Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumble

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumble

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are a huge chunk of the US economy. Together they own or guarantee about half of the total $12 trillion in US mortgages, more than the total amount of US treasury notes. Both of these companies have lost more than 80% of the their stock value in the last year and more than 50% in the last 5 days (see charts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock prices). The government may soon be forced to take over both of these companies.