Summary Box: Fears over Fannie, Freddie bailouts

THE DETAILS: Exactly which investors remains to be seen. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson appears inclined to let the companies' stock prices drop, but it's unclear whether investors in preferred shares--a type of investment that incorporates elements of both stocks and bonds--will also be wiped out.

THE OUTLOOK: How severe investors' pain will be is likely to depend on how far the housing market falls and how poor Fannie and Freddie's their financial situation turns out to be in the long run. "We've got questions. We don't have answers," said Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany N.Y.