Mortgage Stocks Lead Widespread Sell-Off

With the Dow Jones industrial average down 264 points (about 2%) at midday, key mortgage-related stocks were down even more sharply, with Countrywide Financial Corp. the hardest hit.Countrywide's share price fell 20% from the opening price to $16.96 shortly after noon. Until the latest sell-off, Countrywide's 52-week range had been $19.25 (see item below) to $45.26 per share. Other stocks that were down more than 5% by noon were Delta Financial Corp., KBH Home, LandAmerica Financial Group, and IndyMac. Remaining largely unscathed by the market's current liquidity and credit woes were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were both up at midday. Fannie's shares rose $1.47 to $62.92 after the company released its 2006 financial results.