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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elroy Jetson who wrote (51216)	1/24/2006 9:34:23 PM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

Bwaha, Grace immediately came to my mind when I read that too - hehe. DJ Freddie Mac CEO: Hope Congress Acts On GSE Oversight Soon NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Freddie Mac (FRE) Chief Executive Richard Syron said he hopes Congress can agree on legislation strengthening oversight of the company and its rival, Fannie Mae (FNM) soon. Speaking in New York at a meeting of the Money Marketeers on Tuesday evening, Syron said "I'd like to get this behind us. I've been here for two years and I don't want to be talking about it for the next three years." Syron said he preferred a bill passed in the House last year, which would strengthen oversight of Fannie and Freddie. "The House Bill was pretty effective. It was pretty onerous, but we can survive it." Unlike a bill passed in the Senate, the House Bill wouldn't restrict the amount of mortgage bonds that the housing agencies can keep in their portfolios. Syron said he couldn't predict when Congress might act on the legislation, saying "I don't know what will happen, a lot depends on other things before Congress." Earlier Tuesday, Freddie Mac announced that its holdings of mortgage bonds grew by $17.26 billion to $710 billion in December. The increase bought Freddie's holdings within a hair's breadth of its bigger rival, Fannie Mae, which had $715.5 billion at the end of November. Despite the rivalry between the two companies, Syron insisted Freddie isn't growing merely for the purpose of chasing market share. "Believe it or not, I don't have tortoise and hare figures on my desk to see who's ahead," he said. "We care about fulfilling our mission and doing what's best for shareholders. A lot of American companies have gone on the rocks chasing size." Syron said Freddie is interested in maximizing its market capitalization, however.

To: Elroy Jetson who wrote (51216)	1/26/2006 6:12:45 PM
From: shades	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

DJ Oil Companies Will Invest Big In New Technology - BP Exec . By Karen Matusic Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Meeting rising global oil demand for a growing population will require big investments in new technology over the next couple decades, but companies will come up with the money because it makes good business sense, a senior BP PLC (BP) executive said Thursday. BP America President Ross Pillari told a conference sponsored by the National Council for Science and the Environment that oil companies have to invest in alternative energy solutions that go beyond traditional hydrocarbons, as well as bolster oil and gas production. Pillari said such breakthroughs are needed to meet the demand of "200 million new customers for commercial energy every year." "We can and must do more through the use of new innovative technology," Pillari said. "We have to be good at managing technology to stay in the game." Pillari pointed to BP's work with advanced seismic technology to get "clearer images" under the salt domes in the gulf of Mexico, which reduces exploration and development risks as well as its use of lateral - "virtual horizontal" - drilling techniques to increase productivity in its aging Alaska North Slope development. "The big driver of innovation will come form the private sector because it will be good for business," Pillari said. "Demand will drive it." Pillari said government lacked the political will to make the kind of investments that will take technology where it needs to go to produce enough energy to sustain global economic growth. But another speaker at the conference said only government would be willing to make the kind of long-term research and development investments needed. "Government has to invest in the long-term research that will get us through," said Mark Levine, director of environmental energy technology at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "While BP has provided a commendable example, I do not see BP trying to develop the kind of new products we will need in 25 years," he said. "We need carbon-free fuel and a replacement for liquid fuels."