Home > Economy
The Financial Frankenstein is On The Loose
Fan/Fred is bankrupt. Yes, B-A-N-K-R-U-P-T
Everything you've heard and read about Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac this week (and for weeks to come) is rubbish. That is, unless you keep one thing in mind:
Fan/Fred is bankrupt. Yes, B-A-N-K-R-U-P-T.
While I'm at it, please remember this as well: The politicians and policy pooh-bahs who say Fan/Fred is "too big to fail" are actually acknowledging that The Monster has failed ALREADY. I could write a lot of words about how corrupt these two institutions have been over the past decade -- multi-billion dollar scandals that paid multi-million dollar bonuses to executives, via accounting abuses on a scale that required 1,500 consultants to sort out. The Monster sends swarms of lobbyists to protect itself in Washington and swarms of money to both parties via soft-money contributions. It has a multi-million dollar budget to pump up its "image," but will not hesitate to squelch unflattering research -- such as the Federal Reserve study which showed that Fan/Fred does "not appear to have substantially increased homeownership or homebuilding."
Years and years of corrupt behavior produced layer and layer of congressional and regulatory "oversight." Yet today, The Monster mocks its creator more loudly than ever.
It has become a financial Frankenstein. And should anyone be surprised? The Monster received its artificial life from the government. It grew to its extraordinary strength and size because the government endowed it with artificial advantages (the implicit promise of a bailout which allowed borrowing at lower rates and lending at higher ones). And its creator (the government) could and did boast of how it did the world a favor, because its Creation "stimulated mortgage lending" and "madehomeownership possible for more families."
The Monster's "favors" now look increasingly like a ravishing of the entire financial landscape. But unlike the monster in the Frankenstein movie, the government cannot kill the Fan/Fred monster: pardon the mixed metaphor, but the Fan/Fred monster is a parasite that cannot be killed without also risking the life of the host, namely the entire banking and financial system.
It's time to look after your own financial portfolio and future -- indeed, the amount of time left for investors to do so appears to be growing shorter. We can help -- Bob Prechter and the analysts here at Elliott Wave International saw the problems with Fan/Fred coming years ago. Click here to see what we see now.
Tags: