Swiss Re has no further exposure to subprime risks: CEO (AFP)
AFP - The world's largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, is out of danger from major exposure to the subprime mortgage crisis, the group's chief executive Jacques Aigrain said in remarks published Tuesday. More »
Fannie, Freddie need restructuring to limit risks: IMF (Reuters)
Reuters - The U.S. government's move to take control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will help shore up the housing market, the banking system and the wider economy, a senior International Monetary Fund official said on Tuesday. More »
European stocks pause for breath at open (AFP)
AFP - European stock markets held steady at the opening of trade on Tuesday following surges the day before caused by the US bailout of former mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. More »
McCain and Palin urge Fannie, Freddie restructuring (Reuters)
Reuters - Republican White House nominees John McCain and Sarah Palin would ensure mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were permanently restructured and downsized, the pair wrote in The Wall Street Journal. More »
McCain May Privatize Fannie, Freddie; Obama Sees Federal Role (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg - Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain and Barack Obama agree the Treasury needed to step in to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They disagree over how much the U.S. government should be involved in the housing market once the immediate crisis is past. More »
Fannie, Freddie Takeover Ends Lobbying Effort Bigger Than GE's (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg - Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stops one of Washington's most powerful lobbying juggernauts in its tracks after the mortgage giants had spent tens of millions of dollars thwarting efforts to increase government oversight. More »
Obama objects to severance for ousted CEOs (AP)
AP - Barack Obama objected to reports Monday that the ousted heads of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may receive lucrative severance packages and asked the Bush administration to ensure their "poor leadership" isn't rewarded. More »
Fannie, Freddie takeover offers recovery hope: analysts (AFP)
AFP - The US takeover of struggling mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offers hope for an easing of the credit and housing crunch while putting the government's finances on the line, analysts have said. More »
IBD's Top 10 - Monday (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - 1 Wall Street applauded the gov't takeover of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . The Dow surged 2.6%, the S&P 500 2.1%, the NYSE composite 1.7%. Fannie and Freddie shares dived, though. The Nasdaq rose 0.6% as Google (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News), Oracle (NasdaqGS:ORCL - News), Apple (NasdaqGS:AAPL - News) and other big-cap techs struggled. Banking, retail and building stocks led the market higher. Volume surged. More »
UCA to Host Shale Summit
The University of Central Arkansas' Strategic Growth Institute will host a seminar on Oct. 3 to provide an update on the production and economic significance of the Fayetteville Shale drilling operations, the school announced Monday. More »
Take part in the annual UAE property survey
AME Info has reopened the annual property survey, and we are looking to hear your views on the housing market in the UAE. To take part, please click <a href=https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=EUBvMTU9u559j5JVSUsRpw_3d_3d" target="_blank"> here</a> More »
Tatweer forms two divisions
Tatweer has announced the restructuring of its operations into two major divisions - Tatweer Dubai and Tatweer Investments. Tatweer Dubai will be led by CEO Khalid Al Malik and will direct scheduled project delivery within the UAE. Its entities would include Dubai Healthcare City, Dubailand, Bawadi, Theme Parks Cluster, and Dubai Industrial City. Tatweer Investments will be led by CEO Ahmad Sharaf and will foray into international markets, extending Tatweer's existing intellectual property portfolio and generate innovative IP driven investments and partnerships overseas. More »
Drake & Scull on Sahara works
Drake & Scull International has won contract for MEP and the engineering, procurement and construction of the chilled water plant for the Sahara Centre Shopping Mall expansion in Sharjah. The contract, valued at Dhs140m is expected to complete the project in December 2009 as part of the Dhs5bn Sahara City expansion project. More »
ADIH plans $2bn UAE project
Abu Dhabi Investment House has plans to launch a $2bn real estate development in the UAE capital by the end of the year. The mixed use residential and commercial development will be launched under the company's real estate Porta Moda label and is part of a $7bn series of similar projects planned for Qatar, Morocco, Tunisia and India. More »
British mortgage lender Nationwide snaps up struggling peers (AFP)
AFP - Nationwide Building Society, the second biggest lender of home loans in Britain, said Monday it had agreed to buy two smaller peers struggling to cope with the global credit crunch. More »
US government takes on big role in mortgage market (AP)
AP - Uncle Sam has just become the 800 pound gorilla in the U.S. mortgage market. The Bush administration announced Sunday it was seizing troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a bid to help reverse a prolonged housing and credit crisis. More »
Fannie, Freddie: Feds Step In (BusinessWeek Online)
BusinessWeek Online - With the nation riveted on what the next President will do, the current Administration showed on Sept. 7 that it's not ready to take its hands off the economy's steering wheel quite yet. The Bush Administration announced that it had seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , two huge but dysfunctional companies whose financial difficulties were weighing down the U.S. housing market and threatening global financial upheaval. More »
World stocks soar after Freddie, Fannie bailouts (AP)
AP - World stock markets soared Monday after Washington announced a bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — a move that could help bolster a shaky U.S. housing market and renew global investor confidence. More »
Dollar rallies after US rescue for mortgage giants (AFP)
AFP - The dollar rose against the euro and yen on Monday after US authorities bailed out two mortgage finance giants, easing investor worries over the future of global markets, dealers said. More »
China and Japan hail U.S. mortgage rescue as doubts linger (Reuters)
Reuters - China and Japan, the biggest buyers of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonds, on Monday praised Washington for rescuing the ailing mortgage giants, but investors said the bailout had not ended global credit market misery. More »
World stocks soar on US mortgage bailout (AFP)
AFP - European and Asian stock markets surged Monday after the US government grabbed control of ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, easing fears of a world financial crisis, dealers said. More »
Mortgage lender Nationwide announces merger (AP)
AP - The Nationwide Building Society, a British mortgage lender, said Monday it is taking over two smaller rivals. More »
Freddie, Fannie plan protects taxpayers: Paulson (Reuters)
Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an interview with U.S. radio broadast on Monday that a plan to take control of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had been structured in a way to protect U.S. taxpayers. More »
McCain and Obama say Fannie, Freddie takeover needed (Reuters)
Reuters - Both presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain said on Sunday they see the federal takeover of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as necessary. More »
U.S. Takeover of Fannie, Freddie Offers `Stopgap' (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg - Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is aimed at keeping the companies going into 2009, while leaving the next president and Congress to decide their long-term structure. More »