Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac

New Treasury Plan May Lower Mortgage Rates — The Treasury Department is considering plans being pushed by trade groups to intervene directly into the mortgage market to dramatically force down rates and stimulate the moribund housing market, according to idustry sources familiar wih the matter. One proposal calls for Treasury to buy the securities that finance home loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the financing giants that back most mortgages in the United States, according to two industry sources who have spoken to Treasury officials.... [Tags: fannie mae, fannie mae and freddie mac, finance, freddie mac, giants]

Alan Schram: How big is this Bailout? — How Big is this Bailout? So far we have the $700 billion bank bailout, another $700 billion "stimulus package" proposed by President Elect Obama, and the $800 billion fund Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has at his discretion, trying to jolt consumers into buying again. These come on top of the $200 billion to keep Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac alive, the $140 billion (so far) lifeline for AIG, the $34 billion sustenance needed to save the big three auto makers, the $29 billion bailout of Bear Stearns, and the $20 billion for Citigroup. You throw a few tens of billions... [Tags: alexander hamilton, auto makers, bank bailout, bear stearns, epic proportions]

Treasury May Seek to Cut Mortgage Rates: Report — A published report says the plan would use Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to push 30-year rates as low as 4.5%.... [Tags: fannie mae, fannie mae and freddie mac, freddie mac, mortgage rates, treasury]

Charities Struggle Just When Needed Most — Just when unemployment and homelessness are spiking, charities are struggling. Companies and foundations that were often big supporters of local charities are among the biggest victims of the economic downturn. In the Washington, D.C. area, the largest charitable donors — to the tune of $47 million a year — were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty visits one shelter for battered women, where staffers are trying to figure out how to make ends meet.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us... [Tags: barbara bradley, battered women, charitable donors, charities, e mail]

Emerging Economic Trends: Housing Swaps, Frugality, and Selling Homes in Lower Priced Areas. — The selling pressure on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been heavy this week after a Barron’s article published on the weekend made the case that both government sponsored entities would require a full fledged bailout.  This was made clear even prior to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 being signed into law.  […]Related Posts:■Real Homes of Genius: Two For One in Compton. Southern California Housing Bubble Hangover.■Real Homes of Genius: Today we Salute you Paramount. 768 Square Feet for $324,900. Buy, Withdraw, Sell, Foreclose. The Cycle of Life.■World Premier! Real Homes of Genius Video.■Real Homes of Genius:... [Tags: bailout, barron, california housing bubble, compton, cycle of life]

Government Officials Go To 'Bailout Well' Again — Federal officials are hoping they have finally found a way to jump-start the sagging credit markets and get the economy moving again. It involves buying or guaranteeing up to $800 billion in debt — much of it held by the giant mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. » E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us... [Tags: bailout, credit markets, e mail, economy, fannie mae]

Treasury Unveils New Plan To Bolster Markets — The Bush administration and the Federal Reserve have unveiled a stepped up plan to fight the ongoing financial crisis. The Fed is committing as much as $600 billion to shore-up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Fed and Treasury are also moving to get the economy going again by putting up to $200 billion to work in secondary markets for consumer lending. » E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us... [Tags: bush administration, e mail, economy, fannie mae, fannie mae and freddie mac]

Economic Bailout Roundup — Despite recent relative improvements in the stock markets, both the incoming and the outgoing teams in charge of regulating America's economy unveiled new plans today to help the country through the current crisis. At a press conference early in the day, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson revealed an $800 billion plan to help unfreeze consumer debt, a program that he called vital. Paulson says key markets for consumer debt such as credit cards, auto loans and student loans essentially came to a halt in October. He says the new programs are aimed to get lending back to more normal levels.... [Tags: barack obama, budget deficit, budget director, budget reform, dollar plan]

Fed Will Buy Mortgage-Related Assets — WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve said Tuesday it will buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed assets in another attempt to deal with the financial crisis. The Fed said it will purchase up to $100 billion in direct obligations from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as the Federal Home Loan Banks. It also will purchase another $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities, pools of mortgages that are bundled together and sold to investors. The $600 billion effort on mortgages came as the Fed also unveiled a new program to help unfreeze the market that backs consumer debt... [Tags: auto loans, bailout, consumer debt, consumer loans, credit histories]

Alan Schram: Paulson Policy Failures — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made some disastrous decisions that had major unintended consequences. One of those was the decision to nationalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Once the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, supposedly preemptively, shareholders of every other financial company that perhaps needed capital were left with no choice but to sell aggressively, fearing the government might decide to preemptively wipe them out also. This made it impossible for any company to raise the capital it needed or wanted. About a week later Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch was forced to sell to Bank... [Tags: bank of america, capital infusions, capital providers, ceo john, counterparty risk]

Citi Bailout Gives Investors Reason to Smile — Citigroup's rescue conceived by federal officials does not wipe out common and preferred shareholders, like earlier efforts to save Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did.... [Tags: bailout, citigroup, fannie mae, fannie mae and freddie mac, federal officials]

Citi's Investors Have it Better Than Fannie's and Freddie's — Citigroup's rescue conceived by federal officials does not wipe out common and preferred shareholders, like earlier efforts to save AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did.... [Tags: aig, citi, citigroup, fannie mae, fannie mae and freddie mac]

US stocks look to open higher on Citigroup plan — NEW YORK — Wall Street showed relief early Monday over the government's plan to bail out Citigroup Inc. _ a move it hopes will help address some of the uncertainty hounding the financial sector. Stock index futures contracts indicated the market was poised to extend a sharp rally from Friday. While the markets anticipated late last week that some sort of rescue was likely, investors appeared emboldened by the U.S. government's decision late Sunday to invest $20 billion in Citigroup and guarantee $306 billion in risky assets. The move by the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit... [Tags: american international group, american international group inc, bailout plan, citigroup inc, economic recovery plan]

Steve Forbes: Paulson "Worst Treasury Secretary" In Modern Times — Forbes magazine President and CEO Steve Forbes called Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson "the worst treasury secretary we've had in modern times", citing, among other things, the government's handling of the housing crisis. In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Sunday, Forbes repeatedly called on the treasury secretary to be more straightforward about the money used to bail out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.... [Tags: ceo, cnn, fannie mae, fannie mae and freddie mac, forbes magazine]

Annaly Capital (NLY): ‘In the sweet spot for historic yields’ — Filed under: Newsletters, Stocks to Buy, Recession “Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY) is in the sweet spot,” says Steve Sjuggerud in Daily Wealth. He says, “It borrows money at a low interest rate and invests it at a higher rate — and earns the ’spread’.” “The cost of money is historically low, and it’s headed lower. Meanwhile, relative to the cost of money, the return on money is higher than it’s ever been. “The ultimate way trade on this historic discrepancy, for high-returns with very low risk, is through shares of companies like Annaly, which is now s now paying... [Tags: buy stocks, cost of borrowing, credit markets, discrepancy, dividend yield]

Morning Mortgage Meltdown: A Fannie and Freddie Thanksgiving: A little holiday mercy from the... — A little holiday mercy from the unlikeliest of sources: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are holding off on foreclosure sales of owner-occupied homes between November 26 and January 9. Now Tiny Tim can share some Christmas cheer in peace -- at least until Scrooge gets him next year. [SF Business Times]... [Tags: christmas, christmas cheer, fannie mae, fannie mae and freddie mac, foreclosure sales]

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Halting Foreclosures During Holidays — WASHINGTON — Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are suspending foreclosures for about 16,000 households during the holiday season. The two companies said Thursday that they will halt foreclosure sales between Nov. 26 and Jan. 9, while they evaluate whether borrowers qualify for a new loan modification program announced last week. Fannie Mae said about 10,000 households would be affected, while Freddie Mac said the changes would affect about 6,000 borrowers who are facing foreclosure. The change does not apply to vacant homes. The announcement "provides a new measure of certainty to many of these families during the... [Tags: barclays, barclays capital, borrowers, ceos, david moffett]

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac halting foreclosures — WASHINGTON -- Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are suspending foreclosures for about 16,000 households during the holiday season.... [Tags: fannie mae, fannie mae and freddie mac, foreclosures, freddie mac, holiday season]

TARP, Capital Purchase Program…Making It Up As They Go Along? — There was an eruption across news networks and websites earlier this week as Henry Paulson announced that the Federal bailout package, dubbed the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) would no longer function as a program to purchase troubled assets. Sparing no time to allow the irony of this to sink in, Paulson proceeded to outline what many of us have been suspecting all along. The first portion of the bailout money, approximately $260 billion, has been set aside to purchase stock in banks.This has been fittingly dubbed the Capital Purchase Program (CPP). There are a few different ways to... [Tags: american banking, bailout package, banking system, different ways, fannie mae]

Olympic Gold Medal: Greenspan Tells us Housing will Bottom in 2009. Meantime Foreclosure Filings hit Historical Record. — What may be more amazing than one Olympian swimming for 8 gold medals is the continued revisionist delusion of our former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.  Greenspan in typical revisionist fashion, is now stating publicly that the government should have allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders to be wiped out while breaking up the […]Related Posts:■Housing Perception Foreclosing on Reality: The Fundamental Housing Attribution Error.■Parallel Universe: Housing Still Hurting on Main Street while Wall Street Celebrates.■The Abyss is Deep: The Housing Abyss is Deep: 4 Major Reasons Why Housing in Southern California is Nowhere Near a Bottom.■Foreclosure Nation: More... [Tags: adjustable rate mortgages, alan greenspan, bear stearns, chairman alan greenspan, crony capitalism]