The news at a glance

Housing policy: Uncle Sam takes a step back

The Obama administration wants government out of the housing market, said Tom Braithwaite in the Financial Times. In a study released last week, the administration offered three proposals for shrinking or eliminating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-owned mortgage-finance companies that guarantee almost 9 in 10 U.S. mortgages. Under one option, only the poorest homebuyers would have access to federal loan guarantees. Under another, the government would continue to guarantee mortgages, but only at a premium price. Under the third option, the government would guarantee them only in the event that a financial catastrophe wiped out private insurers.

The report is “an audacious call for the federal government to cut back” its long-running campaign to promote home ownership, said Binyamin Appelbaum in The New York Times. Each option would “push home ownership beyond the reach of some families.” But since 2008, when the U.S. took over Fannie and Freddie, taxpayers have spent more than $135 billion to honor their guarantees. That’s a cost, the administration says, that America can no longer afford.

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Oil exploration: Ecuador fines Chevron $9.5 billion

An Ecuadoran court this week ruled against Chevron in a decades-old environmental case, ordering it to pay an $9.5 billion fine “for contaminating a wide swath of Ecuador’s northern jungle,” said Matt Jarzemsky in The Wall Street Journal. The fine represents the culmination of “an epic legal case” originally filed by residents of Ecuador’s Amazon region against Texaco, which Chevron acquired in 2001. The plaintiffs claimed the company polluted water supplies, causing widespread health problems. Chevron vowed to appeal the judgment, which it said was based on flawed evidence.

Auto safety: Acceleration study clears Toyota

Faulty electronics didn’t cause sudden-acceleration problems that have prompted the recall of more than 12 million Toyota vehicles since 2009, said Douglas Stanglin in USA Today. The U.S. Department of Transportation said last week that drivers who confused the accelerator and the brake were at fault in most incidents. In some instances, accelerators stuck or became jammed in floor mats. The study, which was conducted with an assist from NASA engineers, largely vindicates Toyota, whose reputation for quality was dented by the recalls.

Satellites: EchoStar teams with Hughes

The two largest U.S. operators of private communications satellites are joining forces, said Matt Egan in FoxBusiness.com. EchoStar, which makes home antennas and set-top boxes and operates a fleet of satellites, will buy Hughes Communications for $1.34 billion, plus the assumption of debt. Hughes, which transmits broadband signals through its network of satellites, boosts EchoStar’s capacity to “transport video and data at broadband speeds.” Consumers are increasingly watching television and movies over the Internet.

Investigations: New insider-trading arrests

Prosecutors appeared to draw nearer to SAC Capital Advisors last week after the arrests of four hedge-fund employees on insider-trading charges, said Maria Woehr and Dan Freed in TheStreet.com. Two of those arrested, Donald Longueuil and Noah Freeman, are former SAC employees who were previously fired by the powerful hedge fund. SAC has denied any wrongdoing, but the arrests suggest investigators suspect that SAC employees may have swapped tips with hedge-fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, who’s now awaiting trial on insider-trading charges.