Video

Squawkbox market analysis with John Forman from Thomson Financial Transcript: Hi, this is John Forman with your Squawk Box: On the Radar A group of stocks that until recently few traders had probably even heard of has been at the forefront of the market weakness in recent sessions. They are the mortgage insurers. I'm referring to the likes of Radian Group, Ambac Financial, and PMI Group. These stocks were down upwards of 20% on Thursday. But that's just the latest in about a three week near vertical drop in the shares. These are the companies which provide the insurance policies that make good on defaulted mortgage payments. The foreclosure and mortgage default figures keep coming in at higher and higher levels, so it's no surprise at all that the insurers are taking a big hit. It's kind of like the property insurers after a natural disaster. Unlike the latter, though, this situation is not a one time hit. It's something that will keep dragging out for months to come. At the end of it all, those that survive will probably be the stronger for it. The question the market will eventually start trying to answer is which of these firms will survive the current blood letting. Please tune in next week for another Squawkbox: On the Radar