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Ackman says Fannie, Freddie not well capitalized

BOSTON
Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:29am EDT

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BOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager William Ackman said on Tuesday that mortgage companies Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) are not well capitalized even though their executives say they are.

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"They are far from well capitalized," Ackman, who runs New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management, told cable television network CNBC. "These institutions need to be able to withstand the perfect storm. It is now the perfect storm."

The companies' share prices have been falling steadily as investors expressed doubt about the status of the two as well as the U.S. government's plan to help them.

Ackman said Fannie Mae is leveraged 129 to 1 and warned that needs to be reduced dramatically. He also said he has been trying to figure out how to save Fannie and Freddie because it is good for the long side of his portfolio and "because it is good for the country."

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
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