what they were telling investors about their financial statements and their book and what the sec says is that those housing giants, the mortgage giants didn t tell the market about the mess of subprime mortgage exposure they were building. and it was the subprime exposure that contributed in part in creating the government bailout. so we now own fannie and freddie because of that exposure to that the sec said they did not adequately disclose. is the allegation this is a civil allegation are they saying, but for those lies we might not have gone into this horrible collapse? well, there are a lot of people think that think it was more obvious how much risk was building in the financial system and the housing market, if it were more obvious tcould have been stopped sooner and we have a lot less economic harm. the best place to have spotted
what they were telling investors about their financial statements and their book and what the sec says is that those housing giants, the mortgage giants didn t tell the market about the mess of subprime mortgage exposure they were building. and it was the subprime exposure that contributed in part in creating the government bailout. so we now own fannie and freddie because of that exposure to that the sec said they did not adequately disclose. is the allegation this is a civil allegation are they saying, but for those lies we might not have gone into this horrible collapse? well, there are a lot of people think that think it was more obvious how much risk was building in the financial system and the housing market, if it were more obvious tcould have been stopped sooner and we have a lot less economic harm. the best place to have spotted
administration pushed back so much. politicians can say that these ratings don t matter and people should ignore them, but clearly the reason they were pushing back is the stakes are high here and the reason they are high is that the ratings of the country have the potential to affect all kinds of other ratings here. some ratings agencies have said if there was a downgrade they may also lower the ratings of several states, they may also lower ratings of fannie and freddie, for instance, so the housing giants could find it more expensive to borrow in the market, so the ratings traditionally mean something and do affect pricing. this is unprecedented and we ll have to see on monday what happens in the market. it s possible investors will shrug and not demand a bigger premium from the united states, we already knew those things about the united states, so maybe investors will shrug it off but there could be collateral effects here.
have the potential to affect all kinds of other ratings here. some ratings agencies have said if there was a downgrade they may also lower the ratings of several states, they may also lower ratings of fannie and freddie, for instance, so the housing giants could find it more expensive to borrow in the market, so the ratings traditionally mean something and do affect pricing. this is unprecedent and we ll have to see on monday what happens in the market. it s possible investors will shrug and not demand a bigger premium from the united states, we already knew those things about the united states, so maybe investors will shrug it off but there could be collateral effects here. louise story, thank you for putting this in context, appreciate it. also an msnbc policy analyst, ezra, thanks for your time
shows retail sales were up, despite rising fuel costs and all those nasty winter storms. auto sales are also bouncing back with sweeter deals and discounts pushing february sales up an average of 20% over last year. house lawmakers welcomed word from treasury secretary, timothy geithner, that the obama administration plans to dissolve ailing housing giants, fannie mae and freddie mac, but he warned it must be done gradually. former director of goldman sachs and proctor and gamble is being charged in what s being called the largest insider hedge trading fund ever. j. crew approved a $3 billion sale of the retailers to two private equity firms. apple is unexpected to unveil it s long-awaited, thinner, faster, and camera-equipped ipad ii. but what s not so certain is whether the company s ailing ceo, steve jobs, will take part. and a london council