More Reasuring Facts On Phony Mae aka Fannie Mae

This is an update on yesterdays post Reasuring Phony Mae & Fraudie Mac Facts........ The stock was under pressure premarket ( down 15 percent ) and closed higher with almost 9 percent. No wonder when you read the "bullish" points the WSJ is making...... Got gold......? More via Minyanville Five Things You Need to Know: Fannie Mae Inadvertently Predicts Housing Bottom & Barry Ritholtz Fannie Mae is Fantastic !

Das ist ein Folgepost zum dem gestrigen Eintrag Reasuring Phony Mae & Fraudie Mac Facts........ Vorbörslich war die Aktie start unter Druck und notierte bis zu 15 % schwächer. Geschlossen hat Phony Mae 9% höher. Muß wohl an den bullishen Fakten die das WSJ zusammengetragen hat liegen..... Got Gold....? Hier teilweise substanzielles von der FAZ Riesige Verluste können Fannie-Mae-Aktie nicht dauerhaft belasten sowie substanzielles via Minyanville Five Things You Need to Know: Fannie Mae Inadvertently Predicts Housing Bottom sowie Barry Ritholtz Fannie Mae is Fantastic !

Will $6 Billion Do for Fannie? WSJ
That is the amount of new money the mortgage giant said Tuesday that it would raise through the sale of common and preferred stock. But Fannie Mae could need even more capital if it really wants to shore up its balance sheet while also backstopping the national housing market.

How much more depends on an investor's view of the best way to measure the firm's net worth, as well as the amount of capital it should put aside against its burgeoning mortgage book. Bearish outlooks on these counts lead to scenarios where Fannie needs to raise anywhere from $5 billion to about $15 billion in additional funds.

Underpinning those pessimistic outlooks are the considerable headwinds that Fannie continues to face. The company posted a $2.2 billion first-quarter loss, for its third consecutive quarter in the red. The government-sponsored provider of funds for home mortgages expects national housing prices to fall 7% to 9% this year, while its exposure to hard-hit areas such as California and Florida could cause it even greater pain.

Fannie may soon have to book some big, unrealized losses it has been sitting on, further reducing its book value, or net worth.

Especially alarming: Based on market values for assets it holds, Fannie's net worth attributable to common stockholders would have been a negative $2 billion at the end of March.

For its part, Fannie doesn't see any need to raise more than $6 billion in capital. Chief Executive Daniel Mudd said on a conference call that the new funds will protect Fannie's balance sheet against future losses, allow it to expand its business and enable it to act as a bulwark for the housing market nationwide.

Mr. Mudd told investors that -- including the $6 billion in new capital, a 29% dividend cut and regulatory capital relief -- Fannie will have $48 billion in capital. That, he added, is $17 billion more than the company's federal regulator said it needs.

"We will feast off this book of business we're putting on for many years to come," Mr. Mudd said. Fannie's stock rose $2.52, or 8.9%, to $30.81 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Some investors even felt Fannie didn't need to raise any new money. But that view is based on the idea that market-value losses shown by Fannie are fleeting.

Bears don't buy that, especially given the unprecedented scope of the housing crisis. They say it is a mistake to look at Fannie's regulatory capital number, which excludes large unrealized losses.

These investors argue that Fannie's market-value balance sheet gives a clearer picture. At the end of March, this market-value view showed the firm with total net worth of $12.2 billion, a bruising $23.6 billion decline from $35.8 billion at the end of 2007.

This figure comprised $14 billion in net worth attributable to preferred stock holders, while that attributable to common holders was negative $2 billion.

That $12.2 billion is the effective balance-sheet cushion against future losses. But it is equivalent to only 1.4% of Fannie's $866.7 billion in assets, measured using market values.

Not all the market-value losses will come to pass, of course. But some likely will. Fannie, for instance, disclosed that $16.9 billion of the $23.6 billion decline in market-value net worth came from increasing the value of a liability that represents future payouts on mortgage guarantees.

The increase in this guarantee obligation reflects, in part, new, higher estimates of credit losses. If these credit losses were to occur, they would show up on Fannie's books as cash payouts and realized losses.

Fannie may face pressure on earnings and its net worth in other areas. It disclosed that at the end of March it had $9.2 billion in unrealized losses on securities that haven't so far been reflected in earnings. Of these, $5.4 billion are more than a year old.

In addition, Fannie has so far balked at creating a special reserve against any portion of its $17.8 billion in deferred tax assets. The company can use those only to offset profit. As its loss-making period stretches, arguments could grow louder that Fannie needs to reserve against part of this asset. Doing so would result in another charge against profit that would hit net worth.

Those kind of charges could leave Fannie's $6 billion cushion looking awfully thin.