[$$] Financials Rally Loses Steam (at The Wall Street Journal Online)

By Geoffrey Rogow and Rob Curran Word Count: 489 | Companies Featured in This Article: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers Holdings, Bank of America U.S. stocks fell Monday after a rally in financials wilted in midsession and consumer-discretionary stocks gave back some of last week's gains. Shares of mortgage-finance giant Fannie Mae were up as much as 39% earlier in the session, as traders said short sellers appeared to buy back their positions. A rule that required short sellers to pre-borrow shares of Fannie, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers Holdings and 16 other financial stocks took effect Monday. Many of the stocks affected gained early in the session, only to slip into the red or pare those gains later. Shares of Fannie... [read full story]