Financial cowboys need to be lassoed, corralled

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Markets end week on a positive noteWorld stocks tumble on credit worries

: the dollar gives investors little confidence that Wall Street won't succumb equally to some new scheme.

Steady goes it

If Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc had more debt due in 10 years or 20 years instead of overnight, they wouldn't have to worry as much about a run on their cash. Increasing capital and reducing short-term borrowings would cut into profit for financial concerns. That's the price of leaning on government during a crisis. Shareholders of big banks such as Wachovia Corp may prefer less volatile earnings.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have clearly messed up their designated roles as keepers of a secondary market for mortgages, buying loans from banks, which can then lend again.

Their mission to promote home-ownership was forgotten as they cooked their books to make the earnings reports look good to stockholders and spent millions on lobbying to keep government reformers at bay.

Divide each company in two and emphatically end government sponsorship for all four entities. If one went bust, it needn't panic the whole mortgage industry. Truly independent companies would no longer be able to sell bonds at lower cost than other mortgage companies.

The government created Fannie and Freddie to encourage people to buy real estate. With almost 70% of Americans owning their homes, the job is complete.

Get out the lassos.