Mortgage securitization activity continued to slow down during the fourth quarter of 2004, leaving annual production for 2004 at the third highest level ever. According to a new market analysis by Inside MBS & ABS, a total of $2.186 trillion of mortgage securities were issued during 2004. That was down 32.4 percent from the record $3.233 trillion issued back in 2003, and about $210 billion below the volume reached in 2002. …