My colleague Hanah Cho contacted area banking companies today to see if they own preferred stock in Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. These big mortgage companies just got taken over, and the preferred has cratered. Fannie/Freddie preferred is a common, "safe" asset that many banks hold as investments. The FDIC is worried that preferred writedowns will jeopardize some banks' capital ratios. Some are predicting an acceleration in bank failures. No new is good news so far. From First Mariner Bank:

1st Mariner Bank does not own preferred shares of either Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.

From Provident Bank:

We do not own any preferred shares of Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.

Wells Fargo, however, cannot make the same statement.