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To: Road Walker who wrote (397635)	7/10/2008 11:01:35 AM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575784

then trust me, history will be good to Bush

To: Road Walker who wrote (397635)	7/10/2008 11:43:29 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575784

Why the US stock markets will not rally. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are on a death march. They are the very heart of the secondary finance market for housing in this country. Without them, there is no housing market......but the GOPers have never liked them because they are quasi public/private. And so, the death march continues as the anti Christ movement in this country gets their way one more time! clearstation.etrade.com clearstation.etrade.com We Need a Plan to Rescue Fannie, Freddie By Jim Cramer RealMoney.com Columnist 7/9/2008 5:15 PM EDT No, the market is not prepared for the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It's not prepared, and it doesn't know what to do. I talk about this endlessly here and on videos on my TV show, about this endless oncoming train wreck. To me, it is imperative that the federal government have an action plan. These are not some nothing private companies that don't matter. Or that can be left for roadkill. These are actually too big to fail, even if the equity for them isn't too big. They need to be recapitalized with emergency funding by the government, and the guarantee must be made explicit. Or else we can easily drop very, very big from here, because the departure of these two from the firmament will gridlock the markets in a way that Bear Stearns could never do. Understand that these two companies can be taken over with the equity wiped out. The issue is, will this government even understand what is happening? Last night on "Mad Money," I made a plea to the candidates to address this housing issue, as the Congress failed to act on it. I reiterated that plea in a video today. We can handle the collapse of even the biggest banks through the splitoff of good and bad -- like Merrill (MER - commentary - Cramer's Take) talked about today with Wachovia (WB - commentary - Cramer's Take). But only the government can save Fannie and Freddie. I just hope that Treasury, the Fed and, yes, the man who only knows to talk tax cuts, the president of the United States, get what is about to happen.

To: Road Walker who wrote (397635)	7/10/2008 11:51:20 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575784

FNM and FRE fail as the Bush administration sits picking its nose. Fannie, Freddie sink on government rescue fears Fannie, Freddie shares drop as worries of government rescue build amid ongoing housing woes July 10, 2008: 11:33 AM EST NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plummeted Thursday amid widespread fears on Wall Street that shareholders will be wiped out if the government is forced to rescue the two companies. The government-chartered mortgage finance companies are coping with intense worries that they won't be able to raise enough money to cope with losses from the housing bust. As the companies' share prices tumble, fears about their capital-raising plans have become a self-fulfilling prophecy amid concerns that Fannie and Freddie will need to sell even more shares to raise money _ reducing the value of existing shareholders' investment. If that doesn't happen, investors fear a direct capital infusion from the government will be needed, and shareholders will be cast aside. "The government has to step in and do something," said Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. analyst Paul Miller, noting that such action is likely to reduce shareholders' interests "to the point where they might not have any value." The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Bush administration officials have held talks to develop plans that would be enacted should the companies fail. The Treasury Department has long worked on plans for what to do if a large financial firm such as Fannie or Freddie failed. A department spokeswoman declined to comment on whether such plans have been accelerated recently. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sought Thursday to calm investor jitters about the financial health of Fannie and Freddie. They are "working through this challenging period," Paulson told Congress. "Their regulator has made clear that they are adequately capitalized." Freddie Mac shares fell $2.215, or 21 percent, to $8.11 in midday trading, after sinking as low as $6.75 earlier in the day. Shares of Fannie Mae fell $1.41, or 9.2 percent, to $13.90, after earlier falling to $11.70. Freddie Mac spokeswoman Sharon McHale said in an e-mail that the company "continues to hold a surplus above its regulatory requirement that will enable it to continue to support the nation's housing markets." A Fannie Mae spokesman couldn't immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning. Fannie had to pay a record-high cost to complete a $3 billion debt offering Wednesday, reflecting fears about the company's prospects. The two-year offering will pay investors a 3.72 percent yield, or 0.74 percentage points above the comparable Treasury securities. That was the widest spread since the two-year offering started in 2000. While the government is widely expected to stand behind Fannie and Freddie's debt should the companies be unable to meet their obligations, analysts say shareholders could be wiped out if there is a severe crisis. Washington-based Fannie Mae raised more than $7 billion earlier this year to fortify its balance sheet. McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac plans to raise $5.5 billion, but has been waiting to initiate the offerings because its stock is not yet registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company had been exempted from SEC registration due to its status as a government-chartered company. Freddie had proposed to register with the SEC in 2002, but that process was put on hold due to a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal that came to light in 2003. money.cnn.com