The Bank of England extended its bond-buying program to provide 50 billion pounds in support to banks struggling under heavy debt loads, lifting bond prices but causing the value of the pound to drop. In the US, home prices remained low despite housing agencies offering loans up to 125% of home values. One of these agencies, Fannie Mae, will require another $10 billion in federal support, raising concerns about whether government intervention can solve the ongoing financial crisis.

1. The Queen and Uncle Sam to the Rescue
By Mohit Satyanand
7 August 7, 2009
I have an early morning call for a play a group of us do for schools, so I'll keep this brief:
- yesterday, the Bank of Englasnd surprised makrets by announcing an extension of its
"Quantitative Easing" program, a facility by which it buys bonds directly from the market, hoping
to lifting the pressure on banks burdened by their own stretched balance sheets. The scheme,
worth 50 billion pounds, lifted bond prices, but drove the pound down.
- in the US, home prices stay stubbornly down, despite the willingness of housing finance
agencies to lend upto 125% of home prices. Remember, that credit on easy terms was one of the
culprits of the current financial crisis, for which greedy lenders were blamed. Now that
government agencies are offering over-generous terms, I guess this is benevolent. Be that as it
may, news comes in that one of these agencies, Fannie Mae, is going to require another round of
federal support, of, oh, only 10 odd billion dollars.
I don't know where all this is going to end, but I doubt it's going to be one of those "Happily Ever
After" endings.