The world’s largest credit-rating companies say mortgage lenders Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) have bullet-proof Aaa credit ratings. But Bloomberg says derivatives traders are treating the discount mortgage brokers as if they are rated five levels lower.

And, ominously, the price of contracts used to speculate on the creditworthiness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and to protect against a default doubled in the past two months.

What about the government’s implied guarantee of the debt held by the companies? It seems investor confidence in short supply.

Stocks in Fannie Mae have shed 73 percent in the past year on the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, Freddie Mac dumped 60 percent.

Yesterday currency expert Chuck Butler said the markets were smelling blood in the water. Chuck says the markets now  think Fannie and Freddie will need about $75 billion in new capital to remain viable companies. But a rumored bailout didn’t happen. More from Chuck:

Could these two be the next ‘risk events’ that I keep talking about in the U.S.? It’s all rumors and hearsay now.. But like the song goes… There’s no smoke without a fire…. There’s no heat without a flame…

Or… Could it be the news from Indy Mac, who agreed with regulators to halt new loans under an agreement with the regulators, and then announced that they would cut half its staff as mortgage losses mount? Again, folks, I’m not picking on these companies because I have some vendetta against them… I’m just reporting what’s on the news wires, as something that could affect the value of the dollar in the long run.

Jennifer Yousfi in Money Morning says the end of the housing slowdown is a long way off…

We might be getting closer to the bottom. In fact, existing home sales rose in February, the first such increase in the past seven months. But it’s probably too soon to get excited about a full housing recovery.

“It looks like this may be a temporary pause,” Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Mass., told Bloomberg News after the existing homes sales report was released. “The price declines have helped, and people are still getting financing, though not on the good terms they could before.”

“We’re still a long way from a recovery in housing,” Gault said.

Where to put your money as the credit crisis rollicks on? Invest abroad, says Jennifer. Anywhere but the US…

With foreign economies growing that briskly, there will be plenty of profitable investment opportunities available in the 12 months to come.

With growth sputtering and a recession still possible here at home, investors should turn their attention to such U.S.-based multinationals as McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM). Both firms derive substantial portions of their sales from overseas markets, where growth is likely to continue over the next 12 months, regardless of what happens to the U.S. economy.

And while these firms offer significant foreign-market exposure, the fact that they’re U.S. based means such corporations as McDonald’s, Yum! Brands and such others as The Coca-Cola Co. (KO) and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) offer the transparency of U.S. financial reporting requirements and the relative protection of the U.S. investment-regulatory system.

But if you prefer to invest more directly in foreign growth, then Hutchinson – the Money Morning contributing editor – says to try South Korea’s largest wireless service provider, SK Telecom Co. Ltd. (SKM). SK is well positioned to capitalize on the growing Asian markets. Likewise, the Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (TSM) [commonly referred to as TMSC], the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, is another Asian tech company that is not currently overvalued and should do well in the New Year, Hutchinson says.

Traditional inflation-sensitive investments such as currencies and commodities are also good plays for 2008, investment gurus as Fitz-Gerald and “adventure-capitalist” Jim Rogers both say.

The PowerShares Agriculture Fund (DBA), operated by German giant Deutsche Bank AG (DB), is intended to reflect the performance of four commodities in the agriculture sector: Soybeans (31.13%), wheat (28.87%), corn (23.43%) and sugar (16.58%). These include some of the key agricultural commodity plays that Rogers advocates.

Another is Van Eck’s recently launched Market Vectors Agribusiness Exchange-Traded Fund (MOO). Like the PowerShares Fund, this reflects the agriculture industry but in a different way. Instead, the ETF’s holdings reflect returns seen from agriculture chemicals (34%), agriproduct operations (33.5%), agriculture equipment (24.3%), livestock operations (5.6%) and ethanol/biodiesel (2.3%).

For investors who have the constitution of a Contrarian investor – as well as some patience and a long time horizon – it may be well worth a look at some of the beaten-down financial-sector stocks that state-run sovereign wealth funds are buying into in a wholesale manner. Although many U.S. investors are preaching caution – if not total avoidance – when it comes to companies involved with the American financial-services sector, these government-run investment pools clearly view such stalwarts as Citigroup Inc. (C), UBS AG (UBS), Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (MER), and Morgan Stanley (MS), as bargain-basement investment opportunities.