"It's like that wave approaching the shoreline that you see in the distance and don't think is big, and then it's 100 feet in front of you and you realize it is."That's how London-based economist Mark Chandler described Europe's perspective on the potential 'latest wave' of the housing crisis -- the research report by Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) that Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) may have to raise up to $46 billion and $29 billion in additional capital, Bloomberg News reported.
Europe is concerned that the pair's announcement "signals another round of write-downs here in England and Europe as well as in America" Chandler told BloggingStocks Tuesday, with negative consequences for the stock market, and, equally significant, for business and consumer confidence, he said.
Europe's major stock markets decline
Indeed, Europe's major stock markets did not react favorably Tuesday to the Lehman report. London's FTSE fell 66.70 points to 5446.00, Germany's DAX declined 104.49.35 to 6,291.71, and France's CAC 40 fell 78.22 to 4,263.37 in Tuesday afternoon trading.
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