American Home Mortgage Closing

American Home Mortgage Investment Corporation will shutter most of its operations and lay off more than 6250 workers. "Unfortunately, the market conditions in both the secondary mortgage market as well as the national real estate market have deteriorated to the point that we have no realistic alternative," chief executive Michael Strauss said in a statement. The company will maintain 750 employees in its thrift and servicing businesses "as it seeks the most appropriate course of resolution to preserve the value of its remaining assets."