FreedomTalks

I can’t believe the Treasury Department just sent out this advisory.
Paulson to Visit Treasury Printing Facility in Kansas City Next Week to Observe Stimulus Checks Rolling off the Presses
Washington, DC–Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. will tour a Treasury Department printing facility in Kansas City next Thursday to observe the first mass production printing and […]

Mortgage lending giant Countrywide Financial is in serious trouble– its credit rating was cut to junk on Friday and there are new signs that Bank of America may walk away from its acquisition deal. (ht Calculated Risk) The problem for taxpayers is that Countrywide has direct access to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet through […]

I missed this item last month, but it is a significant story:
The U.S. economy lost the title of “world’s biggest” to the euro zone this week as the value of the dollar slumped in currency markets.
Taking the gross domestic product of both economies in 2007, the combined GDP of the 15 countries which use the […]

Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, yesterday said he will pressure the Federal Reserve to intervene in student loan markets.
Dodd announced his intention to send letters in the coming days asking Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke to use existing tools to avert a breakdown in the […]

The dramatic loosening of monetary policy is spiking dollar-based commodity prices worldwide. While there are many factors driving higher commodity prices, including U.S. biofuels mandates, I believe Fed policy is a major cause. Banks and homeowners and some exporters are helped by the Fed’s actions, but consumers are taking it on the chin. […]

The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s yesterday described the profound risks Congress, the Bush Administration, and the Federal Reserve are creating by expanding the role of the GSE’s and through expanded Fed lending to financial institutions.    Reuters reports:
In a deep and prolonged recession, the maximum potential cost of assisting the GSEs, together with loans […]

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker was deeply critical (in fed-speak terms) of the Fed’s intervention in the Bear Stearns matter in a speech today, as reported by Bloomberg. (ht Calculated Risk)
“The Federal Reserve has judged it necessary to take actions that extend to the very edge of its lawful and implied powers, transcending in […]

Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, is also a primary dealer with access to the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending window. We don’t know if UBS is actually using the Fed’s credit line, because that is kept secret. But the bank recently announced another multi-billion dollar mortgage-related write-down, and is trying to raise $15 billion in […]

Congress is finally stirring on the broad new risks the Federal Reserve is taking as it intervenes to prop up financial asset prices. Rep. Henry Waxman sent a letter today to the central bank asking some good questions about the Bear Stearns deal and how $30 billion in new federal government collateral will […]

Last month, the Federal Reserve announced a new lending program, the $200 billion Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF), that reaches beyond traditional banks to lend Treasuries to major investment houses in exchange for other collateral. While who is actually borrowing from the facility, and what specifically they are posting as collateral, is secret, […]