Fannie and Freddie get real

The highlights of the current new realism:

• Freddie Mac has asked the US government for $13.8B;
  
• It suffered a record $25.3B quarterly loss and said that shareholders’ equity was a negative $13.7B. So after being bailed out, it will be worth $100M, presumably.
  
• A significant part of Freddie's writedowns was $14.3B of deferred tax assets.
  
• Fannie reported a $29B quarterly loss last week of which $21.4B were deferred tax assets.
  
• Fannie said it might need more than the $100bn earmarked for each of the two companies in order to stay in business.
  
• But it does at least claim to have a positive net worth.

Can I say neue sachlichkeit now?