The U.S. government took over the two mortgage giants, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, in an attempt to rescue the entire housing sector from total collapse as these institutions have guaranteed half of the $12 trillion in mortgage debt outstanding in the U.S. These two institutions have been experiencing liquidity crisis as a result of the sub-prime lending problems that has afflicted the U.S. economy over the past 18 months. As a result of this rescue, the U.S. Dollar surged to a one-year high against major currencies. Investors moved into higher-yielding currencies and shied away from currencies such as the Japanese Yen.