MBS Q&A

Tell me how can we state with finality
When the mortgage bond crisis finale be?
When loans finish tanking
In ledgers of banking
To prices reflecting reality.  

Freddie Mac has inspired the foregoing Q and A with the news of its first quarterly profit in over 3 years. The $676 million profit stems from FHLMC's having arrested the slide in the collective value of the mortgages and foreclosed homes on its balance sheet, begging the question of whether the valuation is realistic, and whether it may yet fall further. As Freddie Mac CFO Ross Kari cautioned: "We're encouraged by the trends, [but] we're not putting up a 'mission accomplished' sign on the front of the building either."