TGIF

Sam Garcia, the publisher of MortgageDaily.com, a mortgage industry newsletter for subscribers, today declared this "one of the worst weeks" in the industry.

He makes a good case.

Nothing this week topped continuing revelations that Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's biggest home lender, is struggling. Bank of America Corp., the nation's biggest commercial banking company, injected $2 billion into Countrywide, a move analysts said would buy Countrywide time.

But there was other news, not as high profile, as Garcia noted in his group email today. Capital One Financial Corp. closed its mortgage subsidiary, GreenPoint Mortgage. Lehman Brothers closed BNC Mortgage LLC. Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. closed its retail loan operation, and HSBC Mortgage Corp. plans to close an Indiana mortgage operation next year.

In every case, Garcia noted, hundreds of mortgage-industry professionals are losing their jobs.
So much for the summer doldrums.

There may be some help for laid-off mortgage professionals on Sept. 9 at the New England Mortgage Bankers Conference in Providence, R.I. The conference is hosting a job fair.