10PM
Wow, we are all supposed to feel better because B-52 Ben is going to be consulted?
WTF Chuck...
Maybe its time to pull the pin on the Green back / Federal Reserve and roll out the new Amero with a catchy sounding new name that sounds like its serious...
We can tell the Chinese to go pound sand over the Fanny and Freddy debt they hold, as the homes behind the bonds are not worth it and we start over...
Cause this train wreck does not appear to be getting any better any time soon...
Got Puts?
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 6:14PM
How would you like to be a Lehman guy driving back from the Hamptons right now? For the last time?
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 6:25PM
1-2 was correct earlier... I should just continue drinking.
As for the Lehman guy driving, he will continue to drive to and from the Hamptons. The rub is that he will be on the job rather than on vacation.
--Calgary Schmooze
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 6:29PM
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080713/D91T7RHG0.html
Nice and vague.
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 6:37PM
Vague because they have to wait and see exactly how many inches the Congress, and therefore, We the People, can handle deep in our ass.
Posted by Bulging Bracket , Jul 13, 2008 6:46PM
Yeah CS just enjoy the last day of stampede... See if you can crash the BBQ for the MP from Calgary SW. I have it on good authority that he won't be wearing the black leather cowboy outfit this year!
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine cause I have a beer.
Posted by Bulging Bracket , Jul 13, 2008 6:52PM
Preview of Tokyo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=726Zf-zin-s
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 7:02PM
BB - On good authority because you have his chaps? Maybe Bertuzzi should hit the party... he's good at crashing into things...
--CS
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 7:10PM
6:52 that's perfect, "Free Falling" with Bernanke and Greenspan baby! Fuck free markets, fuck inflation, fuck freedom, fuck America!!! YES! Go Ben Go!
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 7:14PM
In times of crises what the market carves more than anything else is leadership.
The problem the US has is that no one in power has any level of credibility anymore.
Bush can't string 3 words together
Paulson is a GS puppet
Bernanke is far behind the curve
Greenspan got you into the mess with the if you build it they will buy it approach
Bring back Paul Volker
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 7:17PM
President Cheney may be finally forced to speak on the subject.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 7:27PM
Decadence.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 7:44PM
Can't wait to see the futures before the bell tomorrow. It's going to be baaaaaaad!
Posted by Investorcluzo , Jul 13, 2008 8:10PM
@7:44 - futures are up now (0.86% dow/S&P). asia is treading water. apparently, paulson's soothing voice is giving people some comfort in the $hit storm that is the mortgage market.
Posted by Anonymous , Jul 13, 2008 8:18PM
Providing liquidity to insolvent institutions is insane.
you can quote me on that.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 8:25PM
interesting he mentioned the equity position vaguely (pref/common?). wonder how many will still hold tomorrow hoping for the common.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 8:25PM
Can anyone explain why Paulson's voice gives comfort. Didn't he tell us on Thursday that freddie and fannie were fine. A bit like what Cheney said in May 2005 - The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes".
The fed also said after freddie and fannie it will not help out anymore financial companies. They are tapped out so why would futures and the usa $$ rally on this news?
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 8:33PM
@8:25
They were fine. The difference is that in these markets 48 hours is what 2 years was like 20 years ago. Once the run starts, its has less to do with Wall Street and everything to do with Pamplona.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 8:34PM
@ 8:25 - My point exactly - 7:44
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 8:40PM
Also, if the mortgage market totally locks up and there is no liquidity, what happens? Hedge funds, et al, will sell whatever and wherever there IS liquidity, right? We've seen this play before. That was the part of the equation LTCM didn't build into their models. Ahem. Those Greenwich guys were FULL OF SHIT from the start. Like most of them, that was no hedge fund, just billions of dollars invested in one-way bets. The entire term is a misnomer. You cannot make 20-30% return and be hedged. Period. Full stop.
Posted by Investorcluzo , Jul 13, 2008 8:42PM
look people, you can't bail out big daddy cayne and the boys then let freddie and fannie go under. they have been operating all these years with the assumption that the government would support them. if they go under, you could kiss the mortgage market goodbye - along with a lot of other financial institutions out there (unintended consequences - well put, @beenthere) soooo, what you get is the failure of indymac and the bailout of fred and fanny...
and now bud is officially a foreign beer – you’re gonna have to paying extra at the bar. okay, kiddies, on that note, I’m going out for a drink, enjoy the rest of the night.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 8:42PM
@ 8:34/7:44 - i agree with your opinion but right now the $USD is stronger against the Euro and Yen. The futures (i know not really relevant until tomorrow morning) are actually ticking up. WTF?
@ 8:25
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 8:49PM
You can bet the central banks are in there propping everything up right now......but once again we're back to the sandbag line as the river rises.....not going to be pretty.....
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 8:57PM
@ Cluzo- That's why you shouldn't drink shit beer. I've long since worked something besides the silver bullet or the King into my budget.
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 9:05PM
NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. government is signaling it won't throw a lifeline to struggling financial companies - except for mortgage linchpins Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) - marking a shift to a new and potentially more volatile phase of the credit crisis.
PLEASE CALL LEH NEXT OF KIN:
From AP:
"Such an approach could mean beaten-down investment banks like Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) and regional banks must now fend for themselves as they try to recover from billions of dollars in mortgage-related losses. That is bound to unnerve Wall Street, already anxious as it awaits financial companies' earnings reports that are expected to be down a stunning 69 percent from a year ago when all the numbers are in."
Posted by Investorcluzo , Jul 13, 2008 9:17PM
@8:57 - per my earlier post (thurs, I believe) - I drink sam adams (not that $hit beer made in colorado or st. louis). okay, for realz this time, I'm out...
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 9:38PM
Sammy started splitting the old skull for some reason. I miss it, I miss it. Amstel now. Old age is a terrible thing.
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 9:59PM
Pabst Blue Ribbon is Bud, without SuperBowl commercials......
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 10:00PM
The 10 and 30 years treasuries will go down to the drain along with the US dollar. Brace yourselves for Bolivia style inflation folks!
Paulson only came up with this plan because he knows his time is nearly up and he does not have to follow through with it. The Congress may pass the necessary legislations for FNM and FRE to be nationalised but the details are going to be an absolute bitch to hammer out. How do you work through the $5-12 trillion of that junk?????
I'm still not convinced how Paulson can use taxpayer funds to bail out the shareholders of FNM and FRE. He's going to get slaughtered over this.
@6:10PM, funny you should bring the Chinese into this. Imagine how they'd feel when the US treasury starts printing new (and possibly worthless) $100 bills to pay them back. I wonder whether there is a PIK feature with the treasury debts :P
Yes, Lehman is toast. Paulson has effectively said there will be no money for Lehman or any other Wall Street firm that goes belly up.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 10:13PM
Hey guys. You think that maybe since most of the news on this is out now that Gasbagarumor will go on the tube in the morning as say as usual "hey yous guys, I broke dat story foist"? lol. Just watch - the great wind breaker.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 10:16PM
We have all our eyes fixed on the mortgage crisis. How about the auto loans and personal stuffs like credit cards?
The contagion effect will begin.....................now!
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 10:28PM
For those getting depressed, or watching their net worth evaporate, a diversion:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=P842Tmi6lrc
Posted by StMarc , Jul 13, 2008 10:36PM
You know what?
I hate being right all the time.
You know what else?
I'm an idiot.
I should have maxed out my credit cards, mortgaged my house to the hilt, and spent it all on wine, women, and song.
Well, women and song, anyway. Not much of a wine-drinker.
Why?
Because when it all hits the fan and we're *all* lookin' for work, I'll be in bankruptcy court right next to the assholes who spent their home equity money on sushi and trips to Kauai, only *they'll* have memories of La Dolce Vita and I'll remember my practical little house and that my savings let me stay in it an extra six months longer.
Whoop-dee-freaking-do, as they used to say.
M
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 10:39PM
You are all a bunch of whiners.....
~Fake Phil Gramm
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 10:42PM
St Marc
You may have a point. But no point being part of the bankruptcy statistic.
Just try to use this down phase to set yourself up for the next wave.
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 10:48PM
Let us not forget the few but happy who used the bonus to pay off the mortgage(s) and banked the next two. Flush with cash right now is a wet dream you get once every twenty years. Time to shoot a major load.....
Posted by StMarc , Jul 13, 2008 10:49PM
Food and energy, boys and girls, food and energy. (Same thing, really - modern agriculture is basically a system for turning oil and natural gas into food.) I may have low inflation without 'em, but I am also cold and starving in the dark. Everything else can go before those. If you have to bail, aim for a landing zone in the food or energy sectors.
I think I'll go back to Ioway and see if my uncle's pig processing plant is hiring. Oh, wait. It got destroyed by the Mississippi last month. Hmm. I'll get back to you.
M
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 11:01PM
I'm telling yo, literally and figuratively, the sandbag line needs help.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 11:03PM
Yes, beentheredonethat
Nothing like living in a house that you know is totally owned by you.
Posted by beentheredonethat , Jul 13, 2008 11:09PM
@11:03
The soundest sleep one will ever know...
Posted by diablo , Jul 13, 2008 11:30PM
No more flight to safety. Nothing is safe anymore that is worth buying. 10 yr treasuries will go down the toilet...
-- an American whiner
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 11:45PM
I bet the Dow is up 250 tomorrow.
Posted by guest , Jul 13, 2008 11:52PM
@11:03:
What good is owning your own home? Seems like poorly allocated capital to me. if you lose your job, and you're a renter that allocated your capital more efficiency, you can use the income stream to pay rent, without be hassle of being tied to an immobile asset. If you're settled in for the long haul, you'd be better off taking out 20% of your equity and using it as a down payment on a rental property, you know leverage, debt tax shield, rental income, all that good stuff.
But whatever grandpa good luck.
Posted by guest , Jul 14, 2008 12:25AM
@11:52PM
You speak like you have never seen a down market before.
Those of us who have been around long enough will tell you that buying a property is only good as long as you can find a tenant that pays rent on time and takes care of the property.
Tax shield is only available if you make money and pay tax.
You don't happen to work for a subprime originator do you?
Posted by guest , Jul 14, 2008 12:33AM
This just in:
By JOE BEL BRUNO and STEPHEN BERNARD, AP Business Writers
2 hours, 16 minutes ago
NEW YORK - The U.S. government is signaling it won't throw a lifeline to struggling financial companies — except for mortgage linchpins Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — marking a shift to a new and potentially more volatile phase of the credit crisis.
Such an approach could mean beaten-down investment banks like Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and regional banks must now fend for themselves as they try to recover from billions of dollars in mortgage-related losses — unlike Bear Stearns Cos., whose buyout the government helped orchestrate in March. That is bound to unnerve an already turbulent Wall Street and make investors even more anxious as they await financial companies' earnings expected to be down a stunning 69 percent from a year ago when all the numbers are in.
Posted by guest , Jul 14, 2008 12:51AM
Don't be silly plenty of renters in new york; as for the riskiness of those rental payments, one would assume you would factor that into your rent charge.
Don't you know we're all subprime originators? And we're all subprime, your security is an illusion. Meanwhile uncle Ben and Mr. Hanky inflate you into the stone age.
Posted by guest , Jul 14, 2008 7:23AM
ALL:
I"m looking to make a quick, easy buck. I was laid off from my job now I'm dicking around trying to extend my severance package.
So My question is:
IS IT TOO LATE TO SHORT FANNIE & FREDDIE?
It's Monday morning. So can I call my broker at Schwabb and ask him to go all otu and short FNM & FRE.
Please guys, help an unemployed person here... only true advice - my severance is on the line.
Posted by guest , Jul 14, 2008 12:30PM
so allowing the banks and brokerages to get together was a good idea, right?