Fannie & Freddie

(Newser) - Fannie Mae reported its fourth straight losing quarter today, Bloomberg reports, coming in $2.3 billion in the red and slashing its dividend. The $2.51-per-share loss far exceeded the 72-cent average predicted by analysts, much as Freddie Mac surprised investors two days ago. “Neither of these companies have properly provisioned for what we're heading into,” said one analyst. “This thing is going to get worse and last longer and deeper than they originally thought.” More »

(Newser) - Rising delinquencies and a still-skidding home market combined to make Freddie Mac’s second quarter losses three times worse than analysts predicted, reports Bloomberg . The government-backed mortgage enterprise lost $821 million, or $1.63, in the quarter, prompting it to also announce a third quarter slash in dividends from 25 cents to 5 cents a share. More »

(Newser) - The CEO of Freddie Mac disregarded several warnings from inside the company that the mortgage giant faced imminent disaster. More than two dozen current and former high-ranking employees told the New York Times that Richard Syron dismissed repeated recommendations from as early as 2004 to limit its exposure to bad loans, which now threaten to saddle taxpayers with a multibillion-dollar bailout. More »

(AP) - Congress has passed a housing rescue bill aimed at sparing 400,000 struggling homeowners from foreclosure. President Bush is expected to sign the measure quickly. The Senate passed the legislation by a 72-13 vote in a rare Saturday session. The measure lets homeowners who cannot afford their monthly payments refinance into more affordable government-backed loans rather than losing their homes. More »

(Newser) - 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 »