Some reporter from a local TV station called yesterday. She had to leave a message as I was enjoying (what should be) a national holiday — the opening weekend of the NFL.
She left a message asking me if I’d like to go on-camera and opine about the federal “bail out” of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac those GSE’s (Government Sponsored Entities) we’ve all come to know and love. And misunderstand.
Good thing I missed the call, else I would have had to fall on my sword and and say, “Opinion? I have no opinion because I’m still trying to figure the whole thing out”.
So I jumped into my feed reader this morning and began to read. I swiftly realized two things: 1) you can’t swing a dead cat in the real estate / mortgage blogiverse without stumbling across a Fannie / Freddie post; and 2) opinions vary wildly but generally fall into the camp of “well, they (they being our pals in Washington) can’t let the whole things collapse as the world might just tip off-axis and go spinning off into the ether”.
It’s a link Extravaganza!
My initial reaction was, “what the heck is this going to cost?” — and I have yet to find the answer to that question. I’ve seen numbers upward of $200 billion. That’s $200,000,000,000 — a boatload of money by any standard.
I was all set to read and absorb and opine. But the more I read, the more my head hurt. Being one that is inclined to share my pain, rather than post yet another opinion (you know what they say about opinions) I thought instead I’d just provide a few links and let the reader here venture off and form their own opinion. It’d be cool if yall came back after your reading assignment and proffered your thoughts in the comments. . .
Here are but a few links to articles I found especially insightful:
Jeff Corbett over at Agent Genius provides his always insightful analysis and thoughts with, The Fannie and Freddie Government Makeover.
Dan Green at The Mortgage Reports speaks in plain English (mostly) in, Explaining What The Government’s Takeover Of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Means To Mortgage Rates (In 265 Words).
Calculated Risk covers this thing like Deion Sanders on a wide receiver with a bad hammy. Fannie & Freddie Thoughts, and Fannie and Freddie Press Conference Videos. There is more there, much more. For a great look at the GSEs and mortgage-backed securities which can give you a better understanding of the whole sordid mess, check out Tanta’s post from April 2007, MBS for UberNerds I: GSE Pass-Throughs.
Alex Stenback opines well at Behind the Mortgage with, Monday Market Commentary: ‘Treasury Mac’ Edition.
Tyler Osby at Wealth With Mortgage gives us, The Fed Takes Over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
and Tyler links to A Eulogy, a funny (but interesting) one at Straight Talk About Mortgages and Real Estate.
Mike Muller does video as only Mike can do in, My 68 Porsche and Fannie Mae.
The best (not surprisingly) mainstream media coverage is at The Wall Street Journal.
And last, but by no means least, the always brilliant Jonathan Miller at Matrix provides us with, [GSEs Get A Seizure] It’s About Time.
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
Thanks for the link and the kind words Jay!
I was away from the computer all weekend so my Feed Reader was extra full this morning and like you, full of Fannie and Freddie.
When something like this happens, my biggest beef is RSS feeds that are snippets instead of complete posts. Some of the ones you have listed there I read the snippet but never made it to the full article.
You're more than welcome Mike. You really do video in a unique (and good) way.
And don't get me started on partial posts/snips in RSS feeds. They drive me absolutely bonkers. I rarely click through on them, which means the authors actually get read LESS (significantly less) than if they provided full feeds. I really don't understand the partial feed thing. Kinda defeats the purpose….
I think you did a good thing by not posting your thoughts on it yet. It is still to early to see how it is going to play out.
I think you would have been safe to say it is all Bill Clinton's fault. But, now with the agents of change, McCain and Paylan, we will once again be the world power; able to print more money, faster than any country in history.
I guess I know why no one calls me for my opinion 😉
Jay I think that anyone giving an opinion on this topic is at best making a blond guess. There hasn't been enough hard facts released about the two companies to know what the government really just got themselves into.
Isn't fannie and freddie blogging the trendy thing to do right now? In all seriousness, it's great to see so many posts about it because it's what people want to read about and digest right now. Heck, I even did a post on it last week and within 24 hours I had 500 views on that post alone!
I'm all for talking about the hot button, and with the rates changing post takeover, this is big news for (likely) years to come.
Is it bad if I am a mortgage guy and got the anti-spam math question wrong? Or is it worse, because that (bad) joke has been done before.
Either way, thanks for the kind words, linkage, etc. Jay.
I don't see how the government guaranteeing 80% of the mortgages in the US is possibly a long term positive. Sure the rates drop in the short term, just as the rate to borrow on one's credit card would if the gov't guaranteed it would purchase all the outstanding debt of Capital One, MBNA, etc. However, its not sustainable and at some point these entities will be returned to the private sector or dissolved completely.
AZ what part of the government being involved in the mortgage industry isn't sustainable?
I'm with ya, Ken! It all makes perfect sense to me know. First, I was confused with the so called less government, less taxes equals better America current administration policy. But, since words really have no meaning in Orwellian Government, I see the light. I never thought of Bush this way before- but, that was my mistake. "They will hammer their swords into plowshares, their spears into sickles, Nation will not lift sword against nation, there will be no more training for war."
Isaiah 2:4
And the price of homes need not fall anymore because the printing of new money will make the housing market a bargain after the inflation kicks in.
There needs to be more facts released about what has really happened.
By the way who IS Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac again?
**dave so´s last blog post..Chinese New Year 2009</abbr></abbr>