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Showing posts with the label Freddie Mac

Fannie and Freddie Monkey Business - Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil.

The 'Fannie and Freddie' factor faces our banks too... If the two biggest American mortgage banks can go bust and be bailed out by the US government, could the same happen here? When the US government intervened to save Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae on Monday, it put the world on notice. We are now in a new era where our banks are the single biggest weakness in the economy and the State (meaning the taxpayer) will be expected to save them. The developments in America have serious implications for Ireland. If anything, our property boom was more ridiculous than that of the US. So the obvious question now is whether one of our banks might go bust. It could happen , but is it probable? We don't know; but if it wasn't a possibility, why has the share price of Irish banks fallen 60pc in the past year? The reason share prices have collapsed is that investors are afraid their money will disappear. Like the rest of us, they don't believe the banks' management. They have lo