MBS- FNMA 4.5 price: 100-26 closed.

10-yr Treasury Yield: 3.59% closed.

Quite interesting to read that the House of Representatives is considering a bill to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, whose repeal in 1999 enabled banking institutions who take in deposits to combine with insurers and investment banks who underwrite securities.  I doubt it’s a panacea for the industry, but it’s interesting nonetheless.  Particularly striking was the following quote in the article:

Former Citibank Chairman John S. Reed apologized in a Nov. 6 interview for helping engineer the bank’s merger with Travelers and for his role in building a company that took $45 billion in U.S. assistance. Reed also recanted his advocacy of the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

The 1998 merger depended on Congress repealing Glass- Steagall before a five-year deadline that otherwise would have required Travelers to sell its insurance underwriting business.

“We learn from our mistakes,” Reed said in the interview. “When you’re running a company, you do what you think is right for the stockholders,” Reed said. “Right now, I’m looking at this as a citizen.”  Link to article…