Friday, March 21, 2008

While People Lose Their Homes.


SOCIALISM FOR THE RICH 

Investment Firms Tap Federal Government  for Billions

Thursday March 20, 5:03 pm ET
By Jeannine Aversa, 
AP Economics Writer
Investment Houses Borrow Billions From Fed's Emergency Lending Program

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Big Wall Street investment companies are taking advantage of the Federal Reserve's unprecedented offer to secure emergency loans, the central bank reported Thursday.
The lending is part of a major effort by the Fed to help a financial system in danger of freezing.

Those large firms averaged $13.4 billion in daily borrowing over the past week from the new lending facility. The report does not identify the borrowers.

The Fed, in a bold move Sunday, agreed for the first time to let big investment houses get emergency loans directly from the central bank. This mechanism, similar to one available for commercial banks for years, got under way Monday and will continue for at least six months. It was the broadest use of the Fed's lending authority since the 1930s.

Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley said Wednesday they had begun to test the new lending mechanism.

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