Astoria Financial Corp. of New York took a $57.9 million charge in the third quarter on its investment in Freddie Mac preferred stock. When the government placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a conservatorship on September 7 their preferred shares became nearly worthless with many depositories taking huge writedowns on their stakes. Astoria, a multifamily and residential lender, is just the latest of many banks and thrifts to report such losses. In the third quarter it reported $127 million in nonperforming single-family loans and $34 million in multifamily/commercial. Both nonperforming figures are up compared to the year ago quarter. In 3Q 2008 Astoria, a thrift, lost $16.5 million compared to a profit of $35.3 million a year ago.
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