Trader Mike

Well if going belly-up and getting delisted is the new shade of blue chip stock I’ll stick with the old! Howard just passed along a screen capture of a page on New Century Financial Corporation’s (NEW) website that talks about them being a “new shade of blue chip. Oddly enough, they’ve taken the page off of their site, but they can’t hide from the Google cache Here’s the text of that page (emphasis is mine):

“Blue chip” is the nickname for a company that is generally viewed as being in excellent financial shape, firmly entrenched as a leader in its field, having quality products and delivering long-term shareholder and customer value. Blue chip …

I’m not sure what just caused this air pocket in the market but these note from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that hit right at noon must have contributed to the slide:

12:02 MBA says U.S. MORTGAGE DELINQUENCY RATE 4.95 PCT IN Q4, UP FROM 4.67 PCT IN Q3 AND FROM 4.70 PCT IN Q4 2005

12:02 MBA says subprime borrowers more vulnerable to higher interest rates, slower home price gains or price drops

12:01 MBA pushes back forecast for housing market to regain footing to end of 2007 vs middle of year

12:01 MBA says delinquency rates rose in 49 states in Q4; foreclosure inventory rates grew in 44 states

12:01 Late payments rise …