Results tagged “fanniemae”

With conservatives wondering about the Bush administration's decision to bail out mortgage companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, White House press secretary Dana Perino shifted blame on Congress, "President Bush initiated a call years ago to try to reform this system because he did not want the status quo to continue. Unfortunately, Congress didn't act on that." She added that Bush decided to act now because of Fannie and Freddie's impact on the economy. The NY Times' first sentence notes that while Bush is the "nation's first MBA president," it was Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson who was in charge--a deputy press secretary said Bush wanted Paulson "in the driver's seat." As for the next president, Bloomberg reports that John McCain "may privatize" the institutions while Obama "sees a federal role in housing."

After the U.S. federal government moved to take over mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this past weekend, stock markets around the world rallied--trading in Tokyo ending 3.4% higher and in Hong Kong, it ended 4.3% higher. And in Europe, stocks also rose 3-4%.

Sources say that the federal government may take over mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as soon as this weekend. The Wall Street Journal says this "would represent perhaps the most significant intervention by the government in the financial industry since the housing bust touched off turmoil in the credit markets a little more than a year ago." The NY Times adds the move, which includes the feds standing behind Freddie's and Fannie's debt, "could cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and make any rescue among the largest in the nation’s history." Earlier this year, the feds bailed out Bear Stearns by orchestrating its sale to JP Morgan Chase.

Today, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is making remarks at the New York Public Library about the economy, and, according to text of the speech, he'll say he believes Congress will pass a bill to "boost confidence" in failing government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which, as Bloomber News puts it, "account for almost half of the $12 trillion mortgage market." Paulson has also been making a number of public appearances recently--Face the Nation, CNBC, various Times reporters and editors-- to boost confidence in the bill itself. In other financial news, with new CEO Robert Steel (former Treasury Undersecretary), Wachovia is announcing $8.9 billion in losses; the bank said it was leaving the wholesale mortgage business yesterday.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing on Monument Walk in Brooklyn, a stabbing on West 31st St. in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on Hughes Ave. in Brooklyn.
• Cops are looking into the death of a man who was found unconscious in the bathroom of the Knitting Factory. They're deeming the incident suspicious.
• A Columbia University hunger striker was carried off a couch after passing out from hunger. Meanwhile, a group of drunken students handed out fliers articulating (presumably in lieu of verbally) why they thought eating was a good thing.
• New York poker players are feeling nervous after last week's late-night holdup that left one player dead.
• News crews with cameras are the wrong people to get into hysterical parking rage incidents with.
• Former Congressman John Sweeney was pulled over on the NY State Thruway after he was observed driving erratically. State Troopers had no comment on the identity of the 23-year-old woman who was accompanying Sweeney when he was pulled over and later registered a BAC of .18.
• Federal regulators feel their toes are being stepped on by NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has initiated an investigation into federally guaranteed mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae.
• On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, armed forces veterans marched up Manhattan's 5th Ave. to commemorate those who have served.