**FILE** Richard Syron, chairman and CEO of Freddie Mac, talks about the sub-prime lending crisis and its effect on the housing market during an address entitled "Strategies to Keep People in Their Homes" at the Housing Boston 2012 conference in Boston in this April 27, 2007 file photo. Freddie Mac, the nation's second-largest buyer and guarantor of home mortgages, said Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007 its second-quarter profit fell 45 percent as it had to record larger provisions on its books for bad loans. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, file)