Wow, odds of meeting another Freddie Mac-er here on LJ are... well, I guess not that astronomical. It *is* the innarnetz, after all. :)

As for the meat of your post, yes. Freddie & Fannie are odd beasts to quite a few folks who think that 1) we directly regulate lenders, and 2) actually lend money directly to prospective homebuyers. Right about the Alt-A loans; but I thought that they had been so small a percentage as to be essentially non-material in terms of the issues the market is having.