The
data set above includes daily trading volumes for Fannie Mae [FNM] on
the New York Stock Exchange for the past 20 trading days.
I
would now like to bring the reader�s attention to a snippet of �off
exchange� electronic trades conducted outside NYSE trading hours on
December 21, 2004 between the hours of 16:00 and 17:49 [4:00 PM � 5:49
PM], after the NYSE has ceased trading for the day:
Now dear readers, assuming you are able to read and comprehend the above
trades, I would like to draw your attention to one particular trade of
an even 8 MILLION shares of FNM transacted at a
price of 70.35 [Five Hundred Sixty Two Million US Dollar Transaction] at
4:29 PM. Please note that in the past 20 trading days the total
daily volume of FNM transacted on the NYSE has only exceeded 8 million
shares 3 times.
Now I would like to draw everyone's attention to a news release:
The chief executive and top financial officer at mortgage giant Fannie
Mae have been forced out, congressional and industry sources said
Tuesday, as the nation's second largest financial institution struggles
to deal with revelations of auditing improprieties.
Chief executive Franklin Raines and chief financial officer Timothy Howard
were forced to resign, according to congressional and industry sources
who spoke on condition of anonymity, as federal officials intensified
their investigations into revelations that the company will probably be
forced to restate $9 billion or more in earnings over the past four years�
So folks, the CEO [Raines] and the CFO�s [Howard] resignations were made
public, as per the time stamped AP story cited above, at 7:44 PM on the
evening of Dec. 21, 2004 after the market close, and it appears well
after 4:29 PM? My question to you, dear reader, is who was transacting
FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY TWO MILLION US DOLLARS worth of FNM stock � off
exchange in the under reported electronic market -- mere hours before
this announcement right after the market close at 4 PM Eastern Time?
Martha Stewart spends her Christmas Holidays in the slammer as a result
of charges brought against her for allegedly transacting a couple of
thousand shares of Imclone with insider knowledge. Does this unreported
[so far] minor 8,000,000 share FNM [Fannie Mae] incident make a complete
mockery of the SEC and the NY Attorney General�s office?
Is the public owed an explanation? Will anyone else in the main stream
financial press find this newsworthy? Is this the epitome of an
egregious trading irregularity that at bare minimum begs for a
transparent investigation?
Rob Kirby
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Why
should you care what happens at Fannie Mae?
TO
THE SOLARI ACTION NETWORK
December 21,2004
Why
should you care
what happens at Fannie Mae? Fannie Mae is one of the largest financial
institutions in the world. If you have money in a money market account
or in a mutual fund, you may have money invested in their securities. If
you have a pension fund, your pension fund may have money invested in
their securities. If you financed your home with a mortgage, your
mortgage may have been financed through Fannie Mae. Troubled finances at
Fannie Mae could spell problems for the US Dollar and the US Treasury
and have domino impact on the mortgage market -- including how much it
costs to finance your home or apartment.
On a more personal note, Franklin Raines, the CEO just ousted, was the head
of OMB [Office of Management and Budget] when Hamilton Securities and I
were targeted. His office actively failed to protect Hamilton and the
team of honest officials at HUD. The President's Council of Integrity
and Efficiency at OMB was the authority to prevent abuse by Inspector
Generals including Susan Gaffney, Inspector General of HUD. The Judge,
Stanley Sporkin, who was so instrumental with Gaffney and the Department
of Justice Civil Division in targeting us is now advising the
Administration in the oversight of Fannie Mae. [Editor's
Comment: Another Fox Guarding the Hen House?]
Fannie
Mae and Raines are now under criminal investigation by the Securities
and Exchange Commission, where Sporkin once served as head of the
enforcement division.
Never in my wildest dreams when I penned
When
It Raines It Pours or the Dean Martin �Roasts� as a
Realty Reality Recommending Reading December 21, 2004 would I have
believed that the Fannie Mae CEO would be out of a job at Fannie Mae on
the same day. We have provided links to the continuing saga of the lack
of transparency at Fannie Mae in the beginning of our joint authored
essay. Now the CNBC is getting into the act having interviewed Congressman
Richard Baker from Louisiana. CNBC, where have you folks been since
1995? Mr. Insana, Fannie Mae has been under-capitalized for quite some
time � Welcome
to Reality, Ron, Ole Buddy!
8,000,000
shares of Fannie Mae trade after the market closes. That's surreal!
Miss Fitts points out a very astute observation that many mutual funds
are invested in Fannie Mae holdings. If folks think their money market
account is just in cash alone, folks may want to call their broker and
find out. We have numerous
links in Realty Reality to Miss
Fitts and her dangerous
world of following the money trail.
Mr. Kasriel�s Flow-of-Funds Stocking
Stuffers linked above is a great read. It is like the ice cream on
hot apple pie right out of the oven. Housing Bubble, Real Estate Bubble,
Debt Bubble, Consumer Spending Bubble? Fannie Mae causing
destabilization in the national housing market? Not according to
Greenspan since all real estate markets are local, thus cannot be
markets bubbles.
Given the lack of transparency at Fannie Mae and the other GSEs, we suspect
the losses at Fannie Mae to well exceed $9 Billion in chump change.
What's lurking in their loan loss portfolio will certainly provide
more dead kitty kats thrown out there on the table with the blood I see
first hand on the streets of Central Missouri � as one foreclosure
after another re-sells below the appraisal reports I am asked to review.
We suspect financial fudge at Fannie Mae will spill over to some of the
Big Boy Lenders who run and rig their own appraisal management companies
putting lender client pressure on the realty valuation community to hit
the number to make the deal. Taxpayers, get out your check books! What
an absolute mess!
Ole
Bear
Editorfor Realty Reality
Columbia,
Missouri
GLOBAL
REAL ESTATE MARKETS FORUM