Fannie, Freddie, Ginnie now account for 130% of mortgage lending in U.S. "The numbers are even more dramatic if you just look at the most recent period for which data are available, the first three months of this year. Total home mortgage lending increased by $313 billion. GSE lending increased by $539 billion. That’s a 172% market share!"
In Deal for King of Beers, Cash Is King: InBev’s acquisition of Anheuser-Busch is the largest all-cash acquisition ever.
Related: This Bud Might Not Be for Them: "’I’ll tell you one thing,’ said the 21-year-old concrete worker during his lunch break at The Brick of St. Louis bar, in the shadow of this city’s storied Anheuser-Busch Cos. brewery, ‘if Budweiser is made by a different country, I don’t drink Budweiser anymore. I’ll go back to Wild Turkey.’ (Wild Turkey, a Kentucky bourbon, is owned by French drinks giant Pernod Ricard SA.)"
A Rich Life: Rob Bennett responds to my blog entry on his stock valuation technique.
Guardian Buys Publisher of PaidContent Web Site: For $30 million.
Annals of Demand Response: "Metro had its highest ridership day ever on Friday, when 854,638 people took the train… 8 of the top 10 ridership days have come in 2008… and 20 of the top 25."
How to write about pointless international organisations: All hail Alan Beattie.