It’s the end of an era, and a sign of the times.
Today, shares of government mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were removed from the New York Stock Exchange and sent to the lowly OTC Bulletin Board where most other penny stocks dwell.
Fannie Mae, which used to trade under the symbol FNM, will now trade under the four-digit symbol FNMA.OB.
Freddie Mac will trade under the symbol FMCC.OB, formerly FRE.
Since the FHFA announcement to delist the pair was made back in mid-June, both stocks plummeted from around a buck to mere pennies on the dollar.
They were removed from the powerful NYSE stock index for failing to maintain an average closing price of $1 over thirty days for most months since conservatorship was established in September 2008.
Prior to the conservatorship, both companies were trading in the high teens to $20-range.
But the pair have been riddled with massive losses since the mortgage crisis got underway, and their multi-billion dollar tabs seem to keep swelling larger.
Freddie Mac was trading down more than 20 percent to 27 cents per share this morning, while Fannie Mae was down six percent to 23 cents a share.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks provide more than $5.9 trillion in funding for the U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions.