US Treasury to sell $142 bn of mortgage assets

Right, much more robust.

The products, secured by state-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were bought as part of the 2008-2009 financial sector bailout.

As the housing bubble began to burst the Treasury and Federal Reserve bought up swathes of so-called "toxic assets," when losses appeared to be endangering individual banks and the financial system at large.

But the Treasury said the market for asset-backed derivatives is now much more robust, three years after the depths of the crisis.

Source: news.yahoo.com