The Mortgage Bankers Association, in its quarterly report, said that the percentage of payments that were 30 or more days past due for “subprime” adjustable-rate home mortgages jumped to 15.75 percent in the January-to-March quarter. Note that this doesn’t include foreclosures in progress, probably another 5% or so.

The rate adjustments have hardly begun. And by the way, the ABX indices are making new lows.

“This is a moment of great concern in our economy as to whether subprime is going to pull us all down” Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate and finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business said in an interview.

According to the WSJ, “A hedge fund managed by Bear Stearns Cos. is scrambling to sell large amounts of mortgage securities, a setback for a Wall Street firm known for its savvy debt-market trading. The fund makes bets on bonds backed by mortgages, many of which are subprime, meaning they go to especially risky borrowers.

Faced with losses on its investments, the fund, called High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund, together with a sister fund, is trying to sell about $4 billion in mortgage-backed bonds to raise cash, according to people close to the fund and traders who have been solicited to buy the bonds.”

As of April 30th., this 10-month-old fund was down 23% for the year. Redemptions have been suspended, apparently.

There’s never just one cockroach.