Thornburg Posts $1.1B Loss in 3Q

Forced to sell high-quality jumbo loans at a discount, Thornburg Mortgage, Santa Fe, N.M., posted a $1.1 billion loss in the third quarter.Company president and chief operating officer Larry Goldstone argued that the liquidity crisis in the nonconforming market -- at least as it pertains to Thornburg -- reflects "investor perception, not investment reality." At the end of September, the publicly traded real estate investment trust had assets (mostly adjustable-rate mortgages) of $36.3 billion, compared with $52.7 billion at the end of December. At the end of the third quarter it boasted a delinquency rate of just 0.27%. However, because of the liquidity crisis, the company has been forced to sell high-quality assets as a way to keep its lenders happy.