Fannie Mae Quietly Continues Slimming Down

Continuing a multi-month effort, Fannie Mae (FNM) is rapidly unwinding its position in the mortgage market. AP via Reuters; "FNM reported Monday that its gross portfolio..fell to some $875 billion at the end of February from $891 billion in January, for an annualized rate of around 20 percent."

Freddie Mac has been acting on a similar strategy after both firms were chastised by Washington and the Fed for having unstable balance sheets. Taken with the announcement last week by the Home Loan Bank of New York and General Motors' credit woes, the trend of the big players is emerging; lighten up on housing loans.