Article Source How did we get into this mess, and how do we get out of it? First, a little background: Both Freddie and Fannie were initially created by the U.S. Congress with the goal of expanding the residential mortgage market. They are for this reason referred to as "government-sponsored enterprises", or GSEs, even though both eventually were converted into private companies for which there is today no explicit government guarantee of their debt.... After a homeowner has borrowed money to buy a home, the original lender likely resold that loan to Fannie or Freddie. The GSE in turn collected some of those mortgages in a pool which was sold in the form of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to private investors, for which the GSEs collect a fee in exchange for guaranteeing payment on the MBS. Other mortgages purchased by the GSE are held directly by the GSE for its own investment ...

Employees are not the only ones seriously affected by outsourcing. Large banks have outsourced customer accounts to third parties. There has been at least one instance of call-center employees making fraudulent transactions. Examples of poor service abound. Investments in branding are wasted, apart from the crippling loss of customer goodwill.

This kind of outsourcing may be to a foreign national who was previously employed by the bank. That is why employees move swiftly to brush outsourcing dirt under the carpet. Presidential candidates speak of national employment effects of sending jobs abroad, but the effects on stocks have been hidden from the views of most investors.

The chemical lead in toys, and quality issues with life-saving medicines, are extreme examples of serious business lapses due to outsourcing. It is up to stock investors to ask relevant questions of executives and directors at quarterly conferences. Window-dressing of quarterly results through

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