Market Currents

• Thursday, December 24, 2009

• 14:43 PM Treasury says it will back Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) no matter how big their losses in the next three years, removing previous caps of $200B each. Treasury also said it will not require nor expect the GSEs to reduce the size of their mortgage-related investment portfolios next year, as they had previously been required to do. (FHFA statement) Comment!
• 08:50 AM Sources say the FHFA has approved compensation packages for Fannie Mae (FNM) CEO Michael Williams and Freddie Mac (FRE) CEO Charles Haldeman in the $4-6M dollar range. The decisions, expected today, will be controversial because the government has urged companies to tie executive pay to long-term performance.
  Update: FHFA outlines the pay packages (.pdf). From Fannie and Freddie's 8-Ks, it appears each CEO is in line for $6M including performance incentives. 5 Comments

• Thursday, December 17, 2009

• 16:50 PM Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) suspend evictions through Jan. 3, joining in with Citigroup (C), who earlier suspended foreclosure and eviction activity for the holidays. 3 Comments
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: FUN +24%. APWR +7%. DPTR +5%. PIR +4%.
  Losers; YONG -10%. C -9%. HOV -8%. SQNM -7%. LYG -7%. BQI -6%. EZCH -6%. FRE -6%. PCS -5%. AIB -5%. BCS -5%. FNM -5%. HOG -5%. LDK -4%. AEM -4%. CNO -4%. AU -4%. FDX -4%. DB -4%. Comment!

• Tuesday, December 15, 2009

• 17:11 PM The Curious Capitalist notes that the Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE) show goes on (and on) and wonders why all the ideas on what to do with them so far seem to come from outside the government. Comment!
• 12:22 PM The regulator of Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) may seek an increase to their $400B lifeline before year's end, sources say. The two GSEs may get a lowered dividend payment on Treasury borrowings as well - the payment of about $5B each is more than earnings, and adds to their Treasury draws. 1 Comment

• Monday, December 14, 2009

• 12:39 PM Experts are coming together around the idea that government support of Fannie Mae (FNM +5.7%) and Freddie Mac (FRE +11.1%) needs to continue in the long term. Several groups are pushing proposals that call for replacing the two - but with enough government involvement to keep 30-year mortgages available to most Americans. 11 Comments

• Wednesday, November 18, 2009

• 11:02 AM Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), which together have taken more than $110B in capital infusions from the Treasury, stepped up their lending for apartment buildings as the commercial real-estate market peaked, and are now facing rapidly rising loan losses. 5 Comments

• Monday, November 16, 2009

• 16:23 PM Interest rates on new home loans likely have further to fall, as yields on mortgage securities from Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) tumble near six-month lows. While the Fed is slowing agency debt purchases, supply is declining faster, and bonds without government guarantees are underperforming those in the Fed's program. Comment!

• Friday, November 6, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: GSI +10%. KFN +8%. FAZ +5%. RBS +5%. NVDA +4%. SWKS +4%.
  Losers: CVI -13%. FRE -12%. FNM -12%. AIG -11%. CROX -10%. IRE -7%. FIG -6%. SD -6%. ABK -4%. CRH -4%. BCRX -4%. CNO -4%. CTIC -4%. CBS -4%. ING -4%. RCL -4%. MT -4%. 1 Comment

• Wednesday, November 4, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: GNVC +36%. ABK +26%. PACR +25%. IRE +20%. ACAS +18%. AIB +11%. MBI +9%. PMI +8%. ARNA +7%. HIG +7%. RDN +6%. EXM +6%. ALU +6%. MPEL +6%. XOMA +5%. IBN +5%. MGM +5%. GRMN +5%. DRIV +4%. FAS +4%. FRE +4%. RCL +4%. ING +4%. VGZ +4%.
  Losers: STEC -31%. VG -8%. CVM -6%. CCI -6%. BHI -4%. Comment!

• Thursday, October 29, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: AMSC +15%. AIXG +12%. RBS +12%. PQ +11%. LYG +10%. AKAM +10%. MITI +10%. ING +9%. FNM +8%. ABK +8%. CTIC +8%. DB +8%. FITB +7%. FRE +7%. SWSI +7%. BCS +6%. MOT +6%. IRE +6%. ALU +6%. TCK +5%. RCL +5%. RTP +5%. CS +5%. HL +5%. ACGY +5%. MT +5%. GNW +5%. HGSI +5%. FAS +5%. GOLD +5%. LVS +5%. HIG +5%. MGM +4%. CNO +4%. ASML +4%. NCS +4%. LCC +4%. VALE +4%. PG +4%.
  Losers: FSLR -15%. BCRX +4%. FLS -4%. Comment!

• Wednesday, October 28, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: QTM +12%. RFMD +6%. PNRA +5%.
  Losers: ILMN -18%. AIB -15%. APOL -15%. VCLK -14%. IRE -14%. AIXG -9%. CVM -8%. SAP -7%. PVTB -6%. TKS -6%. ALU -5%. DAI -5%. PUK -5%. LVLT -6%. MEE -4%. FRE -4%. Comment!

• Friday, October 23, 2009

• 12:20 PM Calculated Risk graphs the increasingly worrisome delinquency rate at Freddie Mac (FRE -2.2%), now up to 3.33% of its book from 3.13% in August, and from 1.22% in September 2008. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, October 20, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: MPS +22%. BPAX +11%. LXK +9%. IRE +8%. AAPL +6%. NVAX +5%. CAT +6%. UAUA +6%. MGM +5%. HGSI +5%. UNH +4%. BK +5%. PH +5%. AIB +4%. PSO +4%. BTU +4%.
  Losers: MI -8%. FRE -7%. BSX -7%. Comment!

• Monday, October 19, 2009

• 09:56 AM Shares of Fannie Mae (FNM -13.7%) and Freddie Mac (FRE -10.5%) are most likely worthless, KBW says in a note this morning, dropping price target to $0 from $1. Firm says the only viable option to recapitalize the pair would be to carve them up into good and bad Fannies and Freddies, with private mortgage lenders owning the better halves, and the lesser halves forced into receivership. 5 Comments