Who Tried to Reform Fannie/Freddie
I saw Nancy Pelosi on CNBC last night blaming the Bush administration for not reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I don’t get into politics much on the blog because I don’t particularly like either party and I don’t trust any politician. But reform of Fannie/Freddie has been a talking point for many Republicans. Coincidentally, .. read more
Barclay’s Near a Deal for Lehman Broker
Update: CNBC is reporting that the deal is done at $2 billion. Barclay’s didn’t buy all of Lehman because they couldn’t get a US government backstop for the bad assets. Now that Lehman is in bankruptcy, they are negotiating to buy the part they really wanted (via the WSJ): LONDON — Barclays PLC was close .. read more
FOMC Policy Statement
The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 2 percent. Strains in financial markets have increased significantly and labor markets have weakened further. Economic growth appears to have slowed recently, partly reflecting a softening of household spending. Tight credit conditions, the ongoing housing contraction, and some .. read more
Barclay’s Talking to Lehman Again?
Charlie Gasparino is reporting that Barclay’s may be talking to Lehman about buying their capital markets division. Like I said yesterday, why buy the whole thing? Why buy before bankruptcy?
A Financial Event
From Brian Wesbury’s commentary today: There is not enough room on page one of the nation’s newspapers for all of today’s news. Any of today’s stories – a Lehman bankruptcy, a sale of Merrill Lynch, AIG capital needs, plummeting oil prices, or new Fed lending facilities – could be above-the-fold headline news. The US is .. read more
Triple OhMyGod Moment
Brett Arends column in the WSJ today is a calm voice in the storm: This is it. This is what they call “a Triple OhmyGad!” Say it now. Get it out of your system. Roll up the office window and shout if it will help. “Ohmygad-ohmygad-ohmygad!” There. Is everyone set? Few things prepare us for .. read more
How About Some Good News?
Here’s some good news (via the WSJ): The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Sunday that it won’t allow the companies to make “golden parachute” severance payments to the mortgage companies’ ousted chief executive officers. In a statement, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said such payments wouldn’t be made to Daniel Mudd and .. read more
Some Perspective on Lehman
It appears that Lehman is headed for a bankruptcy filing and it is sad that a 158 year old institution is going out of business, but what does it really mean? I don’t find it surprising that they weren’t able to put together a deal behind the closed doors of the NY Fed. Paulson was .. read more
