The Trump administration has not only proposed extending the existing g-fee surcharge, but recommends doubling it. Not to be outdone, both Democratic presidential candidates, former Vice-President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-VT, also support raising g-fees.
Many analysts anticipated the implementation of CECL would balloon the loan loss reserves of the GSEs. Last week, though, both enterprises downplayed CECL’s potential impact on first-quarter earnings.
If billionaire Mike Bloomberg starts looking like a front-runner in the 2020 presidential elections, putting out stock offerings on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could prove difficult.
Fannie Mae reported ”fair value losses” of $2.2 billion for 2019. That’s compared to a $1.1 billion gain in 2018, and a $1.2 billion loss in 2017. Volatility in the company’s income reflects its hedging operations.
The hiatus in the net worth sweep added $12.53 billion to the GSEs’ combined net worth over the last six months of 2019, including fourth-quarter profit of $4.27 billion at Fannie and $2.45 billion at Freddie. (Includes data chart.)