U.S. home loan giants Fannie, Freddie post losses in Q4 | Valueinvesting | Zimbio | Livejournal

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Two U.S. housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Thursday announced huge losses in the fourth quarter of last year, fresh evidence of the still struggling U.S. property market.

Fannie Mae registered a net loss of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter last year, and requested an additional 2.6 billion dollars in federal aid, the Washington-based company said Thursday in a statement.

Freddie Mac posted a net loss of more than 1.7 billion dollars in the same period, and asked for an additional 500 million dollars in federal aid, according to a statement released by the company on Thursday.

The Obama administration earlier this month unveiled a report to Congress on reforming the U.S. housing finance market, aiming to wind down the two government-sponsored enterprises, while giving the private sector a bigger say on the multi-trillion-dollar market.

The two companies played a major role in the run-up to the severe financial crisis. The U.S. government stepped in to take over Fannie and Freddie in September 2008 and cost U.S. taxpayers multi-billion dollars, which has drawn criticism from various sectors.

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