Countrywide late pay rate climbs, but stock gains ground By Steve Gelsi Last Update: 1:15 PM ET Mar 2, 2007 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Countrywide Financial (CFC) shares rose 33 cents to $37.76 after the lender said the rate of payments at least 30 days late on prime home equity loans rose to 2.9% as of Dec. 31, up from 1.6% in the year-ago period. In a filing with regulators, the mortgage giant said Subprime mortgage loans were 19% late as of Dec. 31, up from 15.2% at the end of 2005. Shares are gaining back some of the ground lost in the past five days of trading, when the stock has fallen to below $38 from about $40. End of Story
Countrywide is one of the largest servicers of mortgage payments for other lenders, so don't read this as just applying to CW. They are talking about ALL the loans they service, not just theirs.
I think this is big news that people are ignoring. It could account for part/all of the market decline, but I'm not hearing much talk about it in the news.