STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 10 December 2012

[Demeter]

10. Do We Have Another Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on Our Hands?

http://truth-out.org/news/item/13223-do-we-have-another-fannie-mae-or-freddie-mac-on-our-hands

Like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before it, the Federal Housing Administration is suffering in a mortgage hell of its own making. F.H.A. officials say they won’t need taxpayers’ help, but we’ve heard that kind of line before.

The F.H.A. backs $1.1 trillion of American mortgages and, by the look of things, it’s in deep trouble. Last year, its mortgage insurance fund was valued at $1.2 billion. Today that fund is valued at negative $13.48 billion.

Granted, that figure, reported by F.H.A.’s auditor, doesn’t represent actual losses. It’s an estimate of the difference between future mortgage insurance premiums that the F.H.A. will collect and the expected losses on the mortgages that the agency is obligated to cover over time, combined with the agency’s existing capital resources.

But the upshot is this: If the F.H.A. were to stop insuring new home loans today, it wouldn’t have the money it needs to cover its expected losses in the coming years...

AND THERE'S MUCH, MUCH MORE (BUT YOU KNEW THAT)