Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) announced disappointing earnings. But the stock went up. Is that a signal investors think the worst is over, that the future looks brighter for financial stocks? Maybe.

While Fannie Mae is only one company, it's the biggest in the mortgage business. That means everyone is watching what it's doing and how it's faring. As Fannie Mae goes, so goes the mortgage market. As of the latest earnings release, things aren't going too well. Earnings per share showed a loss of $2.57, much worse than the 81 cents analysts predicted. Management cut the quarterly dividend to 25 cents a share starting in the third quarter to save money. To bolster its capital, Fannie will raise $6 billion, most likely in preferred stock since there's a strong market for income shares.