How the Problem Began

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage giants taken over by the government in September, are at the center of a complex ecosystem of money and loans flowing through the financial system. Using Freddie as an example, we look at how the companies operate, what went wrong and what the government is doing to help.

SOURCE: Freddie Mac | GRAPHIC: Cristina Rivero, The Washington Post - December 8, 2008

This Story Modifying the Mortgage Giants Article \| After the government announced last month that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would take new steps to modify tens of thousands of mortgages to make them more affordable, some executives expressed concerns that the moves could weaken their already struggling companies. FANNIE MAE'S FORMER CEO: Raines Says Company's Woes Not of His Making How the Problem Began		TOOLBOX E-Mail This Save/Share + Digg Facebook Reddit Twitter myspace SOURCE: Freddie Mac \| GRAPHIC: Cristina Rivero, The Washington Post - December 8, 2008 ¬es=Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage giants taken over by the government in September, are at the center of a complex ecosystem of money and loans flowing through the financial system. Using Freddie as an example, we look at how the companies operate, what went wrong and what the government is doing to help." onclick="if ( typeof otto != 'undefined' ) { }" onmouseover="changebg2('delicious')" onmouseout="resetbg2('delicious')" target="new">del.icio.us SOURCE: Freddie Mac \| GRAPHIC: Cristina Rivero, The Washington Post - December 8, 2008 \'),\'newstrust\'+(new Date()).getMilliseconds(),\'dependent=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,alwaysRaised=yes,status=yes,directories=yes,location=yes,menubar=yes,toolbar=yes,width=430,height=750,modal=no\'));ntw.focus();'" onclick="if ( typeof otto != 'undefined' ) { }" onmouseover="changebg2('newstrust')" onmouseout="resetbg2('newstrust')">NewsTrust Stumble It! COMMENT 0 Comments Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem. Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this graphic
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