I’m not too excited about Washington’s bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — it’s a short-term political fix, not a long-term solution — but if you own stock in Asian banks, today is a very good day:
In Seoul, the benchmark KOSPI index jumped 5.15%, to 1,476.65, as investors returned to the market after a week of losses. Here, too, banks led the gainers, with the three biggest all enjoying substantial increases. Woori Financial (nyse: WF – news – people ) leaped by 14.5%, to 15,000 won ($13.23); Kookmin Bank (nyse: KB – news – people ) added 8.9%, to 61,000 won ($53.80); and Shinhan Financial Group (nyse: SHG – news – people ) pulled up by 8.2%, to 50,100 won ($44.19).
The Korean won is surging, too.
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Woo Hoo!
Socialized mortgage banking!!!
Actually, Federal control of Freddie and Fannie is being interpreted by the markets as a chance at increased stability…
Will it work?
Gosh, the government stepping in because people can’t figure out that they can’t afford weirdly structured loans…
Sure it will work, it will do it’s job… all because too many people wanted a house and went about it really stupidly….
When the federal government is involved, it’s hard to get too hopeful, but maybe the bailout will give the authorities the time to kill the beast in a more ordered fashion.
I just saw Paulson on CNBC saying he told the two boards of directors that it wasn’t their fault the bailout was needed, that there were structural flaws Congress allowed to go on too long (paraphrasing here). CNBC said the initial plan was to bail out one (can’t remember which one) but the worry was markets wouldn’t understand why only one was being shored up.
As they say, admission is the first step toward recovery.
Let me get this straight.
Back in the states, I don’t own a house, don’t have any property, don’t want government assistance, I have to pay a fee for embassy services, I (and only Americans) have to pay taxes while overseas, even after the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, pay into Social Security and medicare even though I won’t see a dime when I retire, nor use the health care in the states. Uh-hunh, got it.
BUT I have to help some shmuck that I don’t know pay off his mortgage?
GO FUCK YOURSELF DC
Just take the Constitution and burn it, because it is useless to a people that have such a sense of entitlement and welfare/warfare mentality. Welcome to the Nanny State.
So, if I have this straight, plenty of shitheads borrowed too much money for houses they couldn’t afford, are defaulting, which is causing huge problems for these “banks,” and now MY TAX MONEY has to be spent to cover up for 1) the shitheads who couldn’t manage their money and 2) the people who loaned the money irresponsibily? This makes me REALLY mad.
Well… it would if I’d had to pay taxes in the past many years, bahahaha…
Maybe if LMB and all other leaders around the world who benefited financially made public statements(on behalf of their people/businesses) thanking the U.S. taxpayers for propping up their currencies/stocks the dickheads pulling the U.S. economy strings might get the fact that they are no longer working for the American people. Stand up LMB/Korea and be the first!
They can’t possibly bail out everyone. Fanny/Freddy are a just tip of the iceberg. US needs to print more money, and in the future, print far more money than they have to print now. Watch for US hyper inflation to get worse and worse.
Take a load off Fanny. Take a load for free. Take a load off Fanny. And you put the load right on me.
Speaking of which, did you see Sarah Palin’s “first major gaffe” (apparently her lies about the “Bridge to Nowhere” just qualify as outright lies, not gaffes)?
It seems she said in Colorado Springs that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers,” apparently unaware that they aren’t taxpayer funded but operate as private companies.
“You would like to think that someone who is going to be vice president and conceivable president would know what Fannie and Freddie do,” said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “These are huge institutions and they are absolutely central to our country’s mortgage debt. To not have a clue what they do doesn’t speak well for her, I’d say.”
Ironically both presidential candidates have been critical of Fannie and Freddie but neither has opposed the government’s bailout plans which the treasury is hoping will help stabilize credit markets and incentive more mortgage lending.
Methinks this is one lipsticked pig McCain had better keep an even shorter leash on.
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