Fannie, Freddie Shares Soar After Restraints Loosened

Washington Post by David S. Hilzenrath | Mar. 22, 2008 (News Report)

For years, federal regulators have cast Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a potential threat to the financial system -- dangerously large, lacking in regulatory restraints and consumed with enriching themselves. This week, regulators ... gave them license to do business with even looser restraints. Facing a deepening crisis, the government gave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac authority to operate with thinner financial cushions, which could increase their ... Full Story »

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by Stephen Pizzo - Oct. 1, 2008

If Fannie and Freddie did not already exist the feds would have had to create them now in order to deal with the ever-spreading credit/housing crisis. Without a federal guarantee -- implied or otherwise -- mortgage lending would grind to a complete halt. Having said that I remain concerned about the kind of profits these two quasi governmental agencies are allowed to take out of the system, largely because of the implied taxpayer-backing. I covered both these entities for years and was always shocked by their near-monopoly status, arrogance and the opulence their top officers indulge in.