Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who own or guarantee about $5.3 trillion worth of home loans about half of all US mortgages have seen a loss of confidence my the market due to the mortgage forclosure increase and the drop in property values in the United States. Both company Shares have been under increasing pressure and have lost as much as 80% of share value in just 12 months . The Fed has given the green light for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York authority to lend any money needed to allow them to continue providing mortgages at 2.25% and will expand its current line of credit to the two companies and buy shares of the companies if needed to prop up share price in these troubled times. Congress is also to approve a package next week which includes a foreclosure rescue to help strapped homeowners get new, more affordable government-backed mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration.

After a $52 billion takeover deal, American beer maker, Anheuser- Busch, was taken over by the Belgian beer maker InBev on this day. The merging of the two companies made the newly combined company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the largest beer maker in the world. The new combined company produces some of the most well known beer brands in the world including Bud Light, Budweiser, Becks and Stella Artois.