Fannie, Freddie OTC shares climb as Trump prepares to take firms public

"I am working on TAKING THESE AMAZING COMPANIES PUBLIC, but I want to be clear, the U.S. Government will keep its implicit GUARANTEES, and I will stay strong in my position on overseeing them as President," Trump wrote in the post late on Tuesday. Fannie and Freddie, which operate as for-profit corporations with private shareholders, were created by the U.S. Congress to expand the national home-lending market by buying home loans from private lenders and repackaging them as mortgage-backed securities. The United States Treasury owns preferred shares in the firms and warrants to purchase about 80% of their common stock.