Fannie Mae-No Politics (FNMA)

[contrarian bull]

they are showing as (positive!) stockholder equity

The screen shot you posted won't work for me so I am not sure which line you speak about, but I am looking at Fannie's Sept 30 2017 10-Q...

On the balance sheet on page 65... Under Liabilities and Equity, under Stockholders' equity I see $117b in senior preferred stock issued and outstanding. A positive number. Seems pretty clear it is a liability.

Can you help me find where that shows up as an asset????

Again - while stockholders equity is an asset for the stockholder, its a liability for the company issuing that stock. That is why it is on the Liabilities side of the balance sheet. Maybe the word "equity" is confusing you into thinking it is adding value to fannie? There is a reason it's right there mixed in with Liabilities... it is the opposite of an asset.