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Moody's Wall Street Analytics has announced an expansion of its cash flow analytics platform to offer an extensive library of cash flow waterfalls and loan-level data on U.S. subprime securitizations. The Structured Finance Workstation platform enables users to view and edit the cash flow waterfalls of the deals being modeled, allowing them to be certain that waterfalls and associated payment rules are coded properly according to each deal's prospectus, the company said. "The loan-level detail of the library gives users much greater insight into their U.S. [residential mortgage-backed securities] positions," said Jacob Grotta, senior director of Moody's Wall Street Analytics.

Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd., a New York-based bond insurer, has reported a $422 million net loss in the first quarter that reflects "unrealized negative fair-value adjustments and provisions" for home equity lines of credit and closed-end second-lien mortgage-backed securities. The company said it made after-tax, unrealized, negative fair-value adjustments of $317.9 million "for credit derivatives in the insured portfolio and after-tax loss expense of $195.3 million related to second-lien residential mortgage-backed securities." The credit derivatives in the insured portfolio "consist mainly of credit default swaps on pooled corporate risk," FSA said. The company can be found online at http://www.fsa.com.

Thirty-seven classes from 10 scratch-and-dent mortgage-backed securities transactions issued by Residential Asset Mortgage Products have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. Fitch also placed two classes of securities on Rating Watch Negative and affirmed the ratings on nearly $1 billion of scratch-and-dent MBS. Fitch can be found on the Web at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Fannie Mae has announced the pricing of 80 million shares of series T noncumulative, nonconvertible, perpetual fixed-rate preferred stock. The series T stock (CUSIP 313586737) has a stated value of $25 per share, for a total of $2 billion, and an annual dividend rate of 8.25%. Fannie Mae will have the option to redeem all or part of the preferred stock on or after May 20, 2013. Net proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, including "enhancing the company's capital position, providing additional market liquidity, and pursuing new business opportunities," the company said. David Benson, Fannie's senior vice-president and treasurer, said the issuance completes Fannie Mae's recently announced capital-raising plan. Merrill Lynch & Co. acted as joint lead manager and physical book-runner.

Doral Financial Inc., a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based mortgage lender, has reported a net loss of $2.3 million for the first quarter, a substantial improvement from the net loss of $37.3 million recorded in the first quarter of 2007. Doral said the improvement was driven chiefly by a 27.5% reduction in noninterest expenses, a 50% increase in noninterest income, and a rise in the company's net interest margin from 1.43% a year earlier to 1.80%. "We are starting to witness the results of the execution of our business plan, shown by the significant improvement in our fundamentals experienced in the first quarter," said Glen R. Wakeman, president and chief executive officer of Doral Financial. The company has been struggling since 2006, when it signed consent orders with the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico restricting dividend payments and requiring the submission of plans to maintain capital adequacy. The orders arose from Doral's restatement of earnings for 2000-2004 to correct the accounting for mortgage loan sales and the valuation of interest-only strips. Doral can be found online at http://www.doralfinancial.com.

The second-quarter Core Mortgage Risk Index stands 16% higher than the level of a year ago, reflecting rising delinquency and foreclosure rates, flat or declining price appreciation, and slower job growth, according to First American CoreLogic, Sacramento, Calif. Among the largest 100 markets in the country, CoreLogic reported that the five with the highest risk are: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.; Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; and Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla. "As of March 2008, 33 states were experiencing year-over-year house price declines, up from 28 states in February, demonstrating how quickly home price declines appear to be spreading," the company reported. CoreLogic, a provider of mortgage risk assessment and fraud prevention systems, can be found on the Web at http://www.facorelogic.com.

New foreclosure filings rose 4% in April and were nearly 65% higher than the level recorded a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif. The company's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report indicates that foreclosure filings -- default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions -- were reported on 243,353 properties in April. "The total number of U.S. properties with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total we've seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005," said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive officer. "Although only about 2% of households nationwide are in foreclosure, these properties contribute to already-bloated inventories of homes for sale and put downward pressure on home values." The company said California, Florida, and Ohio recorded the highest foreclosure rates in April. RealtyTrac can be found online at http://www.realtytrac.com.

The Senate has passed a flood insurance reform bill in a 92-6 vote that phases out subsidized premiums for certain commercial properties and vacation/second homes and requires properties protected by dams and levees to have flood insurance for the first time. The bill (S. 2284) also requires lenders to escrow flood insurance premiums and increases penalties on lenders that don't insure homebuyers in flood-prone areas. A House-passed bill expands the National Flood Insurance Program to offer dual coverage for flood and wind damage. The Senate overwhelmingly rejected such an expansion by a 73-19 vote. The Senate bill also forgives $17 billion in debt that the Federal Emergency Management Agency borrowed from the U.S. Treasury to pay flood claims after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Freddie Mac also announced plans to raise an additional $5.5 billion in new core capital, prompting the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to say it would reduce Freddie's surplus capital requirement from 20% to 15% upon completion of the effort. Freddie Mac said the new capital would be divided about evenly between the issuance of preferred stock and common stock. Freddie chairman and chief executive Richard Syron said the additional capital will help the company provide liquidity for the mortgage market and build shareholder value. The government-sponsored enterprise can be found on the Web at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Freddie Mac narrowed its quarterly loss to $151 million ($0.66 per share) in the first quarter, despite a significant increase in credit costs. By contrast, Freddie Mac reported a $2.5 billion net loss in the fourth quarter. Freddie Mac executives said the company benefited from higher securitization volume, a higher guarantee fee rate, and higher net interest income. Freddie's first-quarter provision for credit expenses totaled $1.2 billion, and the company raised its estimate of credit costs for 2008 as a whole. But at the same time, Freddie Mac now projects that net interest income will grow 40%-50% this year, driven by higher portfolio volume and better interest rate spreads. Freddie is also expecting its guarantee fee income to increase by 15%-20% this year. In a conference call with investors, chief financial officer Buddy Piszel said Freddie Mac does not plan any new cuts to its dividend payments. Wall Street reacted favorably, with the company's stock rising about 9% in morning trading on news that the loss was narrower than the consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial, which predicted a $0.92 per share loss.