Ouch. Looks like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went looking for investors and Warren Buffett gave them an earful.

Game over, Buffett said:

Mr Buffett, the celebrated "Sage of Omaha," believes that shareholders in the two mortgage companies look set to be wiped out as the pair attempt to raise more capital.

"They're looking for help, obviously. And the scale of help is such that I don't think it can come from the private sector," he said during an interview on business television channel CNBC.

While admitting the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) - which together own or control about $5 trillion of American mortgages - "are too big to fail", shareholders "could lose a lot of money."

He went on to claim that the pair "don't have any net worth" and told market-watchers to expect some form of government action soon