According to a report by the U.S. Treasury Department, the banks that received billions of dollars of taxpayer money from the TARP fund have actually been less forthcoming with credit than before. The report shows that the total amount of all outstanding loans from the banks that received taxpayer money has fallen 0.8 percent in a month’s time.
 
This means that the total amount of money involved in lending contracts has shrunk from $5.28 trillion to $5.24 trillion from February to March in the 500 financial institutions that received taxpayer money. Commercial loans have fallen 1.2 percent $2.35 trillion in everywhere …read more

Yesterday was another roller coaster ride for Freddie Mac shareholders.
Shares of the troubled GSE traded up 68 cents in regular trading yesterday (and added another 50 cents this morning).  For today’s Freddie Mac, 68 cents is massive, representing an increase of over 20 percent in one day. 
One month ago, 68 cents may have turned a few heads but one year ago this wouldn’t merit a cursory glance.
What a difference a year makes.
BTW Freddie Mac’s CEO Richard Syron, who has been accused of brushing off warnings about the firm’s risky loan portfolio, recently told the New York Times, ”If I had better foresight, maybe I could have improved things …read more