Michael Gracie 

Via The Wall Street Journal: Trying to defend the mortgage giants, Paul Krugman of the New York Times recently wrote, “What you need to know here is that the right — the WSJ editorial page, Heritage, etc. — hates, hates, hates Fannie and Freddie. Why? Because they don’t want quasi-public entities competing with Angelo Mozilo.” [...]

Just numbers PIMCO’s Bill Gross says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages are ‘excellent’. Why would he say anything else? AMEX‘s high-end borrowers are battening down the hatches, and it’s causing the lender some problems. An Apple (AAPL) analyst makes a call, and it is spot on. Countrywide’s reach goes even deeper – “Friends of [...]

Linkfest Link Barrage Tidbits on real estate and oil, since this last weekend was about sun and fun (at least around here). After reporting homes sales were up 4% in New Jersey for the first quarter, the NAR decided that was a tad too optimistic. Revised first quarter…down 30%. As it turns out, a member [...]

Getting ready for the weekend Topping the sleaze charts: Government officials got big loan discounts from Countrywide. “Friends of Angelo” included, who else, but the heads of congressional banking and finance committees. Note – these folks voted for a government mortgage bailout plan, and no wonder – they’re getting foreclosed on. Voted “Best Value From [...]

When I first read the headline, I thought fair enough – if Bank of America backs out they should pay a breakup fee. But alas, it’s Countrywide that will be doing the paying. Potentially scary for the troubled mortage lender. While we don’t have full details, you might expect to see some type of minimum [...]

Trading Rule #1: Never, Ever, Ever, Under Any Circumstance, Add to a Losing Position. Yep. Number two would cut losses quickly, and number three would be double up on your winners. Even casual casino gamblers can win, if they do this while understanding and following game fundamentals. UPDATE: The deal is now underway – it’s [...]

You can’t make this stuff up. Via Reuters: Countrywide Financial Corp Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo sold some of his shares in the No. 1 U.S. mortgage lender to handle matters relating to his estate and retirement, former Countrywide board member Henry Cisneros said on Fox Business Network on Wednesday… Mozilo has realized more than $100 [...]

Not everyone was feeling the pain of the downward spiral in the mortgage markets. Meanwhile… Calabasas-based Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage lender in terms of volume, faces a lawsuit claiming it failed to warn employees about the depth of its financial troubles, resulting in heavy stock losses in their 401k retirement accounts. Sounds familiar.

After liquidity trouble, Countrywide was cut short in the commercial paper market – hence yield skyrocketed. They found a savior in Bank of America, and that deal likely included some restructuring directives, including but not limited to canning up to 12,000 employees. Now it looks like it may not be enough – the company needs [...]

The news today…Countrywide’s drawdown on short-term credit facilities, I guess to cover for the fact nobody is buying loans. The funny headline…Countrywide Bonds Offer Juicy Yield for the Hearty. Hearty indeed. Talking with a friend earlier about the risks of shorting the broad market, we agreed that if KKR (or anyone else for that matter) [...]