http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26567533/

BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC
updated less than 1 minute ago
The federal government has prepared a plan to take control of troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, several news outlets reported Friday night.

The Washington Post reported on its Web site that government officials had told the two companies that their top executives would be dismissed and government funds used to prop them up.

Quoting unidentified sources, the Post said that the companies would be placed under a conservatorship and that the value of the companies' common stock would be diluted but not wiped out, while other securities, including preferred shares, would be protected by the government.

The Post and the Wall Street Journal reported that any infusion of capital would be done quarter by quarter. The Post said that was being done in an attempt to minimize the initial cost of the rescue.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have seen their stock prices plummet as fears mounted they would soon need government support and that any bailout would leave stockholders in the lurch.

The government-sponsored companies hold or guarantee half the U.S. mortgage debt and are considered crucial to the mortgage market's continued operation.

The Bush administration last month unveiled a plan to provide unlimited government loans to the two mortgage giants and to purchase stock in the two companies if needed for a period covering the next 18 months.

This breaking news story will be updated.