Financial exchange traded funds (ETFs) received an early-morning jump from the plan for the U.S. government to bail out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In fact, this intraday chart showing the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF), KBW Regional Banks (KRE) and the Nasdaq tells some of the story:
The initial bump came from excitement over the plan for the Treasury to seize the companies and inject up to $100 billion into them. The plan could help lower mortgage rates and lift the overall economy, reports Tim Paradis for the Associated Press.
Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D., for Money and Markets, gives a few reasons on why the bailout is going to fail. Wall Street pundits might declare the bailout “manna from heaven,” he says. But didn’t we hear the same pitch in August when the world’s central banks teamed up to inject the credit markets with cash?