Winners and losers in the Fannie, Freddie mess

The news of the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac spells really bad news for value investors--notably Bill Miller, who just couldn't believe that a beaten down stock wouldn't bounce back. He never learned his lessons, averaging in as financial stocks plummeted. Last week, when Freddie Mac stock was trading at about $5, he bought 30 million shares, according to the New York Times. All shareholders--and Fannie and Freddie ranked among the most widely held stocks--got burned, including employees who owned a lot of shares. The big winners are the shorts, the most vocal of which was hedge fund guy William Ackman. All in all, this is extraordinary news. As for Daniel Mudd, the departing head of Fannie, and Richard Syron, his counterpart at Freddie, they will make out well with severance packages in excess of $10 million; which will not make them popular.  

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