11:49 FNM Fannie Mae plan a 'disaster' to Rogers; Goldman says sell - Bloomberg.com (10.37 +0.13) -Update-
Bloomberg.com reports U.S. Treasury Department's plan to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FRE) is an "unmitigated disaster'' and the largest U.S. mortgage lenders are "basically insolvent,'' according to investor Jim Rogers. Taxpayers will be saddled with debt if Congress approves U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's request for the authority to buy unlimited stakes in and lend to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Rogers said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Rogers is betting that Fannie Mae shares will keep tumbling. Goldman Sachs Group analyst Daniel Zimmerman said the mortgage finance companies' shares may fall another 35% and lowered his share-price estimate for Fannie Mae to $7 from $18 and for Freddie Mac to $5 from $17... "These companies were going to go bankrupt if they hadn't stepped in to do something, and they should've gone bankrupt with all of the mistakes they've made,'' Rogers said. "What's going to happen when you Band-Aid and put some Band-Aids on it for another year or two or three? What's going to happen three years from now when the situation's much, much, much worse?'' Rogers said he had not covered his so-called short positions in Fannie Mae and would increase his bet if it were to rally.
Bloomberg.com reports U.S. Treasury Department's plan to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FRE) is an "unmitigated disaster'' and the largest U.S. mortgage lenders are "basically insolvent,'' according to investor Jim Rogers. Taxpayers will be saddled with debt if Congress approves U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's request for the authority to buy unlimited stakes in and lend to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Rogers said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Rogers is betting that Fannie Mae shares will keep tumbling. Goldman Sachs Group analyst Daniel Zimmerman said the mortgage finance companies' shares may fall another 35% and lowered his share-price estimate for Fannie Mae to $7 from $18 and for Freddie Mac to $5 from $17... "These companies were going to go bankrupt if they hadn't stepped in to do something, and they should've gone bankrupt with all of the mistakes they've made,'' Rogers said. "What's going to happen when you Band-Aid and put some Band-Aids on it for another year or two or three? What's going to happen three years from now when the situation's much, much, much worse?'' Rogers said he had not covered his so-called short positions in Fannie Mae and would increase his bet if it were to rally.