Thu 2009-11-19 10:26 EST

Goldman left foreign investors holding the subprime bag | McClatchy

Greg Gordon

Goldman sold more than $57 billion in risky mortgage-backed securities during a 14-month period in 2006 and 2007, including nearly $39 billion issued from mortgages it purchased. Meanwhile, the firm peddled billions of dollars in complex deals, many of them tied to subprime mortgages, in the Caymans and other offshore locations...Goldman's traders also made huge bets that those securities would lose value by buying insurance-like contracts, called credit-default swaps, with private parties. Beginning early in 2007, they bought swaps on a London-based exchange.

Goldman left foreign investors holding; McClatchy; subprime bag.

Thu 2007-12-20 00:00 EST

Bear In Mind > Fannie Mae: Systemic time bomb

Bear In Mind > Fannie Mae: Systemic time bomb; half of issued debt bought by non-US investors; risky mortgage exposure 10x capital base; falling home prices drive foreclosures, huge Fannie Mae losses

Bear; Fannie Mae; mind; Systemic time bomb.