Fannie Mae-No Politics (FNMA)

[big-yank]

There are no peer companies. There are only banks. The GSEs reserves cover losses incurred from defaults by homeowners. They have no assets like the deposits banks have. The banks are carefully limited to how much risk they can carry as a multiple of their deposits. The GSEs have a much, much, much larger multiple of MBS obligations owed vs. mortgage assets held within portfolio. So, yes, risk is far greater in the GSEs than in banks and requires larger reserves, especially when the taxpayer is on the hook to cover a default that stress tests indicate could be monumental in dimension.

JMHO.