Historyguy Main Page Politics Main Page New & Recent Conflicts    A chronicle of newer and more recent conflicts and wars from around the globe War and Conflict Links    A listing of wars and war pages on the History Guy site     Comics History   Portal for pages on the history of comics and superhero characters Nations of the World   Portal for pages on the nations of the world Military History   Portal for pages on military history War Lists    Lists of wars throughout history and from around the world Biofiles    Biographical files on individuals who impact American politics, culture, business, education and other arenas of life in the United States.      Governments of the World    Pages on the governmental systems of selected nations. U.S. Politics    United States national government and politics.  What's New The latest changes to the History Guy site. About Us    Information on the History Guy, the origin of the website, along with commentaries and a site map.  Advertise on this Website Copyright © 1998-2011 Roger A. Lee and 02.15.11 "The History Guy" is a Registered Trademark. History Guy SiteMap

Mortgage and Credit Crisis Timeline    The crisis in world financial markets began when prices started declining in the U.S. real estate market in late 2006. So far, it is estimated that banks worldwide have had to writedown more than $550 billion in assets. The crisis precipitated major sell-offs in stock exchanges around the world.   A timeline of major events in the world-wide mortgage and credit crisis:   March/April 2007: New Century Financial corporation stops making new loans as awarding high risk mortgage loans to consumers with problematic credit histories becomes more financially risky. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns of risks to global financial markets from weakened US home mortgage market.   June 2007: Concerns grow on Wall Street as two hedge funds of the New York investment bank Bear Stearns move toward collapse due to Bear Sterns' extensive investments in mortgage-backed securities.   July and August 2007: German banks with bad investments in the American real estate market become invol in the crisis, including IKB Deutsche Industriebank, Sachsen LB (Saxony State Bank) and BayernLB (Bavaria State Bank).   President George W. Bush rejects government intervention to ease the crisis in the home mortgage market, saying that he wants to let the market. President Bush later promises help for struggling homeowners as a means to help ease the mortgage crisis.   Foreclosures of American homes in July increased 93 percent from the previous year, affecting 180,000 home-owners.   September 2007: British bank Northern Rock is in trouble, and depositors became ver concerned; The British government and Bank of England guarantee the deposits; the bank is nationalized by the British government. The U.S. Federal Reserve (also known as "The Fed") begins a series of interest rate decreases, in an attempt to ease the impact of the real estate slump and mortgage crisis.   October 2007: Profits at financial giant Citigroup drop sharply. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowers its 2008 growth forecast for the Euro to 2.1 percent from 2.5 percent, in part because of the spillover from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and credit market crunch.   December 2007: President Bush proposes a plan to help up to 1.2 million homeowners pay their home loans.   January 2008: Swiss banking giant UBS reports a $18 billion write-down due to its exposure to the American real estate market. In the U.S., Bank of America acquires Countrywide Financial, the nation's biggest mortgage lender. The Fed slashes interest rates by three quarters of a percentage point to 3.5 percent following a majpr sell-off on the global markets. Another Fed cut the end of January lowers the rate to only 3 percent.   February 2008: Fannie Mae, the largest financial institution for U.S. home loans, reports a $3.55 billion loss for fourth quarter 2007, three times what had been expected.   March 2008: On the verge of collapse and under pressure by the Fed, Bear Stearns has to accept a buyout by major American investment bank JP Morgan Chase. The purchase is backed by a $30 billion loan from the Federal Reserve.   In Germany, Deutsche Bank reports a loss of 141 million euros for the first quarter of 2008, its first quarterly loss in five years. Fed spearheads coordinated push by world central banks to bolster global economic confidence by announcing moves to pump $200-billion liquidity into markets.   Carlyle Capital defaults on $16.6 billion debt. The U.S. government frees up $200 billion to support the troubled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage giants.   April 2008: The International Monetary Fund projects a $945 billion loss from financial crisis. G7 finance ministers agree to institute a new wave of financial regulations to better deal with the growing financial crisis.   June 2008: Home repossessions in the United States more than doubles as the housing and mortgage crisis continues. Bear Stearns executives are among over 400 individuals charged in court with mortgage fraud.   July 2008: California mortgage lender IndyMac collapses. The condition of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continues to worsen. The U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve move to guarantee the debts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. President Bush defends the move, telling Americans to take a "deep breath" and to have "confidence in the mortgage markets."   The United States Congress gives final passage to multi-billion-dollar program to address mortgage and foreclosure crisis. Spain's largest property developer, Martinsa-Fadesa, declares insolvency.   September 7: The United States government seizes control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.   September 15: Lehman Brothers investment bank declares a $600-billion bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch is acquired by Bank of America.   September 17: The U.S. Government bails out AIG insurance giant for $85 billion.   September 19: The White House requests $700-billion bailout plan from Congress for all financial firms with bad mortgage securities to free up tightening credit flow.   September 22: The last two standing investment banks, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, convert to bank holding companies.   September 26: The Federal government seizes Washington Mutual (WAMU) in America's largest-ever U.S. bank failure.   September 29: The U.S. House of Representatives rejects mammoth $700-billion bailout plan.   Governmental bail-outs announced for key banks in Britain, the Benelux countries and Germany, as well as a state takeover of a major bank in Iceland. The British government intervenes to save major mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley. Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg begin the process to take over substantial parts of Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance company Fortis.   The German Finance Ministry announces that the government and major banks were moving to inject billions of Euros into troubled mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate. Iceland government and Glitnir bank announce state takeover of 75-percent stake in Glitnir.   September 30: Wachovia Bank nears collapse, and starts negotiations with Citigroup for a takeoverby Citigroup.   October 1: The U.S. Senate adopts a massive bail-out plan.   October 3: Wells Fargo bank and the fourth-largest U.S. bank, Wachovia, announce their merger.   October 3: The largest government intervention in capital markets in U.S. history clears the US House of Representatives, becoming law with President Bush's signature.    Links and Sources:   Wall Street's 8 brutal days: Dow plunges 2,400 points, or 22%, as panicked investors run for the exits.--CNN, Oct. 12, 2008 The crisis-A timeline:A shocking series of events that forever changed the financial markets.

Read the History Guy Weblog and the War and Conflict Journal--New Fatah vs. Usbat al-Ansar Fighting in the Ain al-Helweh refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Four killed.--posted Feb. 15, 2010 Maoist Rebels Attack Indian Forces--posted Feb. 15, 2010 Iran War Creeping Upon Us--posted Jan. 16, 2010 Earthquake Adds to Haiti's Tragic History--posted Jan. 13, 2010 Yemen With al-Qaida Threat May Be New Front In War--posted Jan. 4, 2010 al-Qaida in North Africa Strikes--posted Dec. 31, 2009 Attempt to Bomb Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day 2009--posted Dec. 26, 2009 Joseph Stalin: History's Villain--posted Dec. 22, 2010 New and Recent Conflicts of the World  Kargil War --Recounts the 1999 border war between India and Pakistan. American Raid on al-Qaida forces in Syria--On October 25, 2008, American special forces conducted a military raid against al-Qaida forces in the Syrian border area at the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal. American/NATO Raid in the Angoor Ada area, Pakistan--The September 3, 2008 commando raid on Taliban targets in northwest Pakistan's Waziristan region. Mexico's Drug War (2006-Present)--Mexico's ongoing war with the drug cartels--English language version Guerra contra la droga de México (2006-Presente)--Mexico's ongoing war with the drug cartels--Spanish language version Wars and Conflicts of Burma/Myanmar --The Wars and Conflicts of Burma/Myanmar from the Anglo-Burmese Wars to the pro-democracy Myanmar uprising of 2007. Wars and Conflicts of Yemen (1914-Present)--NEW Djibouti-Eritrea Border War (June, 2008) Wars of Iran and Persia--Lists the wars and conflicts of Persia and Iran from the 18th Century to the present. The 2007 Pro-Democracy Uprising in Myanmar--The current uprising in Myanmar. North Lebanon Conflict (2007)--Fighting between the Lebanese government and a Jihadist Palestinian militia calling itself Fatah al-Islam. bin Laden's Declaration of War Against the United States-- Long before 9/11, Osama bin Laden declared his hatred and his intent to harm America. Current Wars of the World--A listing of current wars and conflicts around the world. Military Coups in Turkey-A listing of military coups in modern Turkey (1960-1997). Comparing America's Wars Duration in Months-A look at America's wars and comparing their length in months. War in Afghanistan--Details on the origins of this ongoing war; part of the War on Terror Ethiopia-Somalia War of 2006*New*--A brief description of the Ethiopia-Somalia War which began in 2006, and is a part of the larger Somali Civil War. Ethiopia-Somali Wars and Conflicts*New*--Listing the wars and conflicts between Ethiopia and Somalia Wars of Germany--The wars and conflicts of Germany from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 to the War in Afghanistan. Iraq War: Links and Resources*New*--Links and resources on the Iraq War. Iraq War: Prisoner Abuse and Abu Ghraib Links and Resources*New*--Links and resources on the Iraq War's biggest scandal. Iraq War: Battles and Campaigns*New*--Links and resources on Iraq War battles and military operations. Israel-Lebanon/Hezbollah War of 2006--*New*--Details and analysis on the warfare along the Lebanese border which began in July, 2006! Israel-Lebanon Conflict--*New*--Background information on the decades-long warfare and conflict along the Israel/Lebanon border. Israeli-Palestinian Conflict--*New*--Background information on the long-running warfare between Israel and the Palestinians! Israeli-Palestinian Battles and Campaigns--*New*--Specific information on the warfare raids, battles, terrorist attacks, and retaliations between Israel and the Palestinians! Waziristan War----The War on Terror expands to Pakistan's Northwest Frontier! Hamas----The terrorist/resistance group now ruling the Palestinian Authority! War in the Western Sahara-- Iraq War Afghan War Nepal Civil War Wars of 2006--*--Wars and conflicts of 2006! Original History Guy Blog The Obama Presidency