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Fannie and Freddie Bailout

Started by morganb · 11 months ago

The talk of a bailout has finally been realized (as if there was ever a doubt).  On Monday, the Federal Government will explicitly guarantee the debt of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae by lending it money and by buying billions of dollars in mortgage debt held by the two giants.  Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson asked [...] ... Continue reading »

11 comments

  • Goodbye ...democracy and hello ...socialism....

    If the goverment becomes the major "stockholder" in Fannie and Freddie..rest assure the rules of the game are going to change dramatically for all involved...
  • I don't know what's going to happen to the dollar. How close are we
    to a currency crisis??
  • If anyone else is feeling that chill going up your spine..please feel free to know..you are not alone...

    The Iranian president said it best..he doesn't need to fire one rocket towards the United States..we are going to collapse economically all on our own...due to our love of debt and our inability to handle our own finances...

    Be ready people..I am not normally a doom and gloom kind of person..but the idea that the goverment wants to "buy" toxic debt to add to our already overwhelming deficit make the rants of a great depression in our future seem all to real...
  • I think that the government had this plan for a long time. This debt only became toxic in the last few years. Fannie and Freddy was a healthy cash cow for years.

    Do not forget a few years back when Freddy had an accounting scandal..they were hiding money because they made to much, and was saving for a rainy day.

    I really think the government is looking at taking over Fanny and Freddy bailing them out of our national debt. Knowing that in a short time, a few years, Fanny and Freddy will be the cash cow once again.

    This time Fanny and Freddy will be more of a cash cow than ever, the majority of their competition are out of business. So most America's will have to get a loan with Fanny or Freddy.

    By allowing rates to be so low, and allowing crazy loans the powers that be knew this was coming, and dare I say made it happen.
  • I think this is less about bailing out the GSEs and more about
    ensuring the debt that the Chinese hold in Fannie and Freddie
    securitized MBS.
  • Well, it's a mess. I'm probably going to get grief for this, but this is what happens when gov't oversight is lacking. Add it a 25 year buying binge, a lousy monetary policy the last seven years and becoming even MORE addicted to foreign oil, something we should have started to eliminate back in the 70's.

    This shill of an economy has finally run out of steam.

    Welcome to reality. The country is broke and the jobs are disappearing faster than the value of Fannie stock.

    The party is over.
  • While I am not pleased that it has come to this. It should be no surprise to anyone that the federal government is backing fanny and freddie. There has always been an implied backing.

    There seems to be a lot of speculation that somehow this backing will result in the failiure of our banking system when in fact it will lead to more stability. The country simply can not afford to have conventional mortgage money dry up. Too many sectors of our economy depend on a healthy housing market.

    The GSEs have been successfully operationing since the 1930s and have produced hugh profits. I personally think that when all of the dust settles the taxpayers have made a wise investment.

    Keep in mind that at the moment the GSEs capital levels are adequate. Keep in mind that housing would need to fall another 20% and delinquencies would need to rise several times forefold for them to run out of their present capital base.

    What the fed did today is what we all should have expected them to do. The only people that are truly upset are the short sellers. GREED
  • I disagree. They are completely undercapitalized. For holding or financing $6 trillion in mortgages they are techincally insolvent. They're out raising $3 billion in equity at 10 bucks a share. That's not well capitalized.

    I think George Soros' former partner Jim Rodgers has it pretty well pegged:

    "``These companies were going to go bankrupt if they hadn't stepped in to do something, and they should've gone bankrupt with all of the mistakes they've made,'' Rogers said. ``What's going to happen when you Band-Aid and put some Band-Aids on it for another year or two or three? What's going to happen three years from now when the situation's much, much, much worse?'' "

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087...
  • If the Goverment bails Frannie and Freddie out, We will definantly be in trouble!

    Ryan
  • We'll be in bigger trouble if they don't. I don't like it either, but I don't want to spend the next 10 years trying to crawl out of a Depression.
  • Morgan, I have to disagree with pretty much everything you have said.

    #1. Fannie has a default rate of 1.2%! They are writing new debt every single day and selling it quite well right now. That means the company is doing business the increased foreclosures are a percentage loss to their bottom line. They have lost some big money as of late, but people act like they are foreclosing on half their portfolio! It is only 1.2% of their debts that have defaults and not all of those foreclose.

    #2. The government hasn't spent a dime of taxpayers dollars yet. If they buy into Fannie and Freddie, they will probably make profit from it long term. The most likely event would be Freddie borrowing some cash from the Fed at 2.25%, which the fed allows investment banks to do anyway.

    #3. The biggest threat to Fannie and Freddie is over. The single largest threat to them both was a loss of confidence int he bond markets. If investors quit buying their paper... game over. That issue is dead. Investors now know that old Uncle Sam is behind them and the debt is low risk. As long as they can sell their securities, they can move forward and make money.

    Side note - Fannie and Freddie have never really done a lot of "risky" loans. I am a loan officer and trust me, Fannie and Freddie kept their noses clean. I am not saying they are in great shape here, but they are just suffering from the tremendous mess caused by the subprime idiots. THIS IS A SUBPRIME CAUSED CRISIS NOT A CONFORMING CRISIS.

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