Source: Annaly Capital Management

Peter Atwater, "How Is the Credit Card Industry Making Money?"

[excerpt:]

Since the beginning of 2007, the correlation between the unemployment rate and residential mortgages has tightened significantly, while the correlation between the unemployment rate and credit cards has broken down...[suggesting] a fundamental change in consumer credit behavior as consumers are “reprioritizing” monthly cash flows away from lower cost debt (first mortgages) to credit cards, home equity lines, and other higher cost borrowings.

Complete article viewable at Minyanville.com.