Blame 'Stinky'?
While policymakers were expected to approve a bill this weekend to backstop Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, late-night comics were continuing to poke fun at the names of the government-sponsored enterprises.Stephen Colbert, the host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," said that, with those names, the companies were doomed to fail.
"It is our own fault for naming our nation's lending institutions after the stars of 'Hee Haw,' " Mr. Colbert said, referring to the 1970s country music variety show.
Jon Stewart, the host of the cable network's "The Daily Show," also riffed on the subject for the second week in a row.
"Why are their names Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?" he asked a guest. "If you're going to have a $5 trillion business, let me hear their full [expletive] name. I don't want to know their nicknames. I don't want to have a business collapse that destroys the American economy if its nickname is 'Stinky.' "
It's true that Fannie and Freddie are nicknames. But calling them by their proper names — the Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. — would be a lot less fun.
Goldman Again
The Treasury Department has once again turned to Goldman Sachs Group for assistance, adding Ken Wilson to advise the agency on responses to the housing crisis.Mr. Wilson, 61, the head of Goldman's financial institutions group, agreed on July 19 to take a temporary leave of absence from the investment bank and join Treasury Secretary and former Goldman CEO Henry Paulson in government.
Before joining Goldman in 1998, Mr. Wilson was a vice president at Lazard Ltd. He also attended Harvard Business School with President Bush.
New Leader for MBA
Jonathan Kempner, the president and chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, announced last week that he will step down at yearend.He is to be succeeded by John Courson, a former MBA chairman, who will be the chief operating officer from Aug. 1 until he takes the president post on Jan. 1.
Mr. Kempner has been at the MBA since March 2001.
"Navigating the highs and lows of the real estate cycles, with a first-rate leadership and wonderful membership, afforded me a rare opportunity to contribute to one of the most important industries in our society," Mr. Kempner said in a press release.
Mr. Courson was MBA chairman in 2003 and has been the president and CEO of Central Pacific Mortgage Co., president and CEO of Westwood Mortgage Corp., and president and chief operating officer of Fundamental Mortgage. In 2004, he was appointed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as chairman of the board of directors of the California Housing Finance Agency, where he currently serves.
Interim FDIC Job
With John Bovenzi busy running IndyMac Federal Bank in California, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has picked Arthur Murton, an agency veteran, to fill in for him in its top nonpolitical job.Mr. Murton, the FDIC's insurance director, will be its acting chief operating officer until Mr. Bovenzi returns from IndyMac.
It was unclear when that will be, but the agency is aiming to sell IndyMac's assets within three months.
