Sale of Debt Steadies Freddie

Chicago Tribune (08/26/08)
Freddie Mac confirms that it has sold $1 billion of three-month notes at a yield of 2.58 percent and $1 billion of six-month debt at a yield of 2.858 percent, at about 90 basis points and 92 basis points more than similar-maturity U.S. Treasuries, respectively. Although Freddie Mac paid higher yields relative to benchmarks, increased demand for the short-term debt compared to last week's sale shows that the mortgage-finance giant can still attract investors. Shares of Freddie Mac rose 17 percent in Aug. 25 trading on news of the sale, and shares of Fannie Mae increased 3.8 percent.