Fed-backed mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac —who names their kids Fannie and Freddie, anyway? — are doubled over in acute pain as stock shares have tumbled to their lowest rates since 1991. A former Federal Reserve President recently declared both companies "insolvent"— and we know it's a rough scene when even President George W. Bush admits there's a problem; administration officials are scrounging up a backup plan should they fail to revive the struggling companies in a housing market that some consider to be the worst seen since the Great Depression. Billions of dollars are needed to stabilize the mortgage market. Incidentally, bake sales and lemonade stands have been ruled out. Arms sales, however ...
· Fannie, Freddie stocks and bonds plummet [Reuters]
Filed under: