Sell-Off Drags Down Mortgage Stocks

On a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 370 points, or 2.93%, mortgage-related stocks were among the hard hit sectors. Among 15 industry stocks routinely tracked by MortgageWire, the hardest hit were IndyMac Bancorp, down 18% on the day to close at $8.50, Triad Guaranty, down 9% to close at $6.60, and Countrywide Financial Corp., also down 9% to close at $6.60. On Feb. 5, 13 of the 15 industry stocks in the Mortgage Equity Composite Index were down. The exceptions were Fidelity National Financial, which was up 3% to close at $20.23, and Franklin Bank Corp., which was up 1% to close at $4.94. At midday, the Dow was up nearly 100 points.