FreddieMac/FannieMae Takeover, Govt. takeover of 7 trillion debt!

It was announced Friday, 9/5/08 that the Government would take over the two insolvent mortgage giants 7 trillion liabilities.

This was the event considered most likely to render our elections a moot issue and the Govt. in the last couple of months has invested billions to prop them up.

It is likely that this will pull the rest of the world, down with us. For that I am truly sorry. Russia may be the only exception.

I have been swamped by contacts in various countries wondering what is happening here.

I received another alert from a private news service indicating the amount could be as low as 5 trillion. It seems a figure near 8 trillion in liabilities was the amount quoted several months ago. AP released the 7 trillion figure. Some foreign reports go as high as 10 trillion. Most of this is foreign investment and you can bet what they will be doing Monday!

Slàinte,    

Patch    

According to BBC World News "Global shares have rallied after the US government said it was taking over troubled mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae."
US rescues giant mortgage lenders

Does anyone know the status of the CEO's of Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae in re: to severence or charges? I overheard someone discussing a payout to one of them around 15 million but I fear (or hope) this is a reallly bad rumor. Please tell me it is a rumor...or I may lose my mind.

Jillian

I have read and heard the same thing.

It is my understanding that the takeover was to save global investments. One of the disadvantages of a "receivership" as it was explained last Sunday was that the holders of common and preferred stock will loose all of their investment.Foreign bond holders will be protected. I had heard the CEO rumor too.

Slàinte,    

Patch    

I can't help but wonder whether this is yet another method of transferring wealth from those in the middle to those at the top.

It is very likely that it is a "wealth transfer." I question why we have not heard from the "preferred" and "common" stock holders who were wiped out by this unless there was a deal under the table. Wouldn't that shock ones sensibilities?

Slàinte,    

Patch    

I've been steaming over this and trying to remain calm. I felt the same way during the Enron debacle. I am truly hoping that the moderators at the Presidential debates hit the candidates hard on this issue. I would like to see straight forward questions w/straight forward answers. If change is what both candidates want, then I want to hear what they are going to do about accounting practices that allow this sort of treasonous behavior....I know, I said it...the "T" word. But when stealing threatens the economic backbone of our country, shouldn't it be treated as such? I'm beginning to think CEO stands for "Corrupt Economic Oppression"! Maybe the candidates oughta start some new campaign slogans:

"Stop the War on America - Arrest Corrupt CEO's"!

Okay....it's out of my system for awhile...

I just received this. Tells you who is being bailed out. Now you will be mad again! For years I have been spreading the word that the Govt. had built a "paper" economy and it would all collapse one day. I lost nothing in the collapse of F&F but we all will lose big time in taxes!

Slàinte,    

Patch    



Goodbye Fannie and Freddie. We Warned You First.

If only investors could read the headlines in advance.

Somebody knew that mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were doomed. If they didn't have inside information, they certainly had a strong gut feeling that the feds would move in and take over.

Now the stocks, once high-fliers with multi-million dollar lobbyists and huge executive salaries, are on the verge of delisting. American taxpayers are stuck with the dregs, again.

What if you knew months ago that banks stocks would fall? That housing was in trouble? Would you have invested differently?

Of course you would have. And you would invest differently right now if the headlines of tomorrow were right here, in front you, in black and white.

Of course, if you had been reading Moneynews.com and its sister publication, Financial Intelligence Report (FIR), you would have known all about the banking and housing mess — three full years ago! And about the oil collapse we are seeing unfold now.

I was at a party w/my bank executive about a month ago and point blank asked him if i should be concerned. He stated that they were doing fine...he had better not be blowing sunshine in dark places - he's a friend of the family!

Jillian

If your bank didn't get into sub prime loans he is probably being truthful.

Slàinte,    

Patch    

“Don’t you get it yet? These people are not to be trusted. Give them a blank check and they’ll put it in their pockets”.

That’s what I said to my senator, and you can send your thoughts to your senators too. just by clicking the link below…


http://www.democrats.com/stop-paulsons-plunder

The House, Senate and the bush administration agreed on aid to delinquent home owners from the bail out package. The bush administration refuses to penalize CEO's from financial institutions that have to accept bail out aid. NO cuts in pay or "Golden Parachute" packages! That is outright theft from the American people!!!!

One of my senators disabled his E-mail and phone contact #'s. I wonder why! As in the "29 crash" the important people were taken care of!!!

This is a criminal act!!!

Slàinte,    

Patch 

"The Keating Five included McCain and a Bush"       

I received this email today.

Here is a quick look into 3 former Fannie Mae executives who have helped bring down Wall Street.

Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregulaties in Fannie Mae's accounting activities. At the time of his departure (Wednesday, Dec.22, 2004) The Wall Street Journal noted, " Raines, who long defended the company's accounting despite mounting evidence that it wasn't proper, issued a statement late Tuesday (Dec. 21, 2004) conceding that "mistakes were made" and saying he would assume responsibility as he had earlier promised. News reports indicate the company was under growing pressure from regulators to shake up its management in the wake of findings that the company's books ran afoul of generally accepted accounting principles for four years." Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by $9 billion.
Raines left with a "golden parachute valued at $240 Million. The government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal became clear. See:

http://housingdoom.com/2006/12/18/fannie-charges/

The government noted, "The 101 charges reveal how the individuals improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls, misapplying over twenty accounting principles and misleading the regulator and the public. The notice explains how they submitted six years of misleading and inaccurate accounting statements and inaccurate capital reports that enabled them to grow Fannie Mae in an unsafe and unsound manner." These charges were made in 2006. The Court ordered Raines to return $50 million dollars he received in bonuses based on the miss-stated Fannie Mae profits.

Tim Howard was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard "was a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would ensure a "stable pattern of earnings" at Fannie. In everyday English - he was cooking the books. The government investigation determined that, "Chief Financial Officer, Tim Howard, failed to provide adequate oversight to key control and reporting functions within Fannie Mae,"

On June 16, 2006, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., asked the Justice Department to investigate his allegations that two former Fannie Mae executives lied to Congress in October 2004 when they denied manipulating the mortgage-finance giant's income statement to achieve management pay bonuses. Investigations by federal regulators and the company's board of directors since concluded that management did manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard left Fannie Mae under pressure in December 2004. Raines's departure was structured as an early retirement. Howard resigned.

Howard's Golden Parachute was estimated at $20 Million!



Jim Johnson is a former executive at Lehman Brothers who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. A look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's May 2006 report on mismanagement and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you'll see some interesting things about Johnson.

Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million. Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae.

Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million.



WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FRANKLIN RAINES? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor

TIM HOWARD? Howard is also a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama

JIM JOHNSON? Johnson was hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee