The Journal is five months late calling life insurer peril

The Wall Street Journal just noticed that the life insurance industry is in trouble. But that cow escaped the barn last fall (as I posted in October 2008 here, here, here and here) -- taking down Met Life (MET), Hartford Financial Services (HIG), and Prudential Financial (PRU). But even though the Journal is late to inform you of the problems, it doesn't mean there's not more trouble ahead for the group.

As the Journal points out, life insurer stocks have already taken a beating. The Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Life Insurance Index has fallen 59 percent since the beginning of the year, leaving it down 82 percent since its May 2007 all-time high. And 12 of them have applied for TARP money.