Markit Index is Questioned

The Commercial Mortgage Securities Association, an industrybody whose more than 470 members include banks, pension fundsand real-estate owners, wrote an open letter to Markit thismonth asking for details on the amount of trading on the CMBX tohelp gauge how useful its prices are for valuing mortgagesecurities. ``In a volatile market, this mark-to-market process becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, driving prices down based on index trading activity rather than asset fundamentals,'' wrote DottieCunningham, chief executive officer of the New York-based CMSA.