The new (and first) chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen needs only one minute to completely outline the risks associated with the government-sponsored enterprises, and to offer her thoughts on reform.
It's a shock, because I've spent years covering this issue and often grapple with some of the concepts.
And that Yellen does so extemporaneously, in front of the House Financial Services committee, is just rubbing salt in the wound.
In other good news, Interactive Data announced in an email to clients that Yellen's speech was well-received today by capital markets.
"Investors’ optimism stemming from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s status-quo testimony yesterday carried over into the current session," said the note.
The Financial Services Roundtable helpfully cut a video of Yellen speaking about GSE reform.
At one point she delivers this mother-of-all-intelligent-runon-sentences:
“I think we still have a system that has systemic risk, that government funding remains critical to the mortgage sector, and I think to get the housing market back on its feet," she said, "it’s important for Congress to put in place a new system and to explicitly decide what the role of the government should be in helping the housing sector.”
Here's Janet Yellen, winning:
