Another one bites the dust

As of Friday employees at American Home Mortgage (AHM) will no longer need to show up for work. Company founder Michael Strauss said in an email to employees that the lender "has been forced to close." No surprises there.

Another interesting snippet on the state of the secondary mortgage market came via Indymac Bancorp (IMB). In an email to Indymac staff, CEO Mike Perry wrote the secondary mortgage market

"is not functioning"

Perry added that it is currently difficult to trade even AAA rated parts of private mortgage-backed securities. Only mortgages that conform to the standards of government sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae (FNM) are currently trading.

"Unlike past private secondary mortgage market disruptions, which have lasted a few weeks or so. . . our industry and Indymac have to be prudent and assume that this present disruption, which appears broader and more serious, might take longer to correct itself,"

You better believe it will take longer Mikey-boy.