Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Tank After President’s Housing Speech

Shares of Fannie Mae / Federal National Mortgage Assctn Fnni Me (OTCBB:FNMA) and Freddie Mac / Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (OTCBB:FMCC) fell more than 9% each following President Obama’s housing speech today, where he announced a small cut to FHA annual premiums and didn’t mention the GSEs at all (so much for “no news is good news” theory that got thrown around earlier this week). As Clea Benson at Bloomberg reported yesterday, President Obama announced a 0.5% cut in FHA annual premiums, enough to give a small boost to new homeowners but certainly not a game-changer.

The FHA premium reduction seen as an incremental move by analysts

President Obama estimates that the change could save a new...