"Is this a positive article or negative for FNMA common holders?"
It is a given that long-holding stock owners of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are going to get screwed. The only question is to what degree? Add up all the cash that has been absconded, stolen, misappropriated by several administrations and you're looking at 1/2 Trillion dollars. We might have a chance to recover some of that money if there was an administration to come down the pike wanting to right the wrongs. However, I don't have any faith that the Trump administration knows even the majority of things to which Fannie and Freddie shareholders have been subjected, starting with predatory lending, progressing to outright theft. We might get some back but no chance of getting it all back. So, we will be screwed by our own government.