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Started by Imperator; Last updated May 6, 08 9:00 AM CDT by P Spain | View history

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Fannie & Freddie

The cutely nick-named Fannie Mae (short for Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (short for Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) make the market for home mortgages in the U.S through their lending and guaranteeing activities . With the real estate industry in trouble, these two bulwarks of home ownership are having their own difficulties.

Stories

Stories 1 - 20 of 27

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July 2008
- A Believer in Hands-Off Now a Defender of Hands-On
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | 5 hours, 22 minutes ago
  
  Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is in the midst of a reluctant about-face of his economic principles. The Los Angeles Times looks at how Paulson—a former chief executive at Goldman Sachs with a long history of faith in laissez-faire capitalism—has had to become the point man for the Bush administration's decidedly hands-on approach to fixing the nation's economic troubles. More »
- House Passes Huge Housing Rescue Bill
  
  newser | The Hill | Jul 23, 08 5:34 PM CDT
  
  The House today approved a massive bill to provide relief for struggling homeowners, communities hit hard by the housing crisis, and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Hill reports. The bill passed 272-152 hours after President Bush switched course and said he would not veto it. The measure is expected to clear the Senate by the end of the week. More »
- Mortgage Rates Surge to 5-Year High
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 23, 08 7:40 AM CDT
  
  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 threaten to further depress the struggling housing market. More »
- Tab for Fannie, Freddie Bailout Pegged at $25B
  
  newser | MarketWatch | Jul 22, 08 12:39 PM CDT
  
  A federal bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cost $25 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said today, but there’s a better than 50% chance no rescue will be needed. The plan sought by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would extend an unlimited line of credit to the government-sponsored enterprises for the next 18 months, MarketWatch reports. More »
- Economic Recovery to Take Months: Paulson
  
  newser | Reuters | Jul 20, 08 5:42 PM CDT
  
  Henry Paulson sought to reassure Americans today that US banking is "sound" despite a growing list of troubled banks, Reuters reports. He also said the economy will stay slow for months, but expressed confidence that Congress will shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before summer recess. "Congress understands how important these institutions are," he said on Face the Nation . More »
- Freddie Eyes Selling $10B in Shares to Stave Off Bailout
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 18, 08 6:53 AM CDT
  
  Freddie Mac is considering issuing $10 billion worth of new common and preferred shares, the Wall Street Journal reports, a move that might stave off a full-blown government rescue—and the increased scrutiny that would come with it. Freddie has been emboldened by two days of big gains, with shares levitating over 29% on Wednesday and another 22% yesterday. More »
- Ex-Fannie Mae Chief: Don't Bail 'Em Out
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jul 16, 08 8:53 AM CDT
  
  Coherent policy from Washington—not a financial bailout—is what mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are most in need of, writes former Fannie chief Franklin Raines in the Washington Post . “They have more than enough capital to meet their cash obligations,” he writes, as well as billions in assets. He accuses the White House of a "multiyear effort to eliminate the companies by talking them down to the financial markets," and says they'll do fine, without subsidies, if they are given "unfettered access to the private markets." More »
- 'No Immediate Plans' to Prop Up Freddie/Fannie: Paulson
  
  newser | Bloomberg | Jul 15, 08 1:08 PM CDT
  
  The US government won't be lending capital to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the near future, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a Senate committee today. "There are no immediate plans to access either the proposed liquidity or the proposed capital backstop,'' Paulson said, and any lending to the mortgage giants would be done "under terms and conditions that protect the US taxpayer," Bloomberg reports. More »
- Mortgage Insurers Feel Pinch, Pull Back on Loans
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 15, 08 9:51 AM CDT
  
  Mortgage insurers facing mounting defaults are tightening their standards, adding another hurdle for potential homebuyers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Beleaguered and risk-averse banks are making more mortgage applicants apply for insurance, just as insurers are declaring more parts of the country “declining markets.” making insurance harder to obtain. The result is “wreaking havoc” on the industry, one bank representative tells the Wall Street Journal. More »
- Paulson's Imprimateur on Freddie/Fannie Rescue
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 15, 08 9:16 AM CDT
  
  Henry Paulson had a very busy weekend. The treasury secretary had been formulating contingency plans for bailing out beleaguered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for weeks, but Friday’s crisis came before those plans were in place, the Wall Street Journal reports in a reconstruction of events leading to the rescue, culminating in the frenzied weekend scramble to negotiate the particulars with the Fed and Congress. More »
- Fierce Lobbying Deflected Warnings on Fannie, Freddie
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jul 14, 08 1:44 PM CDT
  
  For years, critics have warned that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s special status as government-sponsored enterprises allowed them to shoulder risk far beyond their minimal capitalization requirements, the Washington Post reports. The firms have used their unique position in the financial system, and high-intensity lobbying efforts, to quash any attempt at stricter regulation. More »
- Fannie/Freddie: It's Bad, but It Could Be Worse
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 14, 08 8:32 AM CDT
  
  The government's move to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has led to new fears about the state of the American economy—but don't worry too much, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Fannie and Freddie are problematic institutions, but compared to the actions of big banks who bought up repackaged subprime mortgages, the two mortgage giants have been relatively prudent. More »
- Fannie/Freddie Troubles Signal Sea Change in Gov't Role
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 14, 08 6:54 AM CDT
  
  The teetering of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has underscored a major shift in US finance, writes Peter S. Goodman in the New York Times —once simply another guarantor, the government has effectively become the only lender in town "for millions of Americans engaged in the largest transactions of their lives." As commercial banks flee the market and credit dries up, Fannie and Freddie are now buying two-thirds of new mortgages. More »
- Washington Seeks Rescue of Freddie and Fannie
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 13, 08 5:48 PM CDT
  
  After a frenzied week that saw Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teeter near collapse, the US Treasury and Federal Reserve are seeking to save the nation's two largest mortgage finance companies. Officials say that the plan, if approved by Congress, will let the government buy billions of dollars in Freddie and Fannie stock and lend them money to cover short-term needs, the New York Times reports. More »
- Fannie, Freddie Edge Back From the Brink
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 12, 08 7:11 AM CDT
  
  Fears of a collapse of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac finally eased yesterday after a stomach-churning rollercoaster ride that saw a 50% nosedive for the mortgage giants in early trading, writes the Wall Street Journal . A week of panic, prompted in part by reports that the government was preparing rescue scenarios, seem to have abated, as Fannie and Freddie were able to continue their regular borrowing. But a bigger test looms Monday when Freddie is due to sell $3 billion of short-term debt. More »
- Fannie, Freddie Plunge Gives Short Sellers a Field Day
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 11, 08 9:29 AM CDT
  
  With the rest of the world wringing its hands over fears of a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac collapse, one tribe on Wall Street is smiling: the short sellers. Investors have bet against Fannie and Freddie in growing numbers as the two mortgage lenders' positions grew more precarious. But handsome returns as the stocks plunged 70% this year have also brought unwanted attention, the New York Times notes. More »
- As Speculation Swirls, Panic Stalks Freddie, Fannie
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 11, 08 7:56 AM CDT
  
  What started as a whisper Monday is a roar at week’s end as investors wrestle with the fate of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Wall Street Journal reports. While neither firm, which together own or back roughly half the nation’s mortgages, faces imminent collapse, awareness that the government is mulling options for a bailout has sent Wall Street into a speculative downward spiral. More »
- Feds Mull Possible Bailout for Freddie and Fannie
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 10, 08 9:49 AM CDT
  
  With the shares of mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plummeting to their lowest points in more than 15 years, the Bush administration is weighing what to do in the event of a collapse, reports the Wall Street Journal. No rescue plan is imminent—both companies are expected to be able to raise needed capital—but as home values continue to decline and more homeowners default, Treasury officials are studying contingency plans. More »
May 2008
- Big Fannie Mae Losses Prompt Fears of Failure
  
  newser | New York Times | May 6, 08 8:16 AM CDT
  
  Fannie Mae lost a worse-than-expected $2.2 billion this quarter, forcing it to cut its dividend and seek $6 billion in capital. The news is especially troubling as Fannie and Freddie Mac, the companies Washington relies on to keep the housing market functioning, are under unprecedented pressure, the New York Times reports. Many are now worried that one or both of them, after stepping in to rescue a torrent of troubled mortgages, may soon need bailouts themselves. More »
March 2008
- Freddie, Fannie Rules Eased to Boost Housing Market
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Mar 19, 08 2:53 PM CDT
  
  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to buy more mortgages after the amount of capital they're required to hold as a cushion was cut from 30% to 20% today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move by the Bush administration should pump up to $200 billion of liquidity into the mortgage-backed securities market. More »

Stories 1 - 20 of 27

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Images (4)
Videos (2)

A house is for sale Friday, June 1, 2007 in Oldwick, N.J. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday June 7, 2007 that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.53 percent this week. That was up sharply... (Associated Press)

Freddie Mac Headquarters. (Getty Images)

The Fannie Mae building in Washington, in this May 2, 2007 file photo, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, file) (Associated Press)

Real estate agents' signs line a Birmingham, Mich., street in this Feb. 21, 2007 file photo. The federal government today raised the ceiling for loans insured by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as high as... (Associated Press)

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Background

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation commonly known as Freddie Mac, privately owned, government-sponsored organization that uses private capital to buy home mortgages as a means to help lower housing costs. A sister institution to the Federal National Mortgage Association , as well as a ...

» Read more about Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation at Encyclopedia.com

Federal National Mortgage Association
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

Federal National Mortgage Association (FMNA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, a privately owned and operated corporation that is the largest purchaser and guarantor of home mortgages in the country. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Fannie Mae buys mortgages from such lenders as banks and ...

» Read more about Federal National Mortgage Association at Encyclopedia.com

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