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.

Will Countrywide Toxic Mortgage's Angelo Mozilo go to jail?

A) Yes
B) No
C) Not soon enough

Here's another couple of stinging exposes of The Orange One by Bloomberg and Krugman at the NY Times. Nice to see (again) the MSM catch up to HP. I especially liked the point that the damage caused by Mozilo to Americans (and foreign investors) is SIGNIFICANTLY worse than anything Ebbers or Lay did. SIGNIFICANTLY worse.

Note I'm short CFC via Oct puts.

Countrywide CEO sold big as stock dropped - Quick changes in Mozilo's trading plan raise red flags, experts say. The mortgage firm says the sales were in line with company policy.

As the mortgage industry swooned in late 2006 and 2007, Countrywide Financial Corp. Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo cashed in stock options valued at $138 million -- vastly expanding his wealth even as his shareholders watched their stock shrink in value.

"There is clearly no legal prohibition of altering your plan," said David Priebe, a Bay Area attorney who has helped set up more than 50 of such plans for executives. "But the more that you modify or add to your plan over a short period of time, the more risk that someone will call it into question. I would not say that you cannot do it. I would say there is a risk if you do do it."

And now here's Krugman highlights:

Enron’s Second Coming?

These days, of course, Mr. Mozilo doesn’t look like such a wonderful guy, after all. Instead, he’s starting to bring back memories of other people who used to be praised not just as great businessmen but as great human beings — people like Enron’s Ken Lay and WorldCom’s Bernie Ebbers.

So far, nobody has accused Mr. Mozilo of breaking the law. Still, what we’re learning from the housing mess is that the crisis of corporate governance, which made headlines in the early years of this decade, never went away.

Still, how can it be that so soon after Enron, WorldCom and other scandals rocked the business world, we’re once again hearing about executives cashing in just before their companies are revealed as less successful than advertised? The answer, of course, is that we never dealt properly with those scandals.

There is one big difference this time: the number of victims — misled borrowers, homeowners whose neighborhoods are being destroyed by foreclosures, investors who thought they were buying safe assets — is even larger.

Angelo Mozilo has sold $355,658,743 in Countrywide Mortgage stock, selling even as Countrywide was buying shares on the open market. Hmmmmm......

The worst part of Angelo's insider dumping is that while he was dumping, as CEO he directed the company to (get this) BUY CFC shares on the open market to keep the price propped up, under the guise that it was "in the best interest of shareholders" to buy back shares (using debt).

Uh, Angelo, bad news, but buying CFC shares on the open market was THE SINGLE WORST THING YOU COULD HAVE DONE FOR SHAREHOLDERS.

From the July 28 CFC call after being questioned on dumping while CFC was buying:

Angelo Mozilo: Yes, well, if you think like that it's -- I don't think like that. The buybacks were done because we thought it was in the best interest of shareholders.

The decision to buy back stock is a collective decision, really emanates from the financial operations of the Company as to what is the best return for the investment of the shareholders, invested capital for the shareholders. So it is totally unrelated to any of my issues relative to the sale of stock.


Disclaimer: F*ck yes I'm short CFC. Just like Angelo, I have no confidence in CFC's ability to continue as a going concern.

A Special HousingPANIC Message to the Countrywide Mortgage employees who are suing Countrywide and Orangelo Mozilo

Don't just sue. If you're at the corporate headquarters, at 2:00 PM on Friday, everyone get out of your cubicles, and march your soon-to-be-laid off butts down to Orangelo Mozilo's corner office, and DEMAND that that son of a bitch put $100 Million of his ill-gotten insider-trading gains into your 401k plan to help cover your losses.

2:00 PM on Friday. Each and every one of you. Have the courage (finally) to do what's right. And remember, you're about to be laid off anyway, so you have nothing to lose.

Nothing.

Send pictures to HP, do a sit-in if you need to, and good luck out there.

Employees Sue Countrywide, Alleging Loss of Millions of Dollars in 401k Plan

Some Countrywide Financial Corp. employees sued the mortgage lender Wednesday, claiming they suffered heavy losses in their 401k retirement accounts after the company failed to warn them about the depth of its financial troubles.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, seeks class-action status and names as defendants Countrywide Chairman and Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo and benefits committee members in charge of the retirement plan, according to attorney Steve Berman, who is representing the plaintiffs.

He said employees decided how much of their salary to set aside in their retirement plan based in large part on their understanding of the company's financial health.

But those overseeing the plan failed to warn workers or intentionally concealed key information, the lawsuit claims.

"Most of these employees weren't risk-takers, rather claims processors and line staff who go to work every morning, putting a little away every month for retirement, or to finance a child's education," Berman said in a statement.

HousingPANIC's "Angelo Mozilo Stupid Quote of the Day"

``It was impossible to anticipate the credit crisis we've seen on a worldwide basis"

- Countrywide's Angelo Mozilo, after dumping $425,000,000 of CFC shares, either lying, or who must not have had access to HP, Contrarian Chronicles, Peter Schiff, Robert Shiller, The Economist or hundreds of other sources who predicted EXACTLY what we're seeing today.

(Yes, I'm short CFC, and thanks to an HP'er for the new Mozilo get-up!)

FLASH: As predicted here 48 hours ago, down-and-out toxic mortgage lender Countrywide Mortgage laying off 10,000 to 12,000 (for starters)

Tomorrow's news today here at HP... And hey, it's Friday night, time the mortgage lenders, banks and builders put out the REALLY bad stuff... (note - yes, of course, I'm short CFC)

This one was easy HP'ers. Next comes the multi-million (if not billion) dollar financial restatement as their auditors demand Orangelo "marks to market" the crap on his books. But only 12,000 Angelo? Sorry to say, but 61,000 are actually at risk, as this toxic business struggles to stay afloat (now that Angelo has cashed out). Maybe he can chip in for their severances with his ill-gotten gains.

Question though Angelo: With 12,000 less employees, who'll manage the lines of people streaming into your Countrywide offices looking to get their deposits back?

Countrywide Plans to Cut As Many as 12,000 Jobs

Countrywide Financial Corp. is expected to announce plans to reduce its work force over the next three months by 10,000 to 12,000 jobs, representing as much as 20% of the current total.

The largest U.S. home-mortgage lender also expects that its loan originations in 2008 will be about 25% lower than this year.

As housing prices suffer "sudden, severe and deep" depreciation, "ENRON 2.0" Countrywide Mortgage predictably melts down

Great expose on Countrywide (I'm short CFC) - one of the leading causes of the Late Great Housing Bubble, and soon to be one of the biggest victims (goodbye 61,000...).

Also, isn't it funny that Countrywide is crashing because, as they say, home prices are "depreciating like never before", with "sudden, severe and deep" depreciation, yet the reported median price is supposedly down just slightly?

In other words, Countrywide is now telling you what's really happening out there (now that Orangelo has sold his shares). The NAR and the US Government are not.

Countrywide's message of confidence turned to crisis - CEO forecast the lender would 'shine' as the industry changed. Later, he said the firm knew the bubble would burst.

A year ago, Countrywide Financial Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Angelo R. Mozilo was boasting that the looming shakeout in home prices and hike in mortgage interest rates would usher in a period of remarkable prosperity for his company.

"I have 53 years of experience. . . and this is nothing compared to 25% prime and 17.5% mortgage rates and 10% unemployment," he told a conference of bond investors last September, pooh-poohing the effect of rising rates.

"This is when we shine," he said, calling Calabasas-based Countrywide "an industry leader" and "a role model to others in terms of responsible lending."

Today, the picture looks much different. Countrywide's financial reports and recent comments by Mozilo and other executives show that the company, the nation's largest mortgage lender, has been less a role model in the home-loan market than a prisoner of competitive trends.

The tone of executives' comments has gone from complacent to almost apocalyptic.

"We are experiencing home price depreciation almost like never before, with the exception of the Great Depression," Mozilo said in a July 24 conference call with securities analysts.The company's traditional frames of reference for the performance of its loan portfolio, he added, may no longer be "a fair comparison in light of what is happening to real estate values."

But the "sudden and severe and deep deterioration" in home values has thrown many borrowers into delinquency because homeowners with little or no equity have been unable to refinance their mortgages to reduce their rates.

Here's Countrywide Mortgage's Angelo Mozilo trying to defend why he sold $118 million in CFC stock before his company crashed

It's funny reading this on the same day that Qwest's former CEO Joe Nacchio was sentenced to six years in Federal prison and $52 million for insider trading and pumping up his numbers while he bailed out. Deja vu all over again? Hey, nobody saw it coming, right Angelo?

And for a CEO to be desperately selling as the company he runs is doing stock buybacks to prop up the price, man, that stinks to high heaven.

Ronald Redfield - Redfield, Blonsky & Co.: Were there any buybacks during the quarter? Do you find, Angelo, with all respect, you selling a material amount of shares into buybacks? You previously mentioned you own 10 million shares. How many shares do you currently own, not including options?

Angelo Mozilo: I don't know the answer to that question. I own -- including options, I think around -- I think it is around 11, 12 million, something like that. The sales of the stock had nothing to do with buybacks because that 10b5-1 agreement was made well over a year ago.

Ronald Redfield - Redfield, Blonsky & Co.: No, the legality is fine, but one can think that perhaps the price is being held up the buybacks creating a demand.

Angelo Mozilo: Yes, well, if you think like that it's -- I don't think like that. The buybacks were done because we thought it was in the best interest of shareholders. I have -- as somebody pointed out, I'm 68 years old, I own a lot of shares, and I have 10b5-1 that is in process right now. That is selling into this market when the buybacks are not holding it up.

So it is an independent issue that is not relevant to buybacks or not buybacks. It is a personal situation that I'm selling into a market no matter where the price of the stock is.

Angelo Mozilo: Okay, some final comments. One to the individual who asked about my sale of stock. The decision to buy back stock is a collective decision, really emanates from the financial operations of the Company as to what is the best return for the investment of the shareholders, invested capital for the shareholders. So it is totally unrelated to any of my issues relative to the sale of stock.

Secondly, as I said, I don't know the exact amount of shares that I have. But the shares that I have, actual stock I have, I have retained for 39 and a half years. Not sold a share of the initial stock that I got when Dave and I started this Company that I got, that I purchased.
The only thing that is being sold under the 10b5-1 are options with expiration dates.

FLASH: And today, for all the world to see (including the SEC), we see why Countrywide Mortgage's Angelo Mozilo was dumping shares like rotten oranges

I hope some of you were short Countrywide. HP'ers saw this car crash coming a mile away. Next up - IndyMac.

Yes, I'm short IMB and CFC, and it was all so obvious now. Mozilo is laughing all the way to the bank, but we all know you can't take your money to jail... Good luck Orange Man with the gotta-be-coming-soon SEC investigation.

Countrywide quarterly profit tumbles; shares off 7%
Subprime problems spread to top-rated mortgages, lender says

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Countrywide Financial Corp. reported a 33% drop in second-quarter net income on Tuesday and signaled that problems in the subprime mortgage market have spread to the highest-quality home loans.

The warning pushed Countrywide shares down more than 7%, to their lowest level in almost two years. It also weighed on the broader stock market because investors have been waiting to see if credit problems in the subprime-mortgage sector would spill over into higher-rated, or "prime" home loans.

"The company incurred increased credit-related costs in the quarter, primarily related to its investments in prime home-equity loans," CEO Angelo Mozilo said in a press release detailing Countrywide's second-quarter financial results.

Countrywide's second-quarter net income fell 33% to $485 million, or 81 cents a share, down from $722 million, or $1.15 a share, earned a year earlier, on softening home prices.

Further dampening enthusiasm, Mozilo commented: "During the quarter, softening home prices continued to affect many areas of the country and delinquencies and defaults continued to rise across all mortgage product categories as a result."