Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unshackled

With all of the turmoil over mortgage debt, it has been a complete shame that the two entities in the world best suited for lending a hand, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been virtually sidelined from helping out. They were originally sidelined because Wall Street wanted the mortgage market to itself, but we all know how that movie ended. Even after Wall Street "screwed the pooch", they still continued to lobby against Fannie and Freddie being allowed to step in and help clean up the mess. Thankfully, a sequence of steps has been taken over the past few months that is finally going to unshackle Fannie and Freddie and let them reclaim and reconstitute the mortgage market. The latest step is discussed in a Reuters article by Patrick Rucker entitled "Fannie, Freddie cleared to pump $200 billion into market". It may still be a while before Fannie and Freddie start to gain traction again, but this is still an important milestone.

And if somebody tries to tell you that Fannie or Freddie debt is "risky", tell them to guess again. Fannie and Freddie are absolute saints compared to even the best that Wall Street has to offer.

-- Jack Krupansky