Freddie's Problem: In Debt to Uncle

If only Freddie Macdidn't have to shell out that quarterly 'vig' to the U.S. Treasury, perhaps its numbers would look better. In case you missed it, the GSE lost $4.1 billion in 3Q but that was after shelling out $1.6 billion in dividends to Uncle Sam. But if you look at Freddie's supplemental 3Q earnings statements, an argument can be made that the mortgage behemoth is turning the corner. The average FICO score on the loans currently being bought by the GSE is 753, compared to a decade low of 709 back in the peak year of 2007. (And it's fair to assume that the 2007 FICO numbers were — dare I say — cooked.) The average LTV on a new Freddie loan is 70% compared to 77% in 2007. The company's guarantee fee and management income is growing too. If only, it didn't have to pay its Uncle…