Grant Street Group Hosts Strong $3 Billion Auction for Freddie Mac
July 15, 2008Pittsburgh, PA (July 15, 2008) — On Monday, July 14th, Grant Street Group hosted a successful auction for Freddie Mac on its private-label website www.freddiemacauction.com.
From the Wall Street Journal: “A closely watched auction of $3 billion in Freddie’s short-term debt drew more bids than usual. The company was able to sell its three- and six-month notes at lower-than-expected yields, which in turn helped keep its borrowing costs low. Some market participants said much of the demand for the auction appeared to come from banks and brokers, rather than conservative money-market funds that are traditionally large buyers of short-term debt.
‘Wall Street has the most interest in the issue and wanted to make sure it traded well,’ said David Glocke, senior portfolio manager at Vanguard Group.
The auction, which followed weekend moves by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to offer backstop financing to Freddie and sister company Fannie Mae, helped ease concerns that the mortgage companies might not be able to roll over their maturing debt. It bodes well for other agency debt sales in coming days.”