Swamping the nation’s largest mortgage buyer today are the Fannie Mae foreclosures. An $ 11.5 billion loss with Fannie Mae was reported in the first quarter of 2010. Fannie Mae has been freefalling. Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae’s little brother, lost more than $ 6.7 billion. Monday, Fannie Mae asked for an infusion of $ 8.4 billion from the U.S. Treasury. Together, Fannie and Freddie say they need about $ 20 billion to stay afloat. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the only game in town By threatening to quit giving money to Fannie and Freddie, politicians on both sides of the congressional aisle are eager to score point. The problem is that the only loan company in town, since the market for mortgage securities froze up in 2008, is Fannie and Freddie. No one in Congress has the guts right now to do anything that could further weaken the housing market, particularly because Fannie Mae foreclosures are steadily increasing. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – same old politics Many politicians are still avoiding action on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, despite the fact the Senate has passed an amendment Wednesday placing stricter rules on writing loans. The Senate failed to pass a provision on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Tuesday night, as reported by Politico. Republicans and Democrats are having a difficult time deciding on the language dealing with loans and who should be given the responsibility to oversee regulations. Democrats are in favor of a newly created consumer protection agency to regulate the loans. Republicans, on the other hand, dished out the big government card, saying that the consumer protection agency would have too much power. Fannie and Freddie takes a dive Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac behaved like any other bank during the housing bubble. The so-selfish two collected $ 3.9 trillion from investors who purchased bundles of mortgages they assembled. Fannie Mae stock soared to some extent. Once they got in too deep, however, investors lost confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are public traded companies. Fannie and Freddie threatened to cave in deep, bringing the nation’s housing market down with them. In 2008, the federal government was forced to take over Fannie and Freddie to avert catastrophe. News on Fannie Mae stock Overall, the U.S. Treasury has pitched more than $ 145 billion into the pockets of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, Fannie Mae reported a quarterly loss of $ 11.53 billion, or $ 2.29 per diluted share of Fannie Mae stock, according to Medill Chicago. This is good news, considering those losses were $ 23.2 billion and $ 4.09 a share the year before. Analysts had estimated a loss of $ 1.75 per share. The Monday report marks the 11th consecutive quarterly loss. Fannie Mae’s shares traded at about $ 1.05 on Tuesday. Share prices two years ago sat at about $ 26.30. And, for much of the last decade, shares fluctuated between $ 65 and $ 80. The stock closed down 0.94 percent at $ 1.05 on Tuesday. The problem with Fannie and Freddie Fannie and Freddie are losing money
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Foreclosures Ends Up Creating Taxpayer Funds