Mortgage rates were little changed Friday, but improved by about 1/8% over the past week. Yesterday, President Obama proposed new restrictions on the activities of financial institutions. Today, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Ma.), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said, “This Committee will be recommending abolishing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their current form and coming up with a whole new system of housing finance…” The government took control of the two agencies to avoid their collapse last fall. Next week may be volatile for interest rates. The big story next week will be Wednesday’s FOMC meeting of the Fed. No change in rates is expected, but investors will be closely watching the Fed statement issued following the meeting. Existing Home Sales will be released on Monday, New Home Sales and Durable Goods Orders on Wednesday, and preliminary fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Friday.