IF YOU’RE A BUILDER looking for a construction loan to build a house or a prospective buyer of that house applying for a mortgage, good luck getting a bank to stamp “Approved” on your application.

But if you run a hedge fund that trades securities back by the mortgages on such houses, getting financing for those positions is no problem.

Those divergent results emerged from separate Federal Reserve conferences and studies, including a new one Tuesday that shows easier credit conditions for firms trading securities and derivatives.

Where Credit Is, and Isn’t, Due