Mortgage Stocks Buck Market Trend

The stock market took another hit on Friday, but key industry stocks actually rebounded, helped by a rally in the bond market that could portend lower mortgage rates.While the Dow Jones industrial average fell 223.55 points, or 1.69%, companies like Countrywide Financial Corp., IndyMac Bancorp, and mortgage insurance firms actually closed higher on the day. Countrywide's shares were up almost 3%, closing at $13.83. IndyMac was up 7% to close at $7.03. But the big winners were mortgage insurers PMI, Radian, TGIC, and MGIC, which were up 34%, 24%, 28%, and 16%, respectively. The MI firms got a boost from a regulatory filing showing that Old Republic has purchased a significant stake in both PMI and MGIC. Not so fortunate were secondary-market giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which saw their share prices fall about 2% each after Fannie disclosed a substantial third-quarter loss. The Dow was up more than 100 points as of shortly after noon Monday.