Annaly's Share Price Plunges

The share price of Annaly Mortgage Management plunged by as much as 12% Friday morning after the mortgage real estate investment trust slashed its dividend the previous afternoon.The New York-based Annaly cut its dividend to $0.13 cents a share, compared with $0.36 in the previous quarter, a decline of 64%. Annaly management said it was forced to trim dividends because the spread between short- and long-term rates has narrowed significantly. It noted that since midyear 2004 "the two-year Treasury has risen in yield from 2.68% to 3.87% and the 10-year Treasury has fallen in yield from 4.58% to 4.16%." Annaly invests in adjustable-rate agency mortgage-backed securities. At deadline time its shares were trading at $13.09, down $1.79.