Fannie’s NYSE Listing Satisfaction, Celebrating Pain (FNM, FRE)

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) made an announcement that the troubled mortgage giant and GSE received notice yesterday from the New York Stock Exchange that it has regained compliance with the NYSE’s minimum price standard for continued listing of its common stock.  It was back in November 2008 that the NYSE notified the company that it had failed to satisfy the $1.00-rule.

This is one of the NYSE’s standards for continued listing, as the average closing price of its common stock during the 30 preceding trading days was under the $1.00 per share mark. Applicable NYSE rules and procedures provided the company with a cure period that would expire on October 15, 2009, as a result of the NYSE’s temporary suspension of its minimum price listing requirement earlier this year.

With as much volume as Fannie Mae contributes, and Freddie mac for that matter, it was a shoe-in that the NYSE was going to keep making an exception for this and other low-priced common stocks.  The volume is a form of revenues for the NYSE… Ditto for NASDAQ.

This is one of those empty celebrations, yet shares are up this morning.  So far we have seen over 8 million shares trade hands and Fannie Mae’s stock is up 4% at $1.71.

JON C. OGG