Over the weekend were the frightening reports of the American mortgage
industry facing collapse, as IndyMac
moved into administration, followed by the departure of shareholders from
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae faster than rats from a sinking ship. Freddie and
Fannie's share price was down 20% on the week, raising the spectre of the Fed
and Treasury having to step in once again to protect the imploding mortgage
market, just as they have with IndyMac.
There’s a great deal of analysis of this change in the US markets and you can
find it all here, with some of the best overviews being:
- “Key facts on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac”, Reuters
- “Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae situation in context”, Thought Theater
- “Freddie Mac's Next Hurdle: Raise Cash”, Washington Post
- “Government Considering Takeover of Freddie, Fannie”, New York Times
On this last point however, we have a problem.
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
