However, a longer-term prognosis for the GSEs is less clear, especially as the issue of moral hazard -- and its uneven application between bondholder and shareholders, some might say -- begins to sink in among investors. Paulson's plan gives current shareholders in the GSEs the cold shoulder, Peter Cohan, principal with Peter S. Cohan & Assoc., tells GlobeSt.com. New – or for the brave, existing – stockholders, of course, now must be cajoled into buying the new stock if Freddie Mac opts for that route now and in the future. "My concern is that investors might balk at buying shares in Freddie, unless they are given assurances that the government will bail out equity holders as well as debt holders," Cohan says.

Frederic Ruffy, the senior options strategist at WhatsTrading.com, a New York City-based provider of options market analysis, tells GlobeSt.com that the Street seems to prefer this alternative to the strings that would no doubt accompany any Congressional financing. "Faced with billions of dollar is losses, Freddie is in need of fresh capital to avoid stricter regulation from the government," he says. "Closer government scrutiny would surely accompany a bailout or rescue. In other words, in order to avoid stricter government oversight, Freddie would rather raise capital from investors rather than Treasury Department. Consequently, the thought of a stock offering, although it would dilute future earnings for current shareholders, seems to be well received by investors."

That said, he continues, it is impossible for investors to ignore the billions of dollars in losses the company still faces. "The risk is considered high and therefore investors would demand a high rate in return from Freddie shares, which would make an offering a very expensive proposition in the current environment."