Freddie Mac: $2.5 billion Loss, CEO "Extremely Cautious"
Submitted by
CalculatedRisk on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 7:43am (60 comments)
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OT note on CP,
Outstanding balance increased in ABCP and total CP, but the 30 day spread opened up to 69 bps...
Freddie's CEO is acting like we still live in a society where money is meaningful and functions as a store of one's labor and wealth.
Freddie's CEO is acting like we still live in a society where money is meaningful and functions as a store of one's labor and wealth.
will somebody smack some sense into this guy?
And in case this hasn't been posted yet:
U.S. mortgage rates jump, erasing three months of declines
I'd throw some mention of gas prices in there too.
Thanks Ben.
GS getting smacked back down today after yesterdays small pump.
Well, I'm being "extremely cautious" also. I could afford to buy a place, but am continuing to rent.
Hmmm.
Caution everywhere these days.
heaven help Wall St if Paulson gets it into his head to save his legacy. will someone smack some sense into this guys head?
Paulson Dismisses Mortgage Rescue Plans - WSJ.com
oh my glod!
heaven help Wall St if Paulson gets it into his head to save his legacy. will someone smack some sense into this guys head?
I'm thinking maybe the Bush admin started reading some poll results about what people think of these bailouts.
the banks will head back down now from the cascading vrdos.
I'm thinking maybe the Bush admin started reading some poll results about what people think of these bailouts.
thats my thinking too. playing politics again. whodathunk?
Um, did some news get delivered at 11am est that I missed?
Um, did some news get delivered at 11am est that I missed?
its called collapsing under your own weight.
bernanke said some small banks will fail and that the big banks need more capital
idoc,
Never mind your glod - take a look at your sliver!
heaven help Wall St if Paulson gets it into his head to save his legacy. will someone smack some sense into this guys head? - idoc
Maybe they really think they can drag this out so it's the next admin's problem. Bush said the same thing: "Housing bill will bail out lenders." Now I thought that was the whole idea in the first place but maybe there has been republican epiphany. Either that or they are just trying to diss the democrats' plan, drag things out for most of 2008 and dump it on somebody else.
Bush: Foreclosure bill will 'bail out lenders' - Feb. 28, 2008
Oh and over at big picture there is a funny spoof Bernanke testimony, "Why the fed is compelled to lie to congress"
The Big Picture
burnside,
I paid 20.42/oz for silver yesterday. That includes commision, shipping, insurance, and wire transfer fees. I might be in the black at the end of the trading session.
idoc,
I call BS on Paulson's statement as well. He wants to save strapped FB's my ass. Like you said pure effing politics. Fiddling while Rome burns.
Cheers,
idoc - Paulson seems to be advocating a do-little approach and saying that taxpayers shouldn't bail out investors and speculators. Is this his true position and, if so, what's wrong with that?
I wonder how high oil prices have to go before Ben backs down on the rate cuts?
$120? $150? $200? $300?
ac,
What does B. S. Bernutty care. Gov't pays for his B-52's fuel.
Cheers,
Yikes.
Check out the pe$o today.
$666 per bbl is the max
ac,
What does B. S. Bernutty care. Gov't pays for his B-52's fuel.
He's causing real incomes to decline by allowing energy costs to rise faster than wages. This is deflationary, and the opposite of what he needs right now.
If people are tossing their politicians out because of rising gas prices, Bernanke will follow soon after.
Raising the lending caps is the dumbest idea ever.
ac,
uff da!
I can haz Wile Coyote now?
We are all peso now!
Misean,
I picked up at-the-money calls on a bunch of silver miners yesterday. Looks like a good move there, too!
idoc,
It's a little early for a top, isn't it?
crispy&cole, that was brilliant!LOL
Cramer said to buy TMA and had the CEO a few weeks ago. I wonder what he thinks now that the Alt-A market has crashed?
TMA: Summary for THORNBURG MTG INC- Yahoo! Finance
Bush said this morning that the US has a "strong dollar policy".
ac,
ino and kitco servers must be swamped, keep getting time outs. Dollar just busted below 74, 105.4 vs yen.
About fuel, I agree with you, but I honestly don't know if he cares.
Cheers,
speed,
"Bush said this morning that the US has a "strong dollar policy"."
See that's why my brain just stops some times, and just starts repeating,
Illogical, Illogical...please correct data.
Cheers,
Peso just fell off a cliff!
INO Equities Stocks Indexes - U.S $ INDEX (NYBOT:DX) Price Chart and Quote
Cheers,
Mis,
I just made the FX rounds, too. Do you followi CHF/$?
INO Futures and Commodities - Currencies - SWISS FRANC Cash (CME:SF.Y$$) Price Chart and Quote
Bernanke said that inflation expectations have remained "pretty stable" despite the steady rise in oil and food prices.
Golly! How long do you think that particular situation is going to last?
And once inflation expectations become "pretty unstable" or stable expectations of high inflation, won't it take years of Volcker-style tough medicine to get inflation expectations out of the economy?
So long, dollar. China SWF, good luck! Poor bastards, they gave us plastic toys and we gave them paper. Hahaha!
Just charted SLV vs. GLD, FXY, FXA, FXE. GLD is tracking dead on with the currencies, but SLV is totally outperforming. Nice!
CR,
When's your post on the GDP coming???
China gives us toxic toys, we give them toxic financial products. How sadly fitting and such an accurate look into the human condition.
Good-bye dollar, indeed! Man, that thing is just crumbling away like a foreclosed house that the bank is still trying to sell for $500K but isn't worth $100K for the scrap value!
Ah, I love the smell of inflation in the morning. It smells like... victory!
"Bush said this morning that the US has a "strong dollar policy"."
Dear Leader also said there's not going to be a recession. color me relieved.
What is SWF?
"Bush said this morning that the US has a "strong dollar policy"."
There's a difference between a 'strong dollar' policy, and a strong policy regarding the dollar.
It seems that the strong policy is to let the dollar fall like a rock.
I hope no one was planning on retiring soon. The combination of high inflation, destruction of the dollar, and the collapse in home equity should keep Baby Boomers working until they die. "RIP 1955-2020 - Worked to Death"
I've got 3 sets of silverware and I'm counting my spoons these days...
Outsider writes:
What is SWF?
sovereign wealth fund
Thank you Sterlingerl, just googled it and found it. Love that google.
Last December, I had a Freddie Veep telling me how much safer their portfolio was, compared to Fannie... how they really didn't have much to worry about.
In retrospect, she did have a red moustache... very similar to my 4 year-old's....
"Investors are so nervous, they want to believe that all of the credit issues are behind them but every time Bernanke or someone comes out with a comment like this, you get these violent moves in the market..."
Bernanke's Bank Comment Rattles Stocks - CNBC
This would be the bit where Bernanke says "banks will fail".
(but not big ones, which are too big to fail, I guess).
idoc, ac,
Regardless of Paulson's motivation, I'm glad somebody prominent is calling the bailout plans the spades they are.
Best,
"Bush said this morning that the US has a "strong dollar policy"."
---I do not think that word means what you think it does....
At some level, I find myself agreeing with the current administration on their great reluctance to bailout bondholders, banks, and other idiots. Frankly, it makes my head hurt.
"In retrospect, she did have a red moustache... very similar to my 4 year-old's...."
it took me a while to get that analogy, once I did I totally snorted milk out my nose! Thanks, I needed a good laugh today!
"
ino and kitco servers must be swamped, keep getting time outs."
Kitco's analyst Nadler mentioned yesterday that the traffic was beginning to overwhelm their servers.
"Bush said this morning that the US has a "strong dollar policy"."
So what would a "weak dollar" policy look like? $3 Euro? $5 pounds? 50 Yen to the dollar? The Rupee worth a dime?
Tanta,
if i didn't misunderstood, FRE bought more than $1 billion delinquent (+100 days) loans in October and November, and now they are celebrating buying only $4 million of delinquent loans.
i don't get it! why does FRE buy already severely delinquent loans?
thanks,
julia
Bush will take us to war in IRAN before his term ends. That will solve our monetary crisis for good.
Sort of off topic but some of you might be interested:
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- New Century Financial Corp. estimates that its Chapter 11 case would produce a recovery of from 2 percent to 17 percent for unsecured creditors of its defunct home lending business.
Expired
That certainly did turn out to be a different shade of blue chip....
Outsider - one good turn deserves another SWFs get PMs (sterlingerl already gave the right answer).
Eli - the shrub knows that all the oil in Iran will solve our energy problems. ...just like the oil in Iraq.
Most intriguing that the Net Fair Value of Assets attributable to common stock fell to $0.3B, which is about 50 cents a share!
Transparency should be very high on the list of priorities wrt dealings betweebn Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the mortgage companies.
Is there a website which tracks these types of transactions on a company-by-company basis? Some members of Congress were installed by the mortgage industry and their primary motivation is to deliver on behalf of their sponsors.
If it's a mattter of "helping out" homeowners with more favorable terms, then I'm OK with that. But I'm adamantly opposed to bailing out the mortgage companies/brokers/investors in CDO's, etc.
They took the risk, now they get their reward.
"Tanta,
if i didn't misunderstood, FRE bought more than $1 billion delinquent (+100 days) loans in October and November, and now they are celebrating buying only $4 million of delinquent loans.
i don't get it! why does FRE buy already severely delinquent loans?
thanks,
julia"
No - Freddie bought them out of their own pools. They changed their repurchase policy in December. Basically a change to preserve capital, as when they buy loans out of pools they need to mtm.
thanks So...!