News Alert from the WSJ

NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal

Sept. 19, 2008

U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, in public remarks, called for
"further, decisive action to fundamentally and comprehensively address
the root cause of our financial system's stresses," adding that
hundreds of billions of dollars may be needed to fix the problems.

He said the federal government must implement a program to remove
illiquid mortgage assets that are weighing down financial institutions
and threatening the economy. More immediately, he said, Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac—which were taken over by the government this month—will increase their purchases of mortgage-backed debt. To facilitate
that effort, Treasury will also expand the MBS purchase program it
announced earlier this month.