Fed offers hand to Fannie, Freddie

Jul. 11 - A source tells Reuters Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told mortgage giants they could get help from the "discount window".

According to a Reuters source, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had told Freddie Mac chief Richard Syron that his company and sister firm Fannie Mae - two pillars of the American housing market -- could take advantage of an emergency funding source known as the "discount window".

Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

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