Bailout Blues: Beware of the Unseen Fallout From the Fannie/Freddie “Rescue” Plan

Working towards a 12 TRILLION dollar mortgage bailout market....

Money Morning Sept 9, 2008 by By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Investment Director
we’ve reported to you here in Money Morning, most concerns focused on how the government would actually take over the two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), and whether or not the process would eliminate the common stock and preferred shares of both.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson & Co. ended the betting on that issue on Sunday, announcing that neither class of stock will be eliminated, as some had feared - although the point may be moot. Especially since a "rescue" is not going to stop the meltdown of the nation’s $12 trillion mortgage market (in which about half the paper is backed by Fannie and Freddie, incidentally).

As part of the government’s plan, shareholders have been stripped of both their corporate-governance powers and management rights, while both common and preferred shareholders saw their income eliminated when the government ended dividend payments to both.

This could lead to serious - and perhaps irreparable - declines in the portfolios of a number of regional banks, mutual funds and major insurance companies, which used holdings in both companies to shore up assets by virtue of the stability they offered and the income they provided.

The list of "at risk" names is as distinguished and it is long...."