WALL STREET JOURNAL: In the latest sign of the government’s gradual retreat from financial-crisis-related programs, the Treasury Department is expected to announce Monday that taxpayers reaped a $25 billion profit on mortgage bonds purchased at the height of the meltdown.
The profit is the Treasury’s biggest for any program tied to the 2008-09 crisis. The government last week sold the last of the bonds, winding down Treasury’s ownership of debt backed by the federally backed mortgage investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Treasury spent $225 billion on purchases over 16 months before it began selling the securities last year.
Officials said the effort shows the government can unwind a rescue program without roiling markets… (more)
