what's been the impact of fannie mae and freddie mac getting out at a time like this?l, it's huge. certainly we see research report after research report of the growing need for affordable housing, both rental and for sale housing. but what we also see is a desire to look at different ways for supporting affordable housing, that we have more foundations that are looking at mission-related investment, program-related investment. there are different ways to use the core of their assets where they can invest in entities that it's beyond grants. when you think about foundations, you often think about grants. but there are other ways to invest in building the core of a body of work and certainly affordable housing is one that we are committed to and one of the things we've been seeing in our office is we don't want affordable housing to be an oxymoron in the greater washington region. >> celeste, the washington area is full of young people, full of millennials, how are they driving the philosophy toward philanthropy here in this region? >> i think young people are willing t

statutory mandates require us to -- safety and soundness of the home loan banks, fannie mae and freddie mac and that they provide liquidity in the national housingness market. fhfa works to balance these obligations across all of our activities 89. because fannie mae and freddie mack are under conservatorship, we're also main dated to preserve and conserve their assets. in may, fhfa issued a strategic plan and score carda outlined three strategic goals for -- each of these strategic goals is fully aligned with fhfa's statutory man dates and fully aligned with the commitments i made to this committee during my confirmation hearing. the first goal is to maintain the credit availability and foreclosure prevention activities supported by the enterprises and to do so in a safe and sound way. we have worked with the enterprises to update and clarify their representation and warranty frame work to encourage responsible lending to credit worthy borrowers and to enhance their outreach to small and rural lenders. our objective here has been to normalize the availability of credit within the enterpris

you have fannie mae, freddie mac , they will be taking 3% down on loans they back stuff. fha, the lowest of 3.5% down. is there any concern fha is backstopping the riskiest are seattle >> it is true that volume there has been down over ?he -- are over seattle -- the t , they have been stronger than they have been in the last couple of years. we understand we have a responsibility to ensure that the fha is honest on track. but also to fulfill this role for the last 80 years of its existence, they have been ensuring that first-time modesters and folks of means are able to get access to credit. striking thatt balance and those are the questions that, going forward, we will be putting a lot of time and effort to continually analyzing. >> how are you going to reassure republicans in particular that we will not be right back where we were a couple of years ago -- with americans getting into homes they cannot afford? is democrats, it is all americans that want to ensure we do not go back to where we were before. very mindful of that. it is about striking this balance. the fact i

freddie mac said the average for a 30-year mortgage dropped to 3.97%.the average for a 15-year is 3.17%. loan is a popular choice for those who will be financing. 30-year rates will be falling because of slow downs in europe and china as well as the start of a recession in japan. long-term rates are now about a half point lower than they were at the beginning of the year. >> christmas tree growers have a reason to be thankful. people are paying more for fresh cut trees. if you plan on buying a real tree, expect to pay $2 more than last year. the cost is expected to go up even more if you procrastinate and purchase closer to christmas. they said it's about time after the low prices and decreased demand that put them out of business. fewer trees are being harvested and the competition from artificial manufacturers is still a challenge. >> how would you like your tree delivered by a horse drawn wagon? that's how the official white house christmas tree arrived. first lady michelle obama and daughters sasha and malia and the family dogs inspecting the 20-foo

lou: fannie mae and freddie mac reaching an agreement with lenders to expand access to mortgages, don down payments as low as 3%. herewith the outlook on the housing industry and factors that are influencing the market we have richard smith, the chairman and ceo and president of his holdings corporation. some of the biggest names in real estate are represented, including coldwell banker and a lot more. let's start with the help of this industry and the housing industry. how would you judge it? >> we are continuing the recovery that essentially began in 2011 and 2012 or you are we in third or the sixth inning and let's hope that it doesn't go an extra inning. i think that we are probably in the third inning and it's a nice recovery. >> i was hoping you'd say six or seven. >> i would like to say that, but we're not. it's not a robust recovery, we predicted a slow recovery and that's where we are right now. >> we were watching refinancing. i think a lot of folks thought that it would continue at a certain pace. what's going on there? >> where the rates are today, it doesn't pay to refina

>> first of all we should be reforming housing finance system, should be phasing fannie mae and freddie mac out. that is a backstop after you've gone through a cushion of private capital. it's a backstop that is explicitly financed. as far as goals and affordable housing, those should be explicits. see where the money comes from and goes to. you're not making it contingent liability. there was bipartisan enthusiasm in the senate banking committee from johnson and crepo following up to do that a. there was a bipartisan lack of enthusiasm to take that idea to the senate floor. you had a good start there. it would have -- would still be i think the basis of where we're going in the future getting there sooner would create a lot more certainty. >> do you think we can get freddie mac and fannie mae in 2015? >> i have a hard enough time predicting the economy. i'm not going to predict congress. it would be good to. there's a core bipartisan proposal. a lot of challenges. a lot of that is because you're taking cost currently impolice impoli as impolice it. >> mike negotiates the tpp asia and t tip

they said he led a good life, worked for freddie mac and was engaged. >> total personality, somewhat of a ham as a young kid. a lot of personality. lit up a room. police handed out flyers in his neighborhood. so far, noest ras, no notive. nothing taken from him. the family now prepares for his funeral saturday in manassas. darcy spns spencer, news 4 >>> a man shot outside a local walmart with customers nearby. gathering details and a live report right after the break. >>> taking a look at the model program helps veterans who committed trading-in or selling your car, truck or suv? webuyanycar.com takes the hassle out of selling in just 3 easy steps. one, get your free online valuation. two, book an appointment. and three, pick up a check at your nearest buying center. ♪ find out how much your car is worth ♪ ♪ at webuyanycar.com ♪ [ male announcer ] follow your joy to a celebration like no other. start your new orleans holiday at followyournola.com. [ male announcer ] hey, jennar fuzz mike a trooawwwwww scram!g...her. i'm crust mike jubby roll bond chow gonna lean up an kiss bet. peas

things like postal reform, cyber security, housing finance, fannie mae and freddie mac.ere were bisaturday pan projects that sort of got a little traction under them and sort of died for allfamiliar wi. and corporate tax reform being one of the big ones. it's not inconceivable after all this that something could get legislated. >> real quickly. we only have 30 seconds left in this segment. interesting to hear republicans talk about keystone pipeline. any responsibility the president would bend on that? >> i do. i think there's room for compromise there. i can imagine a package where he agrees to authorize the pipeline in exchange for something that he wants on energy or environment, that the republicans might not be so interested in giving him, so the question is, can they come together on that. he would argue as a tradeoff for whatever damage, if you can argue it, might be created by the keystone, we get this benefit, it may be worth it >>> they demonstrated the willingness and the skill to go after isil. so, they've reached a point where they need additional help and g

i think most have recognized that the current models of fannie and freddie mac cannot remain and we must reduce the risk that currently american taxpayers face. just recently i heard from the secretary -- h.u.d. secretary castro when he was calling for housing finance reform. but i haven't heard anything on this subject from you. in fact, when we had the ommittee vote on the johnson-crapo housing bill, we didn't hear any word from you. i guess my question for you today is, given your position -- of course the importance of this issue, are you going to continue your handsoff approach when it comes to housing finance reform or will you start engaging with congress and work with us to end this current fannie and freddie model? > i'm going to continue to say that it is -- that our role at hfa is in the here and the now of -- and that's what the statute gives us. it is congress' role to tell us what the future of g.s.e. reform is, and we have cooperated fully in terms of being a resource to the committees, all proposals, both the house and the senate. but if the committee is expecting me to h

committees on unsexy issues, things like postal reform, cybersecurity, housing financing, fannie mae and freddie macthere were bipartisan projects that got action traction, and they sort of died for all the reasons we are familiar with. and corporate tax reform being one of the big ones. it's not inconceivable even after all this that something could get legislated. real quickly, only about 30 seconds left in this segment. interesting to hear republicans talk about could stone. do you think the president would bend on that? >> i think so. i can imagine a package to -- in exchange for some, so the question is, can they come together. he would argue as a trade-off for whatever damage might be created by the keystone we get this benefit, it may be worth it. we'll see if that's possible. >> all right. that was a little hopeful. >>> we have to take a break. when we come back president obama is almost doubling the number of u.s. troops in iraq. does that signal a change in our mission there? plus what would you like the panel? we may use your question on the air. it's a fine-looking group of people there.

worked for freddie mac and was engaged. >> a total personality, somewhat of a ham as a young kid. of personality. lit of you a room. >> reporter: his nickname, hollywood because of flashy moves on the basketball court, won trophies and played in a semiprofessional court years ago. >> realized quickly he had a passion and a gift for the game. >> reporter: police handed out flyers in his neighborhood. so far no arrests, no motive. nothing was taken from him. brad johnson still searching for answers as he prepares for his son's funeral or saturday. coming up on news 4 at 6:00, hollis johnson came from a large, loving family. you're going to hear from his brother and sister and the family's message to the killer. for news 4. >>> and new questions on the story rocking the baltimore region. the indictment of former ravens cheerleader for charges of performing a sex act on a 15-year-old boy. our affiliate in baltimore reports there are signs that the way molly shanic's case is being handled isn't routine. the indictment against against her kept secret two days. the reason is still unclea

potential reforms to the housing system, as well as the future of mortgage lenders, fannie mae and freddie mac, and ways to improve home buyer's considered as read i. they got under way about 20 minutes ago. live coverage here on c-span. >> some people heard that we were just doing this in a willy-nilly fashion and didn't hear the second part of the sentence, which was that there would be compensating factors taken into account. the reality is that down payment necessarily ot reliable indicator of whether omebody will pay a loan. it is a factor, but the best illustration i can give you is that there are probably 75%, 80% of the people whose mortgages are under water now are still paying their mortgage. they have no equity. down payment is not the most reliable indicator of whether a borrower will repay a loan. if they have good credit, if they have housing counseling, if they have ongoing housing housing ost purchase counseling, and know how to be responsible homeowners, those perceived the increase risk -- >> we are going to be establishing a southwest mitigating factors. >> absolutely. >> wo

the fact that he could not even get a mortgage on a the government, do we need fannie mae and freddie macking to the markets? >> private equity have generally done -- said this past year, closer $8 million, which did not exist until november of last year. fannie will play a slightly increased role. no qualifications environment. i think living in your own home american dream. owning versus bernanke it should not be what drives that. >> people use to say you have to own it. now come you do not ask able if you own or lease a car. thet is misleading to say lenders force people who cannot afford a mortgage to take one. providing mortgages to the individual. they were blamed for too much leverage there they are between a rock and a hard life. in -- inet climate equilibrium. you let them work in this country, and those who can afford mortgages will get them, and you will have prudent -- >> that was vicki with capital. and credit -- credit guggenheim. as we were speaking, breaking news on the economy. following another 2000. inflation also coming in just around unchanged. at the breaking new jus

i remember at a hearing where a ill to reform fannie mae and freddie mac had have a hugely difficult issue had actually passed but it wasn't going to be brought up on the floor. heidi heitkamp was just beside herself with frustration as a democrat and bob corker from tennessee a republican was equally frustrated. so one has a sense of the senators don't want to go out there to do nothing so why is it your sense that this will last for a week and then it will be all over and it will get back to normal when my sense is many senators on both sides really want to get something done? >> i think that's absolutely true. it's true with every senator. i don't think there's anybody from the top leadership to the most senior members who don't want to get a lot done. this is a case where what starts to happen his politics gets in the way so when you say we will have a fannie freddie reform bill and i don't know the details of that for the context but when someone says okay we want to have an amendment and put the democrats for obama camp is and it has difficulty in deciding whether to support th

the treasury department is still making money from the bailout of fannie mae and freddie mac.$4the billion by the end of the year. its cousin will send $2.8 billion back to treasury. all of their profits belong to the government. presidentce's francois hollande said president obama's popularity looks pretty good, mr. obama's approval rating is 43% and his party just got hammered in midterm elections. hollande has reached the midpoint of his five-year term with a 13% popularity rating. he speaks to france tonight in a nationally televised speech. 13%. can you imagine? if you thinkine what francois hollande's policies are. now it's time to bring in our guest for the hour, kerry duffy. he has been there since 2002. it owns not just the chicago mercantile exchange. handles one quadrillion dollars worth of trade every year. that is quadrillion with a q. >> after trillion is quadrillion? >> before gazillion. we are so glad you are here. you're not just executive chairman of the cme group grade you truly have an understanding of what the u.s. looks like. we are two days after an elec

preferred shares of fannie mae and freddie mac tumbled. paulson bet on companies involved in takeovers, spinoffs, and bankruptcies. -- saw a lot of those and end. wrappingaving trouble his head around it. markets arecern still way too high. my next guest is concerned they have been propped up far too long by the fed's easy money. and that we may be headed to japan style economic. of course we want to lift up our viewers by saying we are headed for better prices here? outcomes thatwo are possible. but that is way behind. nations -- they should have started raising rates slowly over a long time ago. >> let me stop you there. would you see inflation? >> you can find places where it is mispriced. they look at something and say, this is better than what we had to for we will reduce the price. things like education and health care and large-scale purchases are far higher. they have been going up six or seven or 8% for generations. they're very concentrated in a short time. >> the prices are rising but does that necessarily flow into inflation? >

oil prices dropping, fannie mae and freddie mac decision which caused prices to plunge for a lot of hedge you also have treasuries falling. that was also unexpected. they fell to such a low level a lot of people to get forced people betting against treasuries to foreclose on those bets and by that treasuries to close out the short positions which further caused yields to drop because it pushed up prices of the treasuries. all these different factors played into it. another issue that will be ongoing is diverting monetary policy, diverging central banks. >> that is a big issue. we have to leave it there. thank you. we are "on the markets" in 30 minutes. "market makers" is next. ♪ live from bloomberg headquarters in new york, this is "market makers" with erik schatzker and stephanie ruhle. >> house and before your cash is trash? apple pay and did coin -- bitcoin are the start. we will see how soon until a truly cashless society. >> republicans are the favorites to capture the senate. we will talk to bloomberg's political gurus. >> luck of the irish. thha

freddie mac and fannie mae will relax standards. >> the "sydney morning herald" says the australian policeave reigned in three tons of illegal drugs. the narcotics were found in unmarked boxes aboard a ship that sailed from germany. six men were arrested in what was described as the second largest drug bust in australian history. >>> the london daily express catches a candid of prince charles with a gun in his hand. the prince was joining friends for a pheasant shoot. it comes days after his eldest son william appeared at a summit. the royal family contacted newspapers in an effort to stop the story from being published. >>> the "los angeles times" reports mexican actor and screenwriter has died. his comedic character made him popular. they include day dreaming water boy, frightened superhero and a boy who lived in a barrel. he was 85 years old. >> that was the number one trending topic on twitter beat out black friday. big loss. >>> "usa today" reports mickey rourke has still got game. the 62-year-old actor caught many by surprise when he decided to turn to the ring. he certainly turned e

i think most have recognized that the current models of fanny and freddie mac cannot remain and we must reduce the risk that currently american taxpayers face. just recently i heard from the hud secretary castro when he was calling for housing finance reform. but i haven't heard anything on this subject from you. in fact, when we had the committee vote on the johnson critical housing bill, we didn't hear any word from you. i guess my question for you today is, given your position and of course the importance of this issue, are you going to continue your hands-off approach when it comes to housing finance reform or will you start engaging with congress and work with us to end this current fanny and freddy model? >> i'm going to continue to say that it is -- that our role at fhfa is in the here and the now of -- and that's what the statute gives us. it is congress's roll to tell what you say the future of gse reform is and we have cooperated fully in terms of being a resource to the committees. all proposals, both the house and the senate, but if the committee is expecting me to have a po

. >> only people that could boar reoi freddie mac is doing tremendous business and seeing a lot goingce now and more even retail and a scary space. >> i have a question of foreign investors. we talk about as a driver of demand. seeing more and more chinese deals on the commercial side, as well. is that going to stay consistent as china slows down here a little bit? >> seeing trophy deals. whether it's a waldorf and we did a story of a chinese deal going on with lenar across the river looking back over at manhattan. but those are the trophy properties and what they were telling me today is it's domestic buyers of these properties. i was, i was shocked myself because we talk about china, the european buyer. they said this is not london. we are not building these luxury towers. these condos for the international buyer. they said it's new york and it's california. >> do you put much credence in the billings index and the numbers quite strong. 17 of last 22 months have been an expansion mode and it's supposedly a leading indicator. >> it is. >> what are your thoughts of that? >> 9 to 12-mo

freddie mac and fannie mae are going after pourers to pay what they still owe on mortgages they defaultedfor being with us. >> thank you. >> during the housing boom and bust, many americans lost their homes and they're just starting to rebuild their nest egg, their finances, their credit, everything. so why is this happening? >> well, they basically, fannie and freddy, there was an announcement that they decided they're going to go back and look at those people who what we called strategically foreclosed. what that means, there are people during the crisis that had the money to make the payments on the house, but saw other people who basically were aligning their homes to go also and now fannie and freddiey and the lenders are going back and finding these people. how they're going to do it, i'm not sure and go after them for the deficiencies, which is very, very crucial in america for those people who rebuilt their credit. >> some of our viewers are waking up going, wait a minute. i might be fitting into that category. how do they fit? >> they will look at -- unfortunately, when we sign a