Florida pursues former Countrywide CEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Former Countrywide honchos look to cash in on their mess

Former Countrywide honchos look to cash in on their mess originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bank of America ditches Countrywide name

Bank of America ditches Countrywide name originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Countrywide acquisition still haunting Bank of America

Countrywide acquisition still haunting Bank of America originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Grinch sues Countrywide over loan modifications originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The New York Times reports that following its acquisition of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) may well be the dominant U.S. bank. Will that make it too big to fail in the years ahead? Or is it likely that when the economy recovers, it will have the strongest operation in place to grab a big share of that growth.

Its recent purchases indeed give Bank of America a strong market position in many segments of the financial services market. "Overnight, the shotgun merger will transform Bank of America into the nation's largest player in wealth management. It already holds the biggest branch network and is the largest issuer of credit cards, home equity loans and auto loans. In January, it paid $4 billion for Countrywide Financial, the troubled lender that was the nation's largest mortgage lending and payment collection operation," writes the New York Times.

With big acquisitions can come big risks. For example, Merrill still has plenty of problems with "$40 billion of real estate mortgage investments and $17 billion in commercial buildings," according to the Times. As I posted, Merrill had $40 a share worth of salable assets and Bank of America's $29 a share price effectively valued its liabilities at $11 a share. I admire the strategic boldness of Bank of America buying up market leaders at what may look in the future to be distressed prices.

But it remains to be seen whether those distressed prices were in fact too high because the liabilities Bank of America bought may turn out to be bigger than it gambled. If not, and if the economy recovers, Bank of America would be a screaming buy.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Is Bank of America too big? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Indiana attorney general sues Countrywide Financial too originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bank of America forced to defend Countrywide's shady doings

Bank of America forced to defend Countrywide's shady doings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Countrywide sued by Connecticut too!

Countrywide sued by Connecticut too! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

CNNMoney reports that Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reports that its earnings fell 41% in the second quarter to 72 cents a share. In response, its stock is up 11% in pre-market. Why the celebration? Analysts expected Bank of America's earnings to tumble 48% to 53 cents, so it beat those expectations by 19 cents a share.

According to CNNMoney. Bank of America's revenue was up 14.6% to $20.32 billion during the quarter due to "wider net interest margins, loan growth and higher income from mortgage banking and the company's investment and brokerage services." Thomson Reuters surveyed analysts who expected revenue of $18.37 billion -- 10% lower than its actual results.

I am wondering whether some investors will think we have bottomed out of the banking crisis. I think it's too early to break out the champagne, but the coming rally could be a good time for nervous investors to bail out. That's because credit losses could keep rising -- Bank of America added $5.8 billion to reserves for bad loans and its Countrywide purchase could boost those reserves far more in coming quarters.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

More great news! Bank of America's profit plunges 41% originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Friends of Angelo loans: more names! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Countrywide fined $325,000 for ripping off consumers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Was Countrywide Financial an even shadier company than we thought? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Florida joins Countrywide Financial-suing bandwagon originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide (NYSE: CFC) may be a thug and he may get in trouble with federal authorities due to the way he ran his company. But at least he was generous.

According to The Wall Street Journal, everyone from casino employees to retired pro athletes got sweet deals. The paper writes that, Mr. Mozilo regularly lined up loans for people he met, according to several current and former Countrywide executives. Said one: "Angelo would call in and say, literally, 'My maid needs a loan.'"

Mozilo even gave a loan to the buyer of hockey player Wayne Gretsky's home.

The big open question about these mortgages is whether the people could have gotten them in the normal course of business, or was Mozilo's help necessary. He also may have made certain that his pals got below market rates.

Based on most of what has come out about Mozilo's behavior, he should probably give back those tens of millions of dollars in cash he got from stock options.

And perhaps, spend a few years in the pen.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Countrywide's (CFC) Mozilo passed out loans like candy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I've been doing precious little in this market, but one stock I've been tracking closely is Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB). Why would I pay more mind to Wachovia than to other banks? Because it bought Golden West Financial in May of 2006 for $25 billion. And where did Golden West have most of its exposure? That's right, California.

Last night I was looking through the median home price data in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in various California cities and noticed some shocking price drops. The median home price offers in San Francisco dropped $10,000 in one week. Ditto for Orange County. In Los Angeles, the figure was a startling $13,000. I went back to check when the market topped in these areas and found that every one of them peaked in -- drum roll, please -- May of 2006.

Continue reading California bankin' with Wachovia

California bankin' with Wachovia originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal

Angelo Mozilo's loans to friends: the real story originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: AIG's foolishness puts cataclysm back on the table

Cramer on BloggingStocks: AIG's foolishness puts cataclysm back on the table originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 May 2008 09:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In January, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) made a gutsy move when it decided to purchase Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC). True, it would greatly expand its mortgage footprint, but it would also mean taking on lots of risk.

Of course, since then, the financials went into a swoon. In fact, the US financial system almost imploded because of the Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) debacle.

As a result, there is much skepticism that Bank of America will close its deal, as evident by remarks from an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. - Paul Miller - who thinks that Bank of America should forgo the deal.

His belief is that there will be a need for a whopping $30 billion writedown, which would be tough to swallow for Bank of America's shareholders.

Interestingly enough, there are already signs that Bank of America is getting skittish. Last week, the firm was not clear that it would back Countrywide's debt. The upshot was that S&P downgraded the debt to junk status.

And yes, in today's trading, Countrywide's stock is down 10% to $5.35.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Countrywide buyout headed for the deadpool? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 May 2008 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) is recently up 14 cents to $6.28.

CFC has been recently subject to unconfirmed chatter Bill Miller of Legg Mason Value Trust and other major CFC shareholders want Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to increase its offer for CFC.

BAC announced on Jan. 11, 2008 it will pay CFC shareholders 0.1822 per share of BAC for each share they own. The BAC buyout premium spread is wide at 22% ($7.46).

CFC May option implied volatility of 74 is near its 12-week average of 77 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional risk.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option update: Countrywide Financial volatility flat on chatter Miller wants a better price originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.