Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac | featured news

The recession left behind a graveyard of corporate carcasses, from Circuit City to Linens n' Things to Lehman Brothers. Thousands of smaller businesses closed. AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are staggering along as wards of the state.

The total taxpayer bill for both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is now about $136 billion.

House lawmakers hold their first hearing about how to restructure the mortgage system.

Sixteen months after they were seized to prevent collapse, companies remain wards of the state, running a tab that has now exceeded $125 billion.

Until now, officials have signaled to the market that lending the mortgage giants money is just about as safe as lending to U.S. government itself.

Rates can fall to 2%--if you know how to play the game.

The Obama administration launched a broad government effort this week to overhaul mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and is considering splitting the companies and putting their troubled assets in a new federally backed corporation, administration officials said.

Fannie Mae is due to pay retention bonuses of as much $470,000 to $611,000 this year to some executives despite enormous losses. Freddie Mac also plans to pay such bonuses but hasn't yet provided details.

The Obama administration announced new plans to make it easier for up to nine million people to rework or refinance their mortgages. Geithner said the Treasury is increasing its funding commitment to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The $700 billion financial-sector bailout is likely to rely on a broad range of tools, from injecting additional capital into banks and helping homeowners avoid foreclosure to expanding the roles of the Fed, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FDIC.