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NEWS ABOUT: Freddie Mac

Candidates Return to Capital to Back Bailout

McCain, Obama stress urgent need for financial intervention

(Newser) - The presidential candidates took a break from stumping today to visit Washington, DC, and support the Senate's financial bailout plan, the New York Times reports. Barack Obama repeated his pro-bailout argument on the Senate floor, saying that "the worldwide economy could be plunged into a very, very deep hole.... More »

Freddie Mac Paid Monthly $15K to McCain Aide's Firm

Payments just ended this month

(Newser) - A firm owned by John McCain's campaign manager received $15,000 a month from Freddie Mac until the mortgage giant was taken over by the government this month, insiders tell the New York Times. McCain insisted just days ago that it's been years since aide Rick Davis had any contact... More »

FBI Begins Probe of AIG, Lehman, Fannie, Freddie

(AP) - The FBI is investigating four major US financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700-billion bailout plan by the Bush administration. The agency is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, insurer AIG and Lehman Brothers. The inquiries will focus on the companies and... 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 »

How Much More Will Taxpayers Have to Pony Up?

The US has pledged some $320 billion in bailouts for struggling enterprises

(Newser) - More than $320 billion in taxpayer funding has already been pledged to treat firms sickened by the subprime contagion—more than twice the $124 billion the government spent fixing the savings and loan crisis in the 1980s, reports the Los Angeles Times. The question, writes Michael Hiltzik, is how much... More »

Her Golden Parachute Fine With McCain

'No analogy' between Fiorina's $45M from HP, subprime payouts

(Newser) - John McCain and Sarah Palin made a point yesterday of blasting CEOs who left their companies with multimillion-dollar golden parachutes while workers and shareholders suffered. But McCain’s top economic adviser deployed just such a shiny parachute when Hewlett-Packard ousted her, ABC News reports. Carly Fiorina pocketed $45 million, even... More »

How Market Turmoil Affects Campaign

Obama, McCain haven't talked much about US economy—now they'll have to

(Newser) - The crisis on Wall Street will change the shape of the presidential campaign in its final weeks, forcing both sides to adjust their messages and strategies. Mike Allen, in Politico, details four major effects:
  • Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama has talked much, or in detail, about economic plans. No
... More »

Wall Street Rumbling Means Little on Main Street

Financial meltdown has small effect on 'real economy': Kaletsky

(Newser) - Fannie and Freddie have been nationalized, Lehman has collapsed, Merrill Lynch has been bought out—an economic disaster, right? Not really, Anatole Kaletsky writes in the Times of London: The US economy is actually showing signs of improvement. More than ever, "there is no contradiction between expecting a recovery,... More »

Credit Crisis at Tipping Point

As troubles mount, US government's intervention shows signs of strain

(Newser) - The federal government keeps taking aggressive steps to keep the markets from flying off the rails, and yet here we are again: facing another crisis and wondering how much intervention is necessary, the Wall Street Journal reports. With government intervention showing signs of strain amid entrenched economic problems, the crisis... More »

McCain, Obama Both Have Ties to Loan Giants

Both took cash from leaders; McCain's manager is GSEs' ex-lobbyist

(Newser) - Barack Obama and John McCain are both railing against the excesses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the campaign trail, and promising to end the lobbyist culture in Washington that led to their fall. But both candidates and their parties have multiple ties to Fannie and Freddie, the New ... More »

Mortgage Rates Fall After Fannie, Freddie Bailout

Average 30-year loan rates drop nearly half a point

(Newser) - The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sent mortgage rates plummeting today, MSNBC reports. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped nearly half a percentage point to 5.88%, dipping below 6% for the first time since January. The average rate for a 15-year loan is down to... More »

Senator: Fire 'Socialist' Paulson

Ky.'s Bunning appears to have problem with Fannie/Freddie move

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson saved Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but now he may have to worry about saving his own job: One Republican senator called his policies socialist and recommended that he and Fed chief Ben Bernanke resign, Bloomberg reports. “They have taken the free market out of... More »

Fannie/Freddie Rescue Not Radical Enough

Feds must return GSEs to original purpose of providing liquidity

(Newser) - The Treasury’s rescue plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be “superbly crafted,” Steven Rattner writes in the Washington Post, but it won’t solve the government-sponsored entities’ problems. Continuing as private-sector enterprises is a setup that “simply doesn’t work.” The GSEs had... More »

Fannie, Freddie CEOs in Line for Millions in Severance

Mudd, Syron each stand to net at least $6M; critics rip 'pay for failure'

(Newser) - The CEOs of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will receive millions in severance pay, pension payouts, and other benefits after the government’s takeover of the mortgage giants, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fannie’s Daniel Mudd stands to take away $7.3 million, and Freddie’s Richard Syron will... More »

Bailout Likely to Sink Some Small Banks

Those with significant Fannie/Freddie stock face capital crunch

(Newser) - The government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the resulting crash of the value of the companies’ shares, has started a domino effect that likely will push some smaller banks into failure, the Washington Post reports. Some institutions heavily invested in the seemingly safe stocks will find... More »

Battle Lines Drawn in Freddie, Fannie Fight

Making mortgage giants public, breaking them up or nursing them to health seen as options

(Newser) - What Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae look like in the future—and whether they continue to exist in a recognizable form at all—depends on how Washington looks next year, the New York Times reports. The battle already has begun, with the White House and congressional Democrats blaming each other... More »

In Times of Crisis, Paulson's the 'Decider'

Fannie-Freddie bailout shows Treasury sec enjoys a free hand

(Newser) - Last week, a small group met in the Oval Office to discuss the impending takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But while President Bush convened the meeting, there was no mistaking who was running the show: Hank Paulson, who had first floated public ownership and who oversaw every aspect... More »

Bailout Rally Tails Off Late

Persistent worries about the non-financial economy temper gains

(Newser) - US stocks rallied as traders bet the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would help the economy recover, but lost some of those gains—with the Nasdaq even flirting with losses—as the day wore on, MarketWatch reports. Nonetheless, the Dow gained 289.78, closing at 11,510.74.... More »

Housing Will Bottom June 30, 2009: Cramer

Bombastic guru lists 10 signs of a real-estate turnaround

(Newser) - Jim Cramer has spent over a year “shouting in my usual unhinged way” about the bleak real estate market, he writes in New York. But now he’s so confident housing’s headed for a bottom that he’ll name the exact date: June 30, 2009. Why?
  1. New home
... More »

US Must Strike Fine Balance on Mortgage Bailout

Deficit makes coordinated response economically, psychologically crucial

(Newser) - A global storm continues to threaten the world’s economies, and the US government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is just one step, albeit a major one, toward recovery. Whether the latest attempt to right the ship succeeds "ultimately boils down to two big issues," writes... More »

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