Guzzo the Contrarian

Bring Back George!

Forget Bernanke, forget Paulson, forget FDIC Chief Sheila Bair..

Let’s bring back George to fix things.

Mike wrote:
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created by Congress to help more Americans buy homes. Now their shaky condition threatens the entire housing market.

The $5 trillion mess.
Posted 12 Jul 2008 at 9:48 am ¶
Mike wrote:
IndyMac spent the last two weeks trying to reassure customers that it was not near default.

Office of Thrift Supervision steps in and closes IndyMac Bank; FDIC takes over operations.

According to an excerpt:

IndyMac spent the last two weeks trying to reassure customers that it was not near default.

On Monday, IndyMac announced it had stopped accepting new loan submissions and planned to slash 3,800 jobs, or more than half of its work force — the largest employee cuts in company history.

In the letter to shareholders, IndyMac Chairman and Chief Executive Michael W. Perry said the drastic measures were made in conjunction with banking regulators to improve the company’s financial footing and “meet our mutual goal of keeping Indymac safe and sound through this crisis period.”

The plan was supposed to generate roughly $5 billion to $10 billion per year of new loans backed by government-sponsored mortgage companies, Perry said at the time.

But the run on its deposits ultimately short-circuited the strategy, prompting regulators to take action Friday.

Read more about from the FDIC website.
Posted 12 Jul 2008 at 11:43 am ¶