Mortgage Insurers Hit Year High; Fannie, Freddie Back Above $1

Private mortgage insurers MGIC Investment Corp. and Radian Group Inc. continued their bullish run, with both companies’ stock price hitting a 52-week high during trading on Tuesday.

MGIC was up 4.98%, the highest percentage gainer among Mortgage Insurance Equity Composite member stocks, followed by Radian, up 4.62%.

These were the two heaviest traded MIEC stocks, outside of Bank of America, which on Tuesday also was the third largest percentage gainer, at 2.77%.

Of the six MIEC stocks in the red, Redwood Trust was down 3.84%, followed by PennyMac at 1.96%, and Ellie Mae at 1.16%.

Meanwhile, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went soaring above the $1 mark on Tuesday. Fannie Mae gained $0.25 to close at $1.20 per share, while Freddie Mac gained $0.24 to close at $1.15 per share.

Pimco’s Scott Simon went on the record saying that if the government were to play a lesser role in housing finance, credit standards would tighten, downpayments would increase and interest rates would soar.