Economic Newws

A Lehman Brothers analyst downgraded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He cut their respective target prices from the mid $60s/share to mid $40s a share as a result of the turmoil in the mortgage markets.

The private equity firm Blackstone reported a net loss of $113.2 million, as compared to a profit of $372.5 million a year ago. Its stock is about $24, as opposed to the $38 when it went public a few months back.

This includes $802.6 million of non-cash compensation charges tied to Blackstone's initial public offering in June, so my quick read is that the partners in the firm pulled a ¾ billion dollar scam on people who bought into the IPO, but I'm an not wise in the ways of IPOs, so your analysis may vary.