Federal Reserve Freakout

thenation.com — The other day Ben Bernanke came as close as a chairman of the Federal Reserve will come to a public freakout. Call it a subdued, bankerly freakout. What's got Bernanke scared is that "about one quarter of subprime adjustable-rate mortgages are currently 90 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure." That, and the rise in delinquency rates in the prime and near-prime mortgage markets. Oh, and the foreclosure rate that rose 53 percent last year and looks likely rise even higher this year.

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