the fed ended up brokering an agreement for the sale of bear to jp morgan chase that took place at the end of march. in july, indymac went under and had to be placed in conservatorship. in the middle of the summer it seemed like recession might be avoided even though high gas prices threatened consumers and credit problems threatened investment markets, but the economy entered crisis in the fall. fannie mae and freddie mac were also put under conservatorship in early september.