Henry, Anne,
What the heck is happening at Freddie and Fannie, do you know?
Sabri
+++++++++++++++
Top Financial News
03/10 11:53
U.S. Stocks Fall as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Shares Decline
By Scarlet Fu
New York, March 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, led by
financial shares, after a Federal Reserve official said mortgage
financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lack adequate capital,
posing a risk to the economy.
Stocks also slid on concern that a U.S.-led strike against Iraq
will take place within weeks.
"What we're seeing on the corporate front is reinforcing fears of
a slowdown," said Bob Sitko, a money manager at USAA Investment
Management Co., which oversees $25 billion in San Antonio. "The
duration of this Iraq overhang has in itself perhaps caused
damage that will take longer to repair. It's putting us on hold"
to make a bet on stocks.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 15.92, or 1.9 percent, to
812.96 as of 11:52 a.m. in New York. All 81 financial shares in
the index declined, contributing more than a quarter of the loss.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 117.23, or 1.5 percent, to
7622.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 22.46, or 1.7
percent, to 1282.83.
The U.S. may delay asking for a UN Security Council vote
scheduled for tomorrow to authorize disarming Iraq by force until
later in the week, the New York Times said, citing unidentified
White House officials who spoke yesterday.
Still, Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday the U.S. is
close to securing the support of nine Security Council members
needed to pass the resolution. The probability of war "is rapidly
increasing," Powell said on Cable News Network's "Late Edition."
More than two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York
Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market today. Some 453
million shares traded on the NYSE, down 1 percent from a week
ago.
Fannie, Freddie Slide
Fannie Mae slid $3.78 to $59.50, while rival Freddie Mac dropped
$3.27 to $50.73. St. Louis Federal Reserve President William
Poole said they may not be sufficiently capitalized to weather a
financial shock and pose a risk to the financial system and U.S.
economy.
Neither is backed by the credit of the U.S. government and they
"hold capital far below that required of regulated banking
institutions," Poole said in a speech to an Office of Federal
Housing Enterprise Oversight meeting. He added that the
government should make clear it doesn't back the firms.
<SNIP>