Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTRich Smith, The Motley FoolFri, September 4, 2026 at 6:17 PM GMT+2 2 min readFair Isaac Corporation (NYSE: FICO) stock, home of the famous FICO score, tumbled 17.8% through 10:55 a.m. ET Friday. You can blame the Trump Administration for that.And U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte in particular.Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »Image source: Getty Images.Bill Pulte spooks the marketPulte announced last night that he has directed the heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to accept mortgage loans for purchase from banks when those loans were issued in reliance on a Vantage credit score rather than the more traditional FICO score. Created in 2006 as an alternative to FICO, Vantage is a credit score created in cooperation by the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.It's failed to reach critical mass since then, but with a helping hand from the U.S. government, investors are wondering whether this time might be different -- and whether that could be bad news for FICO.What it means for FICOThe Trump Administration has criticized Fair Isaac for contributing to the high cost of homeownership by charging excessive rates when banks pull FICO scores for mortgage applicants -- and has promised to lower the cost of home ownership. The push to introduce competition to FICO by encouraging the use of Vantage scores is part of this effort.It might even work. Vantage's owners have advertised $0.99 prices for pulling a single credit score, whereas Fair Isaac charges $10 or more (often much more). While a $9 difference might not make much of a dent in the cost of homeownership, therefore, if price competition forces Fair Isaac to cut prices on its premier product, that could have a significant effect on FICO's profitability.That's what's got investors in Fair Isaac stock feeling nervous today.Should you buy stock in Fair Isaac right now?Before you buy stock in Fair Isaac, consider this:The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Fair Isaac wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $445,833!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,402,153!*Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info