Federal National Mortgage Association, the behemoth of the US mortgage market, better known as Fannie Mae, has always been shrouded in a veil of complexity. Its financial statements, a labyrinth of multi-trillion dollar figures, are enough to make even seasoned analysts reach for their aspirin. But buried within these very statements, a spectral anomaly whispers of a story untold, a mystery that seemingly has eluded the keenest eyes on Wall Street.

Examining Fannie Mae's recent financial data, a peculiar trend emerges, a pattern so subtle it's almost invisible. While analysts have focused on the company's steady revenue growth and positive quarterly earnings, a closer look reveals a phantom lurking in the balance sheet. This ghost, invisible to traditional metrics, manifests itself in the relationship between net debt and net invested capital.

Net debt, a measure of a company's total debt minus its cash and cash equivalents, reveals the financial leverage a company employs. Net invested capital, on the other hand, represents the total capital invested in the company by both debt and equity holders. In healthy, growing companies, these figures often rise in tandem. Increased borrowing fuels expansion, leading to higher invested capital.

However, in Fannie Mae's case, a curious divergence appears. While net debt has remained stubbornly high, hovering around a colossal $4.1 trillion, net invested capital has been on a slow but consistent decline. From $4.16 trillion in Q1 2022 to $4.15 trillion in Q1 2023, the trend continues into Q3 2023 at $4.16 trillion and further to an estimated $4.16 trillion by the end of 2023.