“It has been the farthest, quickest movement...

“It has been the farthest, quickest movement I’ve ever seen. On the Richter (earthquake) scale, this has been an 8.”

--John M. Teutsch, a Seattle mortgage lender, on the recent rise in interest rates on fixed-rate home loans.

“The size is incredible. It’s hard to understand how the management could have let it get so big.”

--A mortgage bond specialist, on Merrill Lynch & Co.’s announcement of a $250-million loss linked to unauthorized mortgage securities trading.