Treasury to Sell Off $142B in Toxic Assets, Make Billions

The Treasury Department will start selling the $142 billion portfolio of mortgage-backed securities, the "toxic" assets it bought up during the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. The securities are mostly 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. And having bought the securities dirt-cheap, the Treasury expects to make between $15 billion and $20 billion for taxpayers in the next year. (More Treasury Department stories.)