Real estate investment trust MFA Financial Inc. posted a 56 percent growth in profit for the first quarter as interest income rose and it benefited from mortgage backed securities sales and forward contract gains.

The company earned $80.6 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with $51.6, or 23 cents per share a year ago.

Interest income fell to $107.7 million from $132.8 million a year ago, but interest expenses fell more -- $38 million this year from $72.1 million a year ago, resulting in net income rising to $69.2 million from $60.6 million a year ago.

The company posted a gain on mortgage-backed securities forward contracts of $12.8 million and a gain on sales of the securities of $33.8 million. No comparable gains were posted in the year ago period.

The company said its second quarter results will be reduced by plans announced by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy back certain delinquent loans. [Read the full article]

Days of high-decibel partisanship yielded to slightly more subdued accusations as the Senate lurched into action Thursday on legislation reining in Wall Street and risky investments that nearly wrecked the economy in 2008.

Within moments of the opening of debate, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said he and other Republicans hoped to rewrite the White House-backed bill "so that it actually ends bailouts, protects consumers without jeopardizing our small community banks, and brings transparency to the world of derivatives without sacrificing economic growth and job creation."

It was a none-too-subtle accusation that Democrats favor taxpayer bailouts of failing banks, and Sen. [Read the full article]

Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation (NYSE: ANH - News) reported today Core Earnings available to common stockholders of $31.8 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 consisting primarily of $33.2 million of net income less $1.4 million of dividends paid to our preferred stockholders. This compares to Core Earnings of $32.3 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2009. “Core Earnings” represents a non-GAAP financial measure which we define as GAAP net income excluding any mortgage-backed securities, or MBS, impairment losses or recoveries. For the quarter ended March 31, 2010 there were no MBS impairment losses or recoveries. [Read the full article]

Banks borrowed less from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program over the past week, providing fresh evidence that credit markets are improving.

The Fed said that banks averaged $5.99 billion in daily borrowing for the week that ended Wednesday. That's down from $6.2 billion in average borrowing the previous week.

Loans from the central bank's emergency lending program, known as the discount window, surged to a high of $110 billion a day during the height of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008 when banks found their customary sources of credit frozen.

The Fed's new report showed that assets the central bank took on when it bailed out insurer American International Group Inc. and Bear Stearns in 2008 have increased in value as economic and financial conditions have improved.

The Fed's holdings of residential mortgage-backed securities from AIG were valued at $16.1 billion as of the end of March. [Read the full article]