Housing bill clears test, foreclosure halt asked

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sweeping bill to aid the battered U.S. housing market and provide an emergency backstop for the mortgage finance system cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate on Friday, setting it up for a Saturday vote. Under the legislation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest sources of U.S. home finance, can count on billions of dollars in fresh loans from the Treasury should they stumble and could even see the government buying their stock. Fears the two mortgage finance pillars could collapse rattled global markets earlier this month and led the Bush administration to call for emergency measures to bolster investor confidence. The Senate is expected to pass the bill on Saturday and the White House has said President George W. Bush will sign it. The two government-chartered companies own or guarantee... [read full story]