Walmart's New Health Food Push: Is It Too Hard to Swallow?
Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even Bigger
A month ago, I suggested that Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE:CFC) could be this year's version of Enron. One reason: Enron's Ken Lay and Countrywide's CEO Angelo Mozilo both publicly boosted their companies' prospects as they dumped their shares.
Today's New York Times [registration required] seconds that motion by reporting that North Carolina's Treasurer, Richard Moore, has asked the SEC to investigate Mozilo's $132 million in stock profits -- which he took as Countrywide traded above $40 -- it's now trading at $18.80 -- right before the subprime mess heated up starting in October 2006.
Moore's letter expressed his anger: "As an investor and a Countrywide shareholder, I was shocked to learn that C.E.O. Angelo Mozilo apparently manipulated his trading plans to cash in, just as the subprime crisis was heating up and Countrywide's fortunes were cooling off." How is this like Enron's Ken Lay? As I posted before, Ken Lay sold about $100 million worth of shares even as he was telling Enron employees what a great investment its shares were.
Will the SEC investigate? Will Mitt Romney keep Mozilo's campaign contribution? Stay tuned for the next episode.
Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Countrywide securities.
More Countrywide Financial news
Douglas McIntyre: Countrywide (CFC) CEO stock sales questioned
Zac Bissonette: Countrywide (CFC) has a new PR campaign, but what about real change?
Eric Buscemi: Countrywide (CFC) showing some class and good business sense
Peter Cohan: Is Countrywide (CFC) too big to fail?
Douglas McIntyre: Could subprime problems hurt search engines?
Peter Cohan: Is Bank of America's (BAC) purchase of Countrywide Financial (CFC) a good bet?
Joseph Lazzaro: The (still) foggy subprime mortgage sector
Peter Cohan: What the mortgage meltdown means to you
Michael Fowlkes: Countrywide Financial (CFC) adds to subprime panic
Peter Cohan: Could Countrywide Financial (CFC) be put down?
Goldman Earnings Sink After Buffett Dividend
Johnson & Johnson's Income Falls 23%
Burberry Shares Leap on Sales Update
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-21-2007 @ 1:38PM
Alex Diaz said...
I am a 16 year veteran in the mortgage industry and own one of the largest mortgage brokerage firms in the nation, based in Southern California. It is unbelievable to me that Mr. Mozilo and the company he co-founded Countrywide has been badgered so frequently over the last few months.
Mr. Mozilo and Countrywide have been pioneers in the mortgage industry. One example is they were the first to implement automated underwriting over 15 years ago (now an industry standard) which has brought down the cost of origination, processing and closing mortgage loans, and because of their forward thinking, today people save money on the closing costs that they pay on their mortgage loans.
I wonder if there was as many articles of him and Countrywide over the last 30+ years and in particular over the last 5 years when the house market was booming, for they created homeownership opportunities for hundreds of thousands people, in particular low to moderate income families. Not to mention the jobs created by Countrywide over the last 5 years alone.
I am in no way saving that Mr. Mozilo is a saint but he is a great guy! He has made the single largest positive impact in homeownership over the last 30 years. Now, his stock sale is being questioned. Assuming its legal; I believe he’s entitled to it. The day Mr. Mozilo leaves Countrywide it will be a very bad day for shareholders of Countrywide and the industry.
10-31-2007 @ 6:57PM
Ron James said...
The mortgage industry needs a white night! Can Countrywide take the lead?
The 2/28 and 3/27 loans were great as the housing market continued to appreciate upwards for many years. Brokers, Lenders and the Secondary all profited. As the housing market pulls back, it needs a new product as a whole. By all estimates that I have read, the housing market may come back by 2009 to 2010; another couple of years down the road. This time may not be long by most standards, however the housing market could continue to slide even further, forclosures, loss of productivity, loss of income; etc.
Introduction of the new mortgage product, the 5/95 baloon. That's right, a 100 year amortized loan due in 5 years with a standard pre-pay. This product would be priced somewhere midway between Agency and Sub-prime; (i.e) 7.25% to 7.75%. This could be made available to homeowners with FICO scores between 590 to 660. The Lenders and the Secondary would have many advantages to do loans to this group. The term would be long enough that values would stand a good chance to rebound. The terms would be fixed avoiding the high cost of the adjustable option. The monthly savings for the average hownowner would be great for these mid-income families. Sprinkle some 95% L.T.V. in the mix and this could be the answer pulling the Mortgage industries chestnuts out of the fire.
Let's challenge the industry and see who will step up to the plate with a competitive new program.
COUNTRYWIDE: ARE YOU UP TO IT??????