Thursday, October 11, 2007

Countrywide Again

It's been awhile since I wasted my time talking about Countrywide. But they are in the news again. Today they announced they were cutting 5,000 jobs, which is part of the 10,000-12,000 already announced. That really wasn't the news. It was that NC Treasurer, Richard Moore, has asked that the SEC look into the timing of stock sales completed by one Angelo Mozilo.

Oh tell me it isn't so Angelo! Mr. Mozilo has stated that the trades were preplanned and has been doing such since 2004. Which is totally correct and some of the stock he was actually required to sell. But is what really is getting people upset is that the selling of his stock accelerated rate in October of 2006. And it changed (picked up steam) on a month by month basis.

Suspicious, absolutely. Consider that Countrywide's stock has gone from over $45 in early February (before New Century's demise)to under $18 in the last few months (CFC closed at $18.28 today). Mr. Mozilo has pocketed over $100 million in that time frame. You can see why people would be upset.

I will give Angelo the benefit of the doubt here. I think that his stock sales have been perfectly legal in all aspects. However, I feel that legal and ethical are two entirely different things. If Mozilo, who is already a very rich man, sold his stock to pocket even more money, in a conscious effort. Well, that is just sleazy. Which is what I call Angelo Mozilo consistently....a sleaze-ball.

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