October 18, 2007

FLASH: Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Toxic Mortgage, under SEC investigation for insider stock trading


Finally.

One step closer to jail for The Orange One.

One step closer to Enron and Worldcom for Countrywide.

My only question is - what took so long? This guy pumped up his earnings and stock by putting homedebtors into higher-commission toxic loans when they could have qualified for standard mortgages, then he had Countrywide do stock buybacks when he was dumping shares as fast as he could based on inside knowledge of their impending collapse.

Angelo Mozilo is a liar, a conman, a thief and the physical representation of unregulated greed run amok during the housing bubble and crash.

(yup, still short CFC via Oct puts)

SEC Probes Countrywide CEO's Stock Sales

SEC Reportedly Examining the Stock Sales of Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo R. Mozilo

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining stock sales of the chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

The informal SEC inquiry of stock sales by CEO Angelo R. Mozilo has been under way for a while, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the probe has not been made public.

State Treasurer Richard Moore, the trustee of a pension fund that holds about 500,000 shares of Countrywide stock worth about $8.6 million, said in a letter to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox that he was "shocked" to learn that Mozilo "apparently manipulated his trading plans to cash in" as the crisis involving high-risk mortgages was heating up.

"As one of many investors who have felt the painful losses in Countrywide stock, I am outraged at his manipulation of the system and this abuse of shareholders," wrote Moore, a Democrat who is running for governor. "The timing of these sales and the changes to the trading plans raise serious questions about whether this is mere coincidence."

Word of the SEC's inquiry "is good news for investors and sends a clear message that the questions raised are serious," Moore said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hopefully the informal will turn into Formal investigation ...before he leaves the country for his house in France.

Angelo don't forget to leave a little something for the 9
grand kids.....

Anonymous said...

If the jumpsuit matches...

B

Anonymous said...

Should we send him some lube?

Anonymous said...

Keith was way out in front on this story. His best call.

Anonymous said...

Orange jumpsuit for the orangeman!

Anonymous said...

US financial markets are all by now carnival freakshows with neonlights.

No wonder US net foreign purchases collapsed to MINUS 69.3 billion dollars in August. Foreign investors are leaving USSA.

gregoryw said...

I am surprised the stock was only off 2.x% in after hours trading. Maybe it'll rattle the markets today. HousingPanic!

Anonymous said...

If this counrty was manly they would do the right thing and put this orange POS in front of a firing squad, maybe even on PPV to handle the cost of the bullets, so that other greedy POS in this country could see what happens to conmen.

Anonymous said...

Don't get your hopes up keefie. Raines did worse at FNM and he got away with it too. The banking regulators, the SEC, the NYSE, are all bad jokes, a byword among foreign investors.

Anonymous said...

Good.

Bill said...

Big deal he will do little or no time at all...or he will go out the way "Ken" Lay did..A staged Heart Attack and Plastic Surgery paid for by the people who got screwed at Enron.

Hope you enjoy the view in Paraguay Mozilo you criminal Prick...And tell Ken we said F@ck off!

Anonymous said...

Damn nice call on the puts, keith.

Certainly hope the gubmint recovers some of this aholes ill gotten gains.

What do you think, let him avoid prison for $200mm sounds like a fair trade.

Maybe give him home detention back at the chocolate factory?

Anonymous said...

More bad news for Angelo:

Taking an important step that may help significantly reduce the incidence of skin cancer in Americans, President George W. Bush yesterday signed the Tanning Accountability and Notification Act (TAN Act) into law. As part of the more comprehensive “Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (HR 3580),” the TAN Act directs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates tanning equipment, to re-examine the language and positioning of the warning label on indoor tanning devices to ensure that it most effectively communicates the risk of irreversible damage to the eyes and skin, including skin cancer.

Anonymous said...

It has been a long time coming, but the Sh$t is now hitting the fan. . .Mozilo, Job Losses today, banks in trouble (see BofA), and For Sale signs everywhere!! I am at Grand Canyon today - drove from SD to Las Vegas, and LV to Grand Canyon - a SEA of for sale signs all the way with KB and Lennar billboards every 10 miles - slashing price. . .even from Kingman to Grand Canyon - land is for sale at low low prices. . .seems land speculators bought empty desert property, figuring that Las Vegas prosperity would extend out 100 miles or so. . .now Dollar down and dollar a month type signs are offering property. . .Folks - this is a BIG national disaster. BTW - Vegas was full of Brits and French, etc. . .even Canadians are there in force with a new strong 1.03 Canadian Dollar!

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness!!! It's about time Goliath goes down and get his head chopped off. This man has absolutely NO SHAME. He deserves everything that's coming his way. Reap as you sow Tangelo.

Anonymous said...

By the way, the reason why nobody was pursuing this creep is because Tangelo has had his hands in many Government officials pockets. They wouldn't dare screw a friend. Tell me who your friends are, and I'll tell you who you are.

In fact, this is primarily the reason for the prolonged debacle. Ameriquest, New Century, etc. were doing the same. CNBC has touted him as a well respected man in the community... PLEASE spare me! A sow's ear dressed up to look like a silk purse, is STILL a sow's ear! I'm sure CNBC will soon be retracting their flowering comments.

Anonymous said...

can an orange man wear an orange jump suit??

Now that is a deep thought!!!!!

Can you tan if you are serving time at Club Fed??

Anonymous said...

Check out this photo of the orange one, he's taking the color orange to a whole new level!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/countrywide_financial/index.html

Anonymous said...

The financial sector gives such large donations to the politicians that unfortunately it's hard to see much coming of this. Maybe a $500K fine.

What's been doing about Cheney's close ties to Halliburton/KBR and the no-bid contracts?

Corruption pays.

Anonymous said...

He was just trying to feed his family - He's pure as snow.

brokersleaveyoubroke said...

I don't know about jail. Gonzalas fired all the justice dept. lawyers who would have had the guts to go after somebody as well connected as Godzillo.

Paige Turner said...

RE: The informal SEC inquiry of stock sales by CEO Angelo R. Mozilo...

Informal?

Does this mean I can wear fu*k me pumps and a tank top?

V.L.

Anonymous said...

HOW ARE ALL YOUR PUTS WORKING OUT FOR YOU DOPES? IN THE PAST 3 MONTHS:

CFC DOWN 45%
IMB DOWN 30%
WM DOWN 22%
CORS DOWN 35%

OH WAIT YOU SAY PUTS MAKE MONEY WHEN THE STOCK GOES DOWN? D'OH.

Anonymous said...

Foul!

Dude's not orange anymore!

Anonymous said...

Countrywide Kills, ARM's Included
Increase DecreaseOctober 18, 2007

(LPAC)--Let the truth about Countrywide financial be told. The following is report sent by an LPAC supporter in San Diego, California.

"My name is -- and I am a special education Teacher who supports this Act [Homeowner and Bank Protection Act]. We actually purchased a home using "stated income," a horrible sub-prime loan that has "recast" [interest rate reset], and we are forced to refinance or lose the house. We asked about balloon payments, the lender said it did not have one. Despite our situation, no one reviewed our loan documents with us and we were not properly educated. We, also, did not know which questions to ask, so no one offered to educate us, real estate agent nor lender (Countrywide). Shame on them! Now we are in negative amortization [equity], although we purchased the home putting down about $120,000.

Thanks for fighting for those who are misled and misguided into these horrible loans, which can, and are, destroying what families work so hard to build, their homes and dreams. Respectfully, an LPAC supporter and member."

Anonymous said...

DOPES!!!

WHEN I DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY ANGELO GAVE ME A LOAN FOR A HOME!!!

WHEN I DIDN'T PAY HIM BACK, HE GAVE ME ANOTHER LOAN FOR ANOTHER HOME!!!

WHEN I QUIT MY JOB, HE GAVE ME ANOTHER LOAN FOR ANOTHER HOME!!!

I HAVEN'T MADE A PAYMENT ON THAT ONE YET EITHER!!!

STUPID RENTERS! I'M UP THREE HOUSES!!!

DOPES!!!

Unknown said...

Nice picture, but you forgot to add the green bracelet!

Anonymous said...

Yeah Keith, where is the green bracelet?

Anonymous said...

REVISED. MARK TO MARKET VERSION.

DOPES!!!

WHEN I DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY ANGELO GAVE ME A LOAN FOR A HOME I COULDN'T AFFORD!!!

ANGELO SOLD SOME STOCK!!!

WHEN I DIDN'T PAY COUNTRYWIDE BACK, ANGELO GAVE ME ANOTHER LOAN FOR ANOTHER HOME FOR ANOTHER HOUSE I COULDN'T AFFORD!!!

ANGELO SOLD SOME MORE STOCK!!!

WHEN I QUIT MY JOB, COUNTRYWIDE AND ANGELO GAVE ME ANOTHER LOAN FOR ANOTHER HOME THAT I COULDN'T AFFORD!!!

ANGELO SOLD SOME MORE STOCK!!!

I HAVEN'T MADE A PAYMENT YET ON ALL THREE HOUSES!!!

ANGELO SOLD SOME MORE STOCK!!!

STUPID RENTERS! I'M UP THREE HOUSES!!!

AND ANGELO HAS FINISHED SELLING ALL HIS STOCKS!!!

DOPES!!!

WE WIN!!!

Bill said...

DOPES!!!

WHEN I DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY ANGELO GAVE ME A LOAN FOR A HOME!!!

WHEN I DIDN'T PAY HIM BACK, HE GAVE ME ANOTHER LOAN FOR ANOTHER HOME!!!

WHEN I QUIT MY JOB, HE GAVE ME ANOTHER LOAN FOR ANOTHER HOME!!!

I HAVEN'T MADE A PAYMENT ON THAT ONE YET EITHER!!!

STUPID RENTERS! I'M UP THREE HOUSES!!!

DOPES!!!

---------------

Ahh a classic case of Homonership.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why we were so quick to give martha stewart and leona helmsley their comeuppance. Why do men get away with so much more??

Anonymous said...

obviously state treasurer richard moore doesn't surf the net read this site and any other because if he had he wouldn't have been so shocked as a stock holder that mr. mozillo was selling off the farm tractors, ford V8 diesel F-10, seeds, horses, cows, goats, pigs, barns, sheds, stables and the neg am farmhouse. Am I actually seeing a ostrich with his head in the sand or friends give each other the wink wink nod nod.

Anonymous said...

There is most definitely a double standard here... The SEC was deliberately monitoring Martha Stewart. They knew about her supposed clandestine meeting with friend and CEO of ImClone. She ONLY sold 3,928 shares of ImClone stock. The following day, ImClone stock ONLY fell 16% and mind you, this was not because of a mere 3,928 shares...Other individuals and institutions began dumping on the news that ImClone application for a new drug had been denied.

The SEC was on Martha Stewart like "white on rice". Then the SEC bulldogged her until she finally surrendered. The SEC was already talking to the media the moment they discovered her "illegal" stock trades and began their investigations!

Now PLEASE look at this objectively. Countrywide CEO, Angelo Mozilo has sold, I mean DUMPED $145million worth of Countrywide stocks. His actions have caused Countrywide stock price to drop 61%! Held by many pension plans and mutual funds etc. Now the SEC after much persistence from politicians (not us minions, we don't count) are LOOKING INTO IT. The Moral hazard is so obvious! Why the indifference?

Los Angeles Times article dated 10/18/07 wrote the following; "That's because he adopted a trading plan in October 2006, just as the sub-prime mortgage crisis was getting underway. That plan allowed him to sell 350,000 Countrywide shares a month. Less than two months later Mozilo adopted a second plan that allowed him to sell an additional 115,000 shares. He revised the second plan less than two months later to double the number of shares sold. By February he was unloading 580,000 Countrywide shares a month."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-fi-mozillo18oct18,1,4809708.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Anonymous said...

Mark -

You are so correct, and I'm surprised so many people still don't want to admit the size of the problem created in residential housing.

It's just starting though, and will only get worse for sometime before prices even start to make any sense for potential buyers.


Mark in San Diego said...
It has been a long time coming, but the Sh$t is now hitting the fan. . .Mozilo, Job Losses today, banks in trouble (see BofA), and For Sale signs everywhere!! I am at Grand Canyon today - drove from SD to Las Vegas, and LV to Grand Canyon - a SEA of for sale signs all the way with KB and Lennar billboards every 10 miles - slashing price. . .even from Kingman to Grand Canyon - land is for sale at low low prices. . .seems land speculators bought empty desert property, figuring that Las Vegas prosperity would extend out 100 miles or so. . .now Dollar down and dollar a month type signs are offering property. . .Folks - this is a BIG national disaster. BTW - Vegas was full of Brits and French, etc. . .even Canadians are there in force with a new strong 1.03 Canadian Dollar!

Anonymous said...

It's unfortunate to hear about your situation, as I'm sure others who took on these toxic house loans are now in as well, but it makes it that much clearer why houses were WAY over-priced from the start.


Anonymous said...
Countrywide Kills, ARM's Included
Increase DecreaseOctober 18, 2007

(LPAC)--Let the truth about Countrywide financial be told. The following is report sent by an LPAC supporter in San Diego, California.

"My name is -- and I am a special education Teacher who supports this Act [Homeowner and Bank Protection Act]. We actually purchased a home using "stated income," a horrible sub-prime loan that has "recast" [interest rate reset], and we are forced to refinance or lose the house. We asked about balloon payments, the lender said it did not have one. Despite our situation, no one reviewed our loan documents with us and we were not properly educated. We, also, did not know which questions to ask, so no one offered to educate us, real estate agent nor lender (Countrywide). Shame on them! Now we are in negative amortization [equity], although we purchased the home putting down about $120,000.

Thanks for fighting for those who are misled and misguided into these horrible loans, which can, and are, destroying what families work so hard to build, their homes and dreams. Respectfully, an LPAC supporter and member."

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