Freddie Mac, one of the biggest players in America's stressed mortgage sector, revealed widening losses of 2.0 billion dollars on November 20 and said it will "take time" for market prospects to recover.
The mortgage financing giant said its investment portfolio had been hit by the turmoil enveloping the housing market, especially falling home values, and tightening credit markets.
Freddie Mac, which is based just outside Washington, said its losses more than doubled during the third quarter compared with a loss of 715 million dollars during the same period of 2006. That equated to a loss of 3.29 dollars per share for the quarter ended September compared with 1.17 dollars previously.