Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earnings remained strong in the second quarter with the GSEs posting a combined $4.86 billion in net income, but concerns about the soon to be non-existent capital buffer also remain. The GSEs’ $9.85 billion in net income for the first half of the year more than doubled their combined earnings from the same time period in 2016, according to their second quarter earnings statements released last week. While Fannie posted a net income of $3.20 billion, a 15.4 percent quarterly improvement, Freddie witnessed a 24.7 percent decline to $1.66 billion in the second quarter.