You have to hand it to Freddie Mac. The giant US mortgage lender doesn’t report earnings very often, but when it does, it makes the opportunity count.

The report from Freddie Mac – in which it recorded an astounding $2bn net loss – was only the third quarterly announcement it has managed to release in the past five years. It got out of the habit in 2003 after revealing that its accountants had managed to miss an odd $5bn or so over a two-year period.