Business briefs 12/23/03

Study: Freddie, Fannie do little to lower mortgages

WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enjoy huge subsidies from the federal government, but those benefits translate into only a tiny drop in the mortgage rates paid by home buyers, a Federal Reserve economist concluded Monday. The Fed study calculated that Fannie and Freddie, the two government-sponsored corporations which are the biggest players in the nation's multitrillion-dollar mortgage market, receive a government subsidy of between $119 billion and $164 billion. Despite these huge benefits, the Fed study estimated that Fannie and Freddie lowered the cost of home mortgages by only about 0.07 percentage point, or seven basis points.

Weekend before holiday not a present to stores

NEW YORK -- The critical last weekend before Christmas didn't deliver the sale bonanza merchants were hoping for, with Wal-Mart announcing Monday that last-minute buying showed "some improvement" but was not enough to offset weak business in the early part of the month. The world's largest retailer said that December same-store sales growth was still tracking at the low end of its projected 3 percent to 5 percent range. For the second week in a row, traffic was down from year-ago levels for the week ended Friday.

Bank pays $80 million to settle Enron allegations

WASHINGTON -- A Canadian bank agreed to pay $80 million to settle regulatory allegations of helping Enron Corp. manipulate its finances and defraud investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday. Under the agreement, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, based in Toronto, is neither admitting or denying wrongdoing, the SEC said. The commission said it intends to order the money paid by the bank to go to victims of Enron's fraud.

-- From wire reports