Wow, what a difference twenty-four hours can make. 

You’d have to be hiding under a rock today to not know that Fannie and Freddie’s free-fall has not slowed, but in fact picked up steam today.  I’d venture the lunch of your choice at our favorite outdoor eatery here in Bozeman today (The Garage) that you’re probably not surprised at that news; sobered a bit perhaps, but not surprised. 

We’re obviously not fans of the mainstream media here at Redfish.  Speaking with a news junkie friend this morning about an apartment project in central Texas, she indicated that she had finally simply turned off the TV as the news sources she was watching were predicting the end of the financial and mortgage world as we know it. 

Here’s a roundup of several interesting points of view on the status of Fannie and Freddie, their potential for entering a “conservatorship”, and at least more level headed appraisals of the options than you’ll ever hear on the network news today.

Over on HousingWire, Paul Jackson has written a couple of rational posts today – one detailing Paulson’s remarks regarding a bail out (not yet), and another about the freefall of the GSEs. 

Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture (we like what Barry has to say more and more) has written about possible conservatorship for Fannie and Freddie, and he has collected an array of fascinating comments on the issue (speaking of the chicken littles).

Seeking Alpha has a series of articles up on the issue, here’s a link to the first in the series titled Don’t Panic (GSE Edition). 

The WSJ has a couple of articles worth your time today – their page 1, top of the fold article is Mortgage Giants Face Pressure Over Capital,  and Insurance Dilemma Adds to Distress dealing with the overt stresses mortgage insurers are facing currently. 

Finally, Jeff Brown at BawldGuy Talking has a great post up today that will make you laugh a bit, and remember the resiliency of the American economy.  Jeff likes to keep Chicken Little on the run. 

So do we. 

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