Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Fallout Comes to China
Monday, July 14th, 2008By Jennifer Wu
July 14 - Much to the alarm of the United States government and investors everywhere, shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-chartered mortgage financiers, plummeted last week. Fear bred in the midst of suspicion that the two largest home-loan lenders in America did not have enough capital to survive the housing crisis.
Having lost more than US$11 billion or around 50 percent of their value, the public-owned institutions have raised approximately US$20 billion of capital since the crisis started. Today, they guarantee about US$5 trillion of home-mortgage debt or half of the United States’ total.
As Washington now scrambles to bail out Fannie and Freddie, investors worldwide cannot help but nervously watch the fragile American economy attempt to avoid collapsing. The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve announced a plan yesterday to shore up the firms, suggesting money lending and equity purchase in the two companies if need be. (more…)






July 14 - You’ve arrived late in a Chinese city, but you left your passport in your office. You need a bed for the night. What can you do?

SHANGHAI, July 4 - Red-bean Frappucinos at Starbucks, porridge at KFC, mooncake-shaped ice cream at Häagen-Dazs—don’t be surprised to find these products or variations at any of their respective chain stores in China.

