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NEWS ABOUT: mortgage backed securities

Credit Relief Flows Slowly—When It Flows at All

Consumer aid package won't budge pickier banks

(Newser) - With hundreds of billions of dollars pumping into the calcified credit markets, many struggling Americans are expecting to see some relief, but many will be disappointed, the New York Times reports. Banks continue to stiffen loan eligibility requirements even as strapped consumers face deteriorating credit scores, and whole categories of... More »

Freddie Posts Record $25.3B Loss; Taps $13B Infusion

(Newser) - Freddie Mac, the swamped mortgage giant seized by the government two months ago, asked for $13.8 billion from the Treasury today after a record quarterly loss plunged its net worth into the negative, Bloomberg reports. Sister company Fannie Mae, also under government control, said this week it might need... More »

Firms Wary of Treasury's Stalled Toxic-Asset Bailout

As Treasury shifts gears from assets to equity stakes, firms shy away

(Newser) - A survey of more than 400 financial institutions found a large percentage are reluctant to participate in the $700 billion bailout program because of confusion, the Wall Street Journal reports. As Treasury hastily shifted gears from the original plan to buy toxic debt to taking equity positions in banks, more... More »

Schwarzman Weighs In on Market Reforms

Private-equity billionaire says regs should be global, streamlined

(Newser) - With the world in “the worst financial crisis in recent memory,” private-equity billionaire Stephen Schwarzman advocates seizing the opportunity to prevent a repeat. In an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, the Blackstone CEO, who pocketed $677 million from the firm’s IPO last year, calls for... More »

US May Buy Equity in More Firms

After seeing some thawing in key credit markets, Treasury may expand program

(Newser) - Treasury is considering using some of the $700 billion at its disposal to buy stakes in a range of financial companies beyond banks, the Wall Street Journal reports. The idea comes after seeing measured success in thawing credit markets by taking equity stakes in several banks. Treasury may also abandon... More »

How Hank Paulson Blew $125B

The banks have the cash, but why is everyone surprised they're not lending?

(Newser) - Not too long ago, critics from left and right were clamoring for Hank Paulson to abandon his plan buy up toxic mortgage-backed securities at auction to unlock credit markets. Instead, they argued, the government should give money directly to banks for them to lend. Too bad Paulson listened, writes Steven... More »

AIG Has Already Spent Most of $123B Bailout

Ailing insurance giant warns it may need more help

(Newser) - Struggling insurance giant AIG, recipient of the largest government bailout in history, has burned through three-quarters of its $123 billion financial lifeline, the Washington Post reports. As of yesterday, AIG has withdrawn $90.3 billion from the Federal Reserve’s credit line, mostly to pay off bad bets insuring toxic... More »

Tough German Bailout Caps Bank Salaries

Bonuses, dividends also nixed for troubled firms' execs

(Newser) - The German cabinet approved the terms of a $645 billion bailout plan today—which includes a salary cap for top bank managers. Banks who take part in the bailout must cap managers' salaries at about $670,000 and withhold bonuses and dividends. Some of Germany's top banks have said they... More »

Swiss Offer UBS $60B Bailout

Troubled banking giant will get capital injection, offload bad debts

(Newser) - Switzerland became the latest nation to shore up struggling banks, reports the Telegraph, as it bailed out UBS to the tune of $60 billion today. The Swiss central bank will offer UBS a capital injection of $6 billion in exchange for 9% of the company, and it will allow UBS ... More »

Bailout Czar Kashkari Joins World's Big Money Elite

After brisk rise through Treasury, 35-year-old has purse to rival largest sovereign funds

(Newser) - A behind-the-scenes player at the Treasury Department just weeks ago, 35-year-old Neel Kashkari’s financial heft as the agency’s bailout czar puts him on par with the heads of sovereign wealth funds, Politico reports. The self-described “free-market Republican” enjoyed a meteoric rise through the department, where he was... More »

GOP Is Brilliant at Blaming the Victim: Frank

Conservatives can't admit deregulation has failed, says Frank

(Newser) - Even in a financial crisis obviously precipitated by an orgy of deregulation, writes Wall Street Journal columnist Thomas Frank, the right has done a spectacular job deflecting blame. Looking to point the finger at something other than "unbridled pecuniary motives," conservatives have targeted Democrat-friendly Fannie Mae and Freddie... More »

O'Neill on Bush: He Doesn't Get It, and 'It Shows'

Former treasury chief says leaders are acting out of 'panic'

(Newser) - Former Treasury chief Paul O'Neill doesn't have a lot of confidence in the ability of his old boss to find a financial solution, ABC News reports. “I don’t think he understands or knows much about any of this and it shows,” O’Neill said of President Bush.... More »

The GOP Plan: Less Regulation, Private Funding

Bush, Paulson, Dems reject conservative counterproposal

(Newser) - When John Boehner scuppered the nearly-sealed bailout deal at yesterday's meeting, the House minority leader proposed an alternative plan: a bank-financed insurance system that would rescue individual mortgages. Under the GOP proposal, the government would not buy up the toxic mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the crisis but instead... More »

Paulson Outlines His 'Bold' Bailout

He and Bush say it's urgent to act now to stabilize markets

(Newser) - Henry Paulson confirmed today that he is working on a "bold" plan to buy bad loans from banks, the Wall Street Journal reports. Such a plan would cost taxpayers “hundreds of billions of dollars,” Paulson said, but he believes it is necessary to stabilize the economy. “... More »

Feds Search for WaMu Buyer

Falling share price stokes worries of a bank run

(Newser) - Washington Mutual, America's largest savings and loan, may be the next big financial institution to fail, the New York Post reports. Fearing a run on the struggling bank, federal regulators placed calls yesterday gauging interest in a WaMu buyout to Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, and others, but no... More »

Dow Gains 303 Points; Oil Drops

Fannie's losses don't phase market

(Newser) - A big rally topped a rollercoaster week today as the markets surged on a drop in oil of nearly $5 a barrel, MarketWatch reports. The Dow gained 302.89 points to close at 11,734.32, the Nasdaq rose 58.37 to 2,414.10, and the S&P 500... More »

Greenspan to Government: Hands Off

Market capitalism can ride out the crisis, writes former Fed boss

(Newser) - The credit crisis is far from over, and more banks and financial institutions might require government bailouts along the way, Alan Greenspan acknowledges. The crunch will relax only when home prices, "the ultimate collateral support for much of the financial world’s mortgage-backed securities," begin to stabilize, the... More »

Financial Faith Is Crisis' Top Casualty

One year in, credit crunch has upset all expectations about modern markets

(Newser) - Last summer, central banks injected hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system, desperate to restore liquidity to battered markets. But by then the credit crunch was on—and after 12 months, it shows no signs of abating. The Financial Times looks at how risky US mortgages set off... More »

Merrill Panic May Mark Bottom of Stock Market

Once regaled for cavalier confidence, CEO's chief cuts losses

(Newser) - Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain has seen better days, Floyd Norris writes in the New York Times. He's gone from “cockiness to capitulation. Distinction to desperation.” Thain recently unloaded a bundle of his company’s securities for 22 cents on the dollar and raised $8.5 billion from... More »

Mortgage Rates Surge to 5-Year High

Problems with Freddie, Fannie threaten further woes for housing market

(Newser) - Mortgage rates rose yesterday to a 5-year high of 6.71% as investors worried that—even with government intervention—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wouldn’t play as big a role in the $12 trillion US mortgage market as in the past, reports the New York Times. The rising rates... More »

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