A mortgage REIT has some news for Wall Street. "ECC Capital Corp., a mortgage finance real estate investment trust, said on Monday it would not pay a first-quarter dividend on its common stock, citing losses in its mortgage banking segment."

"'Given current conditions in the whole loan market and the operating losses in our mortgage banking segment, we plan to retain capital and liquidity in order to provide greater flexibility in the disposition of our held-for-sale loan portfolio and for the prudent operation of our business,' Shabi Asghar, ECC Capital's president and co-chief executive, said."

"The company, which is required to distribute at least 90 percent of its REIT taxable income each year, said future dividends will be at the discretion of its board of directors and will depend on the performance of its mortgage banking segment, desire to maximize corporate liquidity, maintenance of REIT status, and other relevant factors."

"Earlier in 2006, the company announced plans to lay off 440 employees, or 27 percent of its work force, and consolidate seven wholesale loan processing centers into three."