The bailout that many hope will be the salve to soothe volatile markets and hurting exchange traded funds (ETFs) cleared a hurdle this weekend.
Lawmakers agreed to the deal, and now the vote is being put to Congress. President Bush urged for a quick approval, report Carl Hulse and David M. Herszenhorn for the New York Times. The House is expected to vote today, and the Senate will vote later this week.
Meanwhile, the fever of the financial crisis doesn’t appear to have broken yet. Citigroup (C) stepped forward today to acquire the banking operations of Wachovia (WB). Citigroup will absorb $42 billion of losses from Wachovia’s $312 billion loan portfolio, the Associated Press reports. The deal will cement Citigroup’s place among the Big Three, along with Bank of America (BAC) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM).
Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FMC) are being subpoenaed for documents as part of grand jury investigations into their accounting, Reuters reports. The FBI said it is expanding its investigation of possible corporate fraud to Fannie, Freddie, Lehman Brothers and American International Group.