Take A Load Off Fannie...Ya Put The Load Right On Me

[slipslidingaway]

Note the dates...and now Congress is stunned by the enormity of the problems.

:argh:

10/24/2000

http://www.contraryinvestor.com/moarchive2000/mo102400.htm

"...Take A Load Off Fannie...Patty cake, patty cake, Baker's man. Bake us a cake as fast as you can. We're sure by now that you have seen the hasty deal between Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and representative Richard Baker announced at the tail end of last week. As you may have known, Baker was threatening to make GSE reform issue numero uno post the elections. The political deal is one where Fannie and Freddie will pay a very small price (termed self regulation) to forestall potentially adverse legislation. According to a recent study done by Goldman, Fannie and Freddie are set overtake the US government in debt outstanding by 2004-5. That of course assumes business as usual and mortgage credit growth in a linear fashion. (Usually nothing ever works out quite that cleanly.) Nonetheless, the acceleration in debt outstanding for the GSE's has been an eye opener over the past half decade:



"You know all of this. Nothing here is new. The agreement between Fannie, Freddie and Baker may take the issue of GSE driven systemic risk off the political table for the next year or two, but it does nothing to change the real risk in the real financial markets. God help us if the illiquidity spreading like a cancer in the current fixed income markets ever blossoms in full force. Of course the ultimate safety net can be found right on your IRS Form 1040."



BANK DERIVATIVES EXPOSURE: UPDATE 1Q 2000

6/8/2000

http://www.contraryinvestor.com/moarchive2000/mo060800.htm


"...The demand for interest rate derivatives is clearly a function of the levels of money and credit existing in the system at any point in time. The numbers grow larger and larger with each passing quarter. Given the anecdotes we have that financial discontinuity can become a potential reality (LTCM, the experience of the Asian countries in 1997, etc.), even if the chances are small, shouldn't full quarterly disclosure in 10Q's be mandatory? And not just for financial institutions? The SEC and the FASB have made feeble attempts to implement something along these lines a number of times. In each instance, the corporate "lobby" was able to derail the proposals. In the meantime, Wall Street seems unconcerned with what it knows exists, but can't directly measure. Up until the moment the Titanic hit the iceberg, it was the world's only certifiably unsinkable ship..."

[Karenina]

1. From memory:

I drove into Nazareth was a-feelin' bouta half past dead
I jes' need someplace where I can lay my head
Hey Mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?
He jes' grinned and shook my hand, "No" was all he said...

[slipslidingaway]

2. Not bad :)) people are sure paying for this mess, found this

video set to the tune of The Weight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=712kRqri2No


http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/thebigchill/theweight.htm

"I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, and "No!", was all he said.

(Chorus:)
Take a load off Fannie, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fannie, And (and) (and) you can put the load right on me.

I picked up my bag, I went lookin' for a place to hide;
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin' side by side.
I said, "Hey, Carmen, come on, let's go downtown."
She said, "I gotta go, but m'friend can stick around."

(Chorus)

Go down, Miss Moses, there's nothin' you can say
It's just ol' Luke, and Luke's waitin' on the Judgement Day.
"Well, Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?"
He said, "Do me a favor, son, woncha stay an' keep Anna Lee company?"

(Chorus)

Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog.
He said, "I will fix your rags, if you'll take Jack, my dog."
I said, "Wait a minute, Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man."
He said, "That's okay, boy, won't you feed him when you can."

(Chorus)

Catch a Cannonball, now, t'take me down the line
My bag is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time.
To get back to Miss Annie, you know she's the only one.
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone."