Private mortgage insurers saw a significant drop in both their traditional flow primary MI business and bulk transactions in 2004, but the industry reported generally stable earnings, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. A total of $264.83 billion of primary MI coverage was written last year, down a hefty 34.5 percent from the industry’s record $404.57 billion volume in 2003. The bulk primary insurance market was down slightly more, by 35.2…