HELP HAS ARRIVED????

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080730/ap_on_go_pr_wh/housing_bill

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080730/ap_on_go_pr_wh/housing_bill MULTIPLE IRKS IN HERE!!


Meanwhile, many Republicans, particularly those from areas hit hardest by housing woes, were eager to get behind a housing rescue as they looked ahead to tough re-election contests. Paulson's request for the emergency power to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped push through the measure. So did the creation of a regulator with stronger reins on the government-sponsored companies, as Republicans long have sought.
The bill takes several approaches to curing the ailing housing market.
It aims to spare an estimated 400,000 debt-strapped homeowners, many of whom owe more their houses are worth, from foreclosure by allowing them to get more affordable mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration.
The FHA could insure $300 billion in such mortgages, which would be available to homeowners who showed they could afford a new loan. Banks would first have to agree to take a large loss on the existing loans in exchange for avoiding an often-costly foreclosure.

ANd THIS?????

Merrill CDO sale not as good as it looks: analyst
1 hour, 16 minutes ago
Merrill Lynch's agreement to sell $30.6 billion of toxic securities gives away the bank's potential profits on the securities and leaves it on the hook for most of the risk, strategists at Bank of America wrote on Wednesday.
Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER.N) has financed 75 percent of the sale of the securities, meaning it is on the hook if the assets decline by more than 5 cents on the dollar, Bank of America strategist Jeffrey Rosenberg wrote.
Merrill agreed earlier this week to sell the $30.6 billion portfolio of collateralized debt obligations to private equity firm Lone Star Funds for 22 cents on the dollar, or $6.7 billion.
Analysts, including Rosenberg, initially reacted positively to the deal, and Merrill's shares rose nearly 8 percent on Tuesday, even though the investment bank sold $8.55 billion of new shares to raise capital after selling the assets at a loss.
Citigroup analysts called the asset sale a "watershed event."
But Rosenberg wrote Wednesday that "perhaps the initial euphoria over Merrill's asset sale and capital raise ... overstates the positive implications."
In a report entitled "On Second Thought ... " Rosenberg wrote, "Merrill now finds itself effectively in the position of having sold off its upside but retaining its downside."
Because Merrill is still exposed to losses, the asset sale can't be seen as a sign the financial sector has finally touched bottom as some analysts have suggested, Rosenberg wrote.
Merrill shares rose 63 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $26.84 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Elinor Comlay; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)