Credit default swap continued from post #37
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/02/AR2008100203890_2.html
For Sallie Mae, the annual cost of purchasing a credit-default swap insurance policy has roughly doubled in the past week to $1.6 million for every $10 million in bonds, according to Bloomberg. That price, according to Bloomberg, suggests a 74 percent chance that Sallie Mae will default on its debts within five years.
Yesterday Sallie Mae’s chief executive Albert L. Lord sought to fight off the perception that his firm was on shaky ground. He said in a SEC filing that the firm is “liquid and well capitalized.” He cited a new program put in place by the Education Department that not only guarantees the loans, but also directly funds them.
With the federal government behind the firm, Sallie Mae is reducing its reliance on private lenders to raise money to issue student loans.
Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid, a Web site that provides financial advice for students, said he did not understand why Sallie Mae’s credit-default swaps soared this week. But the firm faces problems, he said.
The rising cost of borrowing because of the turmoil in the credit markets is squeezing its profits. If these rates continue to stay high, he said, Sallie Mae may struggle to pay its debts.
Despite a credit crunch that has driven world central banks to slash interest rates, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that an index of sales contracts on previously owned U.S. homes rose 7.4% in August from the prior month. The index, which is considered a leading indicator of existing home sales, was up 8.8% from the prior year. In August pending home sales rose in all four regions, with a gain of 18.4% in the West, 8.4% in the Northeast, 3.6% in the Midwest and 2.3% in the South.
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