"Takeover effects begin to take hold; Mortgage rates drop after US takes over Fannie and Freddie, but relief for housing sector may come slowly" by Jenifer B. McKim and Kimberly Blanton, Globe Staff | September 9, 2008
Consumers saw an immediate benefit from the government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when mortgage rates dropped by as much as half a percentage point yesterday, pushing the 30-year fixed rate to well below 6 percent.
The takeover is spurring cautious optimism in the ailing housing industry, which is struggling with foreclosures and declining values.
Brian Koss, managing director of Mortgage Network in Danvers, said that although the lower rates are helpful, they won't change the fact that more people are having trouble getting loans because of stricter lending guidelines imposed in recent months.
So WHERE DID ALL THAT BAILOUT LIQUIDITY GO?
See: Bernanke Grabs Plunger for U.S. Economy
"Rates are not what is keeping people from getting homes today. The people who can't qualify today aren't going to qualify tomorrow," Koss said.
Yup, but there was CNN's business puke yesterday telling us how great the lower rates were gonna be for everyone!!!!
And Alex Coon, market manager for Redfin Corp. in Boston, expected that even more prospective buyers will be unable to get loans as Freddie and Fannie further tighten lending regulations and shrink the number of loans they will cover.
However, Coon said those with good credit and at least a 5 percent down payment should be able to get loans.
Or the WEALTHY, who NEVER HAVE PROBLEMS AT ALL!!!!
See: The Economic Untouchables
The Boston Globe Worships the Wealthy Elite
Only U.S. Elite Need Apply
The Comfortable Class Above It All
--more--"So WHERE are those TAX DOLLARS GOING? To PAY OFF LOOTERS!!!!
That must really make you happy as you sit in that shit home that is worth less than you paid, huh, Amurkn?
"Syron might leave with $6.3m in severance" by Robert Gavin, Globe Staff | September 9, 2008
Freddie Mac chief executive Richard Syron, who will lose his job in the government takeover of the mortgage giant, could receive a severance package worth about $6.3 million under his agreement with Freddie, according to an executive compensation specialist.
For doing a shit job?
That figure is much diminished by the plunge in Freddie's stock value, which closed at less than $1 a share yesterday. At the end of last year, the stock component of Syron's severance package was worth as much as $13.8 million, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Awwww, poor richer looter!
Syron would also receive about $3.7 million in salary and bonus and $2.3 million in pension benefits, according to Hodgson's analysis of Freddie Mac's SEC filings.
I just want to know when Americans get sick of being fucked in the ass by these parasitical looters? What is it going to take for the hangings to begin, AmeriKa?
--more--"
So what is next?
You don't ask a firefighter how a house should be rebuilt while he's busy fighting the blaze.
So this is the wrong time to ask Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson too many questions about the eventual disposition of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Paulson has a lot on his plate and, besides, he probably won't be in Washington when those questions are finally answered.
Like this entire fucking administration!
Leaving US CITIZENS HOLDING the BAG!
Fannie and Freddie were called hybrids because they were public companies owned by shareholders but enjoyed the implied financial backing of the federal government. They could grow aggressively and borrow cheaply because everyone believed the government had their backs. Shareholders got the profits and taxpayers got the risk, which was considered only theoretical until it turned out to be real. This is an expensive version of heads they win, tales you lose. Now both have lost.
Yup, only "theoretical "until it TURNED OUT TO BE REAL!"
Which is why I WILL NEVER BELIEVE MSM BULLSHIT-CHUCKERS AGAIN -- EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The alternative to the private solution, turning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into nationalized operations from the start, may be inevitable. Investors are so skittish today, it's hard to imagine them buying a mortgage bond that didn't come with some kind of government backing. But that option comes with baggage.
I thought this was AMERICA, not some SOCIALIST FUCKING COUNTRY!!!!
And yet, HERE WE ARE!!!!
First, government can screw up a mortgage business just as easily as private business interests. The profit motive of private investors was only one cause of Fannie and Freddie's current woes. Another was the political interests of elected officials who saw expanded home ownership as a powerful populist theme.
Yeah, that means BUSH so WHY NOT SAY IT, SHIT MSM?!
Because you guys are SENDING HIM OFF on a HIGH NOTE, huh?
Yup, SAVED the ECONOMY, won Iraq, and what else -- gonna "FIND" THE DEAD GUY SOON?
"CALLER: Yes. My question is the secret technology that you spoke of, if it's so good, why don't we use it to catch bin Laden. Did you ask the general about that? KING: Bob? WOODWARD: Very good question. I don't say it's technology. I would say it's operations, and the White House released a statement last week saying there are newly developed techniques and operations. So we'll see. Maybe they can use it on bin Laden and, all of a sudden, the September or the October surprise is going to be the apprehension or the death of bin Laden."
More important, it isn't clear why the federal government should be taking the financial risk of guaranteeing trillions of dollars in mortgages, and perhaps owning many other home loans, if there is a private alternative. True, government does that today through Fannie and Freddie, but such scale is part of our current problem.
A mortgage market dominated by the government would also discourage private capital. Who wants to compete directly with Uncle Sam?
Private markets are far from perfect. They can run into serious trouble, as many have in the past year. But they're the better first option to fix the nation's mortgage mess in the long run.
Two famous mutual fund managers looked at the troubled mortgage market and came to very different conclusions. One bet right, one bet wrong. Both bet big.
Bond fund manager Bill Gross of Pimco Total Return was convinced the government would back mortgage debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He invested two out of every three dollars of his $132 billion fund in mortgage securities. Those bonds soared yesterday thanks to the government's weekend bailout of Fannie and Freddie.
Stock fund manager Bill Miller of Legg Mason Value Trust thought the common shares of Freddie Mac were a screaming buy. As those shares declined in value, he bought more.
A month ago, Miller's group disclosed it had increased its Freddie Mac holdings from 50 million shares to 79 million shares, more than 10 percent of the company. Freddie shares, down 97 percent this year, fell $4.22 yesterday to 88 cents each.
"The watchword: uncertainty "