Fannie, Freddie Jump After Investors Get $612 Million Win (1)

A federal jury awarded $612 million in damages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investors, a small win in their mostly unsuccessful bids to challenge the US’s collection of over $100 billion in profits from the government-sponsored enterprises.

Fannie rose 9% and Freddie advanced 10% after Monday’s decision.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency acted arbitrarily or unreasonably in entering into an agreement to collect the profits of the mortgage firms, the jurors in US District Court for the District of Columbia found.

Investors originally had sought billions of dollars in damages from the government, arguing that the government — after ...