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Agreed!
Go FnF!
According to both administrations past and present the principle of the loan/bail out/scam has not been touched. The NWS money has not been applied to the original fake bail out principal. The scam/ruse will continue until it is proven otherwise in court. The NWS may be applied to recap but not because the loan has been paid back to treasury according to _______
(Pick a name)
Hopefully eventually the scam will be proven in court. We are not a banana republic and I will hold this bag until the end of this ________(pick a phrase).
Sorry, I just felt like a little rant this morning. This post may not even apply as a response to your post.
Go FnF!
50/50 odds and still a grumpy smurf. C'mon Sparky (Clark Grizwald) let's see a smile. 50/50 odds are a lot better than we had years ago when you chose to grab that bag. I am just being a realist.
Go FnF!
Tomorrow may be a good day to buy a few more!
Go FnF!
EXACTLY!
Go FnF!
So, greedy hedge fund owners= buffoons? Really? If I tweet I am no better than a hedge fund owner and I am a buffoon?
I don't get it. That really is an oxymoron. The best investors are buffoons.
I really would not mind being a hedge fund owning buffoon. I guess all that I am missing is my hedge fund.
Go FnF!
RnRnR maybe?
Go FnF!
It's just that it is SO complicated. They have picnics and fireworks to prepare for.
Go FnF!
"Clearly too big to fail"
Especially since the bastards tried to kill FnF and they failed.
Go FnF!
Chartruse hurts my eyes!
Go FnF!
Would new buyers actually buy before they are shown the future footprints of the GSEs?
Go FnF!
Is this the type of hearing where greedy hedge fund owners like Berkowitz Ackman and myself could make an impact on share price if we attend and voice our expectations, concerns, strategies and plans? I am considering attending. Bill and Bruce are being tight lipped. I will ask them again if they are going.
Go FnF!
It would be fun to be a surprise witness.
https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/should-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-be-designated-as-systemically-important-financial-institutions
I have no idea where 3 ? Came from!
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A $4 Trillion Risk Tied to Freeing Fannie and Freddie Could Hurt US Homebuyers
By Austin Weinstein
June 17, 2019 at 07:12 AM
Credit rating companies, financial firms and even real estate agents claim that such a move would be a disaster.
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?Freddie Mac headquarters
The Trump Administration’s urgency to free Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from federal control has some on Wall Street worried that it might happen without the U.S. government providing an explicit backstop of the companies’ $4.7 trillion of mortgage securities. Credit rating companies, financial firms and even real estate agents claim that such a move would be a disaster. They’re warning that ending Fannie and Freddie’s conservatorships absent a clear guarantee of their securities might prompt big asset managers to curtail their bond buying. That in turn could dry up some of the financing that keeps the mortgage market humming, making it harder and more expensive for consumers to get home loans, they say.
“Conservatorship is safe. An explicit guarantee is safe. Keeping Fannie and Freddie as they are and privatizing them is a dangerous experiment,” said Michael Bright, president of the Structured Finance Industry Group and the former acting president of Ginnie Mae. He co-authored a 2016 plan that proposed turning Fannie and Freddie into lender-owned insurers that could issue mortgage securities with federal backstops.
An explicit guarantee can only be provided by Congress, which has failed for more than a decade to agree on a fix for Fannie and Freddie. Concern that the administration might try to release the companies with no federal backstop has largely been triggered by their regulator, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria. An appointee of President Donald Trump, he suggested in media interviews last month that he thought Fannie and Freddie could survive without one by building up capital buffers and reducing market risk.
‘Limited Guarantee’
Calabria said Thursday at a conference in Washington that if lawmakers create a guarantee — something he hasn’t formally asked them to do — it should be “limited.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who Calabria will collaborate with on many reforms, has said that he would prefer there be an explicit backstop, though he hasn’t ruled out bypassing Congress to free Fannie and Freddie. Mnuchin has also been clear that he wants an overhaul of U.S. housing-finance policy to accompany any push to end the conservatorships, indicating he might be hesitant to make any bold moves. Treasury is working on a plan for what to do with Fannie and Freddie that is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
Spokesmen for the FHFA and Treasury didn’t reply to requests for comment.
The reason why a federal guarantee of mortgage bonds is important is because of the essential role that Fannie and Freddie play in the housing market by buying loans from lenders and then packaging the debt into securities. If asset managers were to curb their bond buying — due to worries that they could lose their interest and principal — mortgage rates would likely rise and credit might become less available to home buyers.
Curtailed Buying?
Without an unequivocal guarantee “there’s a whole host of buyers that currently buy these mortgage-backed securities that may not be able to, or may not want to,” said Brian Quigley, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Vanguard Group, which manages $5.6 trillion.
The warning shows the potential dangers for Trump in trying to tackle such a complicated issue that touches heavily on voters’ finances. The president’s chances of winning a second term will likely hinge on the health of the economy next year, and tampering with Fannie and Freddie poses risks with questionable political upside.
While investors say they are worried about there possibly being no federal guarantee, any concerns haven’t yet shown up in bond prices. And mortgage rates remain low.
Before the 2008 financial crisis, which prompted the U.S.’s takeover of Fannie and Freddie, investors believed that the government would bail the companies out and backstop their mortgage securities, even though no law or regulation said that was the case. Critics say Fannie and Freddie exploited that “implicit guarantee” by holding too little capital and dangerously ramping up risk, moves that ultimately led to the companies’ needing a rescue.
Treasury Funds
In conservatorship, Fannie and Freddie have been assumed to have the full backing of the U.S. government. That perception is bolstered by the fact that if the companies suffer losses, they can draw on $258 billion from the Treasury.
Those billions of dollars could help mitigate the need for an explicit guarantee of mortgage securities, if the funds remained available to a privatized Fannie and Freddie. Calabria and Mnuchin have also said that they want the companies to raise enough capital to endure a financial meltdown, and such a total could exceed $200 billion.
But some mortgage-finance experts argue that all that money still wouldn’t be adequate to assuage bond investors. Chris Whalen, a former debt rater at Kroll Bond Rating Agency, said regulators might be using the threat of releasing Fannie and Freddie without a guarantee to force Congress to agree to a legislative fix to end the conservatorships, something lawmakers have repeatedly fallen short of since the 2008 crisis.
“Part of me thinks that they’re just bluffing and they want Congress to act,” said Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors. “When you start messing with the basic infrastructure in the mortgage finance world, you’re looking at some serious risk. When volumes fall in the mortgage industry, the Realtors, home-builders and bankers are going to come to Washington and crucify these lawmakers.”
Realtors Worried
There’s evidence that’s already happening. The National Association of Realtors sent Calabria a June 3 letter saying “a curtailed or eliminated guarantee could raise costs and threaten access to credit.”
Another potential impact of freeing Fannie and Freddie without an explicit guarantee is uncertainty over whether they could maintain their AAA credit ratings — the highest possible.
“Absent some sovereign support that we could point to, I think we would have to question whether the AAA rating that we have on the enterprises would still hold,” Fitch Ratings’ Chris Wolfe said in an interview.
Scott Simon, the former head of mortgage-backed securities at Pacific Investment Management Co., said many bond investors, including foreign central banks, bought Fannie and Freddie securities because the assets were perceived to be free of credit risk. Releasing the companies without a clear government backstop would test that assumption, as well as much of the infrastructure that underpins the U.S. mortgage market, he said.
“The banks aren’t set up for this. The money managers — Pimco, BlackRock — they aren’t set up for this,” Simon said in an interview. “This system has been in place since the 1980s.”
https://www.globest.com/2019/06/17/a-4-trillion-risk-tied-to-freeing-fannie-and-freddie-could-hurt-us-homebuyers/?amp=1
Me too. I can add about 3000 shares. I just may wait until the $3.00 curse strikes again. It has been fairly predictable. It could happen anywhere in the $3.00 range. Also there should be a hit piece waiting to be published once it seems that we are safely above $3.00.
I am not being negative. You all know it happens. And happens... and...
STILL....I am green!
GO FnF!
You should check Fannie's mood ring!
Go FnF!
Calabria to Congress: Fannie, Freddie reform is urgent, critical and overdue
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/49325-calabria-to-congress-fannie-freddie-reform-is-urgent-critical-and-overdue
U.S. HOUSING FINANCE SYSTEM
NEEDS REFORM
The time has come for successful housing finance legislation, says NAHB's 2019 chairman.
By Greg Ugalde
?Adobe Stock/grki
It’s known that a healthy housing market is one of the cornerstones of a strong U.S. economy. That lesson was hammered home more than a decade ago when the Great Recession hit.
Today, while the economy has recovered, the housing market continues to perform far below its potential, and affordability concerns threaten to further constrain the market.
The unsettled housing finance system contributes greatly to the problem. Uncertainty about the system stymies investment, slows the housing market, and presents downside risks to the broader economy.
The Great Recession and slow recovery have made it clear that an overhaul of the nation’s housing finance system is essential. Yet more than 10 years on, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still remain in conservatorship. While some steps have been taken to address weaknesses in the mortgage market, there has been no meaningful progress in implementing comprehensive reforms to the housing finance system to ensure that housing credit is available, affordable, and delivered though a sound, competitive system.
Both the White House and Congress are making housing finance reform a top priority. President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to develop a plan that identifies the appropriate future role of every component of the current housing finance system, with specific instruction to preserve the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Meanwhile, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo has created a housing finance reform outline that will help spur enactment of a comprehensive reform measure.
The key to an effective secondary market system for conventional mortgages is a limited federal backstop for catastrophic circumstances. History shows the limitations of the private mortgage market. During bad times, private mortgage credit has fled the market, leaving government-supported mortgage loans as the primary or only option for qualified buyers. And in the aftermath of the downturn, investors have been reluctant to invest in mortgage securities without government backing.
Although some people advocate privatizing the mortgage market to get taxpayers off the hook for possible future bailouts, that is not a viable option. Privatization won’t prevent a taxpayer bailout, and it virtually assures that one will eventually be necessary.
Moreover, federal support is important to ensure that affordable 30-year fixed-rate mortgages continue to be readily available to home buyers. These mortgages have enabled millions of American families to build wealth and financial security through homeownership and must continue to play that role. Any housing finance reform effort must also boost affordable rental housing opportunities and ensure that financing for the construction of new multifamily housing remains available.
Previous attempts at such reform have failed, but it appears the time is now. NAHB urges Congress to pass bipartisan housing finance legislation that would reform the current system and provide certainty to the marketplace, while maintaining an appropriate level of government support for housing in all economic and financial conditions
https://www.builderonline.com/money/mortgage-finance/u-s-housing-finance-system-needs-reform_o
Oh Sparky!
Go FnF!
I suggest that anybody still here after the ride to $6.35 down to .98 and every other stop to where we are today has proven their nerves of steel.
I have said before there is a fine line between courage and foolishness. With FnF time will tell which side of that line I stand. For now I will go with nerves of steel. It is how I have been able to accumulate enough shares to possibly make me VERY happy.
As zride would say, "I am good at this"!
Go FnF!
Fannie and Freddie Back More Mortgages of Those Deeply in Debt
An increasing number of loans are going to borrowers with debt-to-income ratios of 43% or higher, even as policy makers weigh changes
How Fannie and Freddie Prop Up America's Favorite Mortgage
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back about half of new mortgages in the U.S. Now, talks are heating up about reshaping or shrinking the two companies, a move that could impact millions of Americans. Photo: Heather Seidel/The Wall Street Journal
By Ben Eisen
May 13, 2019 5:30 a.m. ET
The gatekeepers of the American mortgage market are increasingly backing loans to borrowers who have heavy debt loads, highlighting questions about mortgage risk as policy makers debate ways to change the system.
Almost 30% of loans that mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac packaged into bonds last year went to home buyers whose total debt ...
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/fannie-and-freddie-back-more-mortgages-of-those-deeply-in-debt-11557739801?mod=article_inline
Thank you for the information. It is very helpful if folks will use it. Much more beneficial than most posts, including my own posts. It contains actionable information and instruction as opposed to opinion and or bashing. Thank you again for sharing.
Go FnF@
Horrible reporting is the status quo!
Go FnF!
Volume low and the share price is up. We must be out of sellers.
Go FnF!
I think this is all a big show. Nobody thinks Congress will act. Even when "pushed".
The president will look great for taking command and dealing with a huge problem. Congress will look inept AGAIN. We FnF holders are fortunate that Congress (R and D) hate Trump. He will enjoy another victory and our elected officials will once again show their impotence. This will grease the skids to the White House in 2020. You can hate his ego, personality or his hair cut but you must recognize his positive effects on our country.
Go FnF
“If I do nothing and don’t push, then I’m fairly certain Congress will do nothing,” said Mark Calabria, the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Trump official to pressure Congress to privatize Freddie and Fannie
KEVIN REBONG JUN 12, 2019 9:45 AM
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FHFA director Mark Calabria (Credit: Federal Housing Finance Agency and Getty Images)
A decade after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were put under government control, a Trump administration-appointed regulator is stepping in to try again to hand the mortgage finance companies back to the private sector.
“If I do nothing and don’t push, then I’m fairly certain Congress will do nothing,” Mark Calabria, the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said, according to the Wall Street Journal. “They have a lot of priorities, so how do I knock this up a few levels in the priority chain for Congress?”
The push follows multiple failed attempts to do privatize the lenders. Together, Freddie and Fannie buy low cost housing loans and repackage them as securities, and guarantee almost half of the $10 trillion housing market.
Ahead of the financial crisis, both companies took on more risk than they could take, and were bailed out by the government after loans went sour during the crisis.
In March, the Trump administration said it was finalizing a plan to hand over the companies to the private sector. If that happens, those low cost mortgages could become more expensive unless additional legislation is also introduced, Calabria said. [WSJ] — David Jeans
https://therealdeal.com/national/2019/06/12/trump-official-to-pressure-congress-to-privatize-freddie-and-fannie/amp/
What about the greedy bastards such as the Bambam G.B. hedge fund? We are just looking for a quick windfall since 2012.
Go FnF!
Don't look at today's high!
Go FnF!
Hey all! What does "message I.d. is hidden" mean?
Those rock star directors need to be careful. Remember the last one?
Go FnF!
He is Warren Buffet or Gordon Gekko
You offer a pretty good free education
Thanks
Go FnF!
Seems like a lot of investors lost a lot of money selling into the knee jerk stampede yesterday. It is surprising that a negative article can still cause panic like that. I suppose there will be another article published when we get back over $3.00. I guess if it works it will keep happening. After en banc there will be a lot of sidelined investors cursing their own weak tummies.
Go FnF!
Institutional Investors Sentiment Indicator of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (FMCC) Improves in Q1 2019
Posted by Elsie Edwards on June 11, 2019 at 10:16 am
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Sentiment for Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (FMCC)
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (FMCC) institutional sentiment increased to 4 in 2019 Q1. Its up 3.33, from 0.67 in 2018Q4. The ratio has increased, as 4 funds increased or opened new positions, while 1 cut down and sold their positions in Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. The funds in our partner’s database now own: 2.70 million shares, up from 1.19 million shares in 2018Q4. Also, the number of funds holding Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp in their top 10 positions was flat from 0 to 0 for the same number . Sold All: 0 Reduced: 1 Increased: 1 New Position: 3.
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation operates in the secondary mortgage market in the United States. The company has market cap of $8.96 billion. The firm purchases residential mortgage loans originated by lenders, as well as invests in mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities. It has a 21.06 P/E ratio. It operates in three divisions: Single-Family Guarantee, Multifamily, and Investments.
The stock decreased 9.74% or $0.3 during the last trading session, reaching $2.78. About 6.34 million shares traded or 155.15% up from the average. Freddie Mac (FMCC) has 0.00% since June 11, 2018 and is . It has underperformed by 4.43% the S&P500.
Parkwood Llc holds 0.57% of its portfolio in Freddie Mac for 1.09 million shares. Capwealth Advisors Llc owns 184,200 shares or 0.08% of their US portfolio. Moreover, Carret Asset Management Llc has 0.01% invested in the company for 15,900 shares. The Illinois-based Interocean Capital Llc has invested 0.01% in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors, a North Carolina-based fund reported 1,320 shares.
More notable recent Freddie Mac (OTCMKTS:FMCC) news were published by: Fool.com which released: “Why Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Jumped on Tuesday – Motley Fool” on January 08, 2019, also Seekingalpha.com with their article: “Fannie And Freddie Legislation Sounds Intractable – Seeking Alpha” published on January 05, 2018, Seekingalpha.com published: “FHFA and Treasury Dept. are talking Frannie privatization – Seeking Alpha” on May 21, 2019. More interesting news about Freddie Mac (OTCMKTS:FMCC) were released by: Seekingalpha.com and their article: “Have We Seen The Last Frannie Net Worth Sweep? – Seeking Alpha” published on April 18, 2019 as well as Seekingalpha.com‘s news article titled: “Fannie, Freddie closer to private ownership – Seeking Alpha” with publication date: May 31, 2019.
https://coinglobalist.com/institutional-investors-sentiment-indicator-of-federal-home-loan-mortgage-corp-fmcc-improves-in-q1-2019/
Why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Fell Today
Don’t expect major stock sales anytime soon.
Joe Tenebruso
(TMFGuardian)
Jun 10, 2019 at 9:30PM
What happened
Shares of Fannie Mae (NASDAQOTH:FNMA) andFreddie Mac (NASDAQOTH:FMCC) both declined more than 9% on Monday, after comments from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested that the mortgage giants' rumored public offerings were not likely to happen anytime in the near future.
So what
Regulators seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the 2008 financial crisis. To ensure their solvency, these mortgage titans received more than $190 billion in taxpayer funds. Since then, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have generated enough profits to pay back those funds -- along with additional dividend payments -- to the government.
In March, President Trump ordered the Treasury Department to determine a way to release Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control and return them to the public markets. Yet before that can happen, Fannie and Freddie may need to raise as much as $200 billion in investor capital, to be able to absorb losses in the event of a severe housing market downturn.
One way to raise that amount of capital is through public stock sales. Many investors have been speculating that these public offerings could occur relatively soon.
But Mnuchin said during an interview on June 8 that he believes the government should explicitly guarantee Fannie and Freddie's debt securities, which would lower the companies' cost of capital and make their mortgage bonds more attractive to investors. Only Congress can make a guarantee of that nature.
Now what
An explicit U.S. government guarantee of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt would probably help better support the U.S. housing market. By buying mortgages from banks and other lenders and packaging them into bonds that are then sold to investors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac help increase the overall supply of mortgage capital. In this way, they help make homes more affordable.
So while traders may have seen their chances for quick, IPO-like gains evaporate, Mnuchin is doing what's necessary to ensure the long-term health of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the U.S. housing market.
https://www.fool.com/amp/investing/2019/06/10/why-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-fell-today.aspx
You can thank me if you want to. I put an order in to buy some more at $2.60.
Then we started to recover.
I have used this strategy in the past.
"I am good at this" to borrow a phrase from zride
Go FnF!
I forgot about brother Freddie!
Fidelity shows daily low at $2.61???
Just think what a favorable en banc will do after this drop. I think it is timed.
Go FnF!
Mnuchin Dashes Investor Dreams of Quick Fannie-Freddie Windfall
Monday, 10 Jun 2019 9:02 AM
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made clear that freeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from U.S. control won’t happen without a major overhaul of the nation’s housing finance system, potentially dashing investors’ hopes that they might soon make a windfall from their stakes in the mortgage giants.
In a June 8 interview, Mnuchin was adamant that the Trump administration won’t just let Fannie and Freddie build up their capital buffers and then release the companies. He also said he backed a key reform that can only be implemented by Congress, casting doubt on how ambitious the administration will be absent a legislative fix.
“What we’re not going to do is business as usual with no changes, just re-capitalize them and float them,” said Mnuchin, referring to a possible public offering of Fannie and Freddie shares. “There needs to be housing reform as part of this.”
The comments would seem to push back a process known as recap and release, which would consist of bolstering Fannie and Freddie’s ability to absorb losses and then returning them to exclusively private shareholder ownership. Hedge funds have long seen a quick recap and release as the fastest and simplest way to mint fortunes off their investments in the companies, partly because it can be done without the involvement of lawmakers.
Mnuchin’s remarks also underscore that despite the administration’s determination, solving the biggest outstanding issue from the 2008 financial crisis is easier said than done.
The companies were seized by regulators and bailed out by taxpayers during the housing market collapse, ultimately getting $191.5 billion in aid. They have returned to profitability and returned to the government more in dividend payments than they got in bailout funds.
President Donald Trump has ordered the Treasury Department to come up with a proposal for ending the Fannie and Freddie conservatorships, and that plan could be released within weeks, people familiar with the matter have said.
While Fannie and Freddie don’t make loans, they are crucial to keeping the nation’s housing-finance system humming. That’s because they buy mortgages from lenders and package the debt into bonds that are sold to investors with guarantees of interest and principal. The process makes homes more affordable, while keeping the mortgage market liquid.
Mnuchin, during the interview along the sidelines of a finance ministers’ summit in Japan, added that he would prefer an explicit government backstop of Fannie and Freddie securities. That would make the debt incredibly safe in the minds of bond investors, even if the two companies were released from conservatorship. While many housing-finance policy changes can be made administratively, an explicit U.S. guarantee can only be created by Congress.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria, Fannie and Freddie’s independent regulator, has said that such a guarantee is not a prerequisite for the companies to be freed. But Treasury and the FHFA would have to agree on major parts of any plan that releases the companies without the involvement of lawmakers.
Stefanie Johnson, an FHFA spokeswoman, declined to comment.
“It is as if Mnuchin is the good cop and Calabria is the bad cop,” said Ed Mills, policy analyst at Raymond James & Associates Inc. “It’s clearly preferable to have a legislative solution with an explicit guarantee as it relates to limiting any disruption to the housing system. However, it is unclear if Congress is going to act unless they are pressured into feeling that they will have executive action without them.”
Lawmakers have failed for more than a decade to agree to an overhaul of Fannie and Freddie. While they are now making a renewed push, reaching a deal seems challenging considering the level of congressional partisanship.
One of the biggest questions about Fannie and Freddie’s potential exit from conservatorship is how they would raise enough capital to withstand a financial calamity, which both Mnuchin and Calabria have said is a precondition to the companies being released. Regulators have indicated that the amount they’d need might exceed $200 billion. Right now, each company is restricted to capital cushion of $3 billion.
While Calabria has said the he thinks a public offering of Fannie and Freddie shares will likely be necessary, Mnuchin suggested in the interview that private money could also be used.
“Could be IPO, could be private capital, there are lots of ways of doing it, but ultimately it would need a combination of retention and capital raise,” he said.
A stock sale would not only likely be the largest in history, but also one of the most complex, considering the conservatorships and because Treasury owns nearly 80% of Fannie and Freddie’s senior preferred shares. Raymond James’ Mills said such an offering would likely be at least three to four years away, because of all the steps involved.
https://www.newsmax.com/t/finance/article/919629?section=streettalk&keywords=mnuchin-fannie-freddie-windfall&year=2019&month=06&date=10&id=919629&oref=www.google.com#articleheadervfb