Countrywide isn't going under. Bank of America's going to buy them. They're a mess right now but they'll be here in 5- 6 months...and that's a good thing. It's a good thing because I love Countrywide.
Say What, Brian Brady? You hammered Countrywide, all of last year. You told people to short the stock, last April and were one of the first to call for a merger with B of A, last August. You called Angelo Mozilo a genius!
Not true. It wasn't the company I was hammering, it was their CEO, Angelo Mozilo. I became frustrated with his greedy behavior, towards the end of last Summer. I have always felt that they were the premier mortgage banking firm in the country. They took normal people and made superstar performers out of them. The Countrywide employees are truly heroes; they did everything in their power to get the job done. They have a mission to put every credit worthy American into a home; a home with a Countrywide home loan.
I dig that about them. I dig their passion, their commitment, and their drive.
Bank of America CEO, Ken Lewis, agrees with me:
"Secondly, we've been told consistently even by the regulators that people think they’re very good operators," Lewis said, referring to Countrywide. "They know what they are doing. Now, they blew it on the credit side, obviously, but that wasn’t the operators' problems. That was the orders they were given."
You see what Ken's saying between the lines? Read that last line of his again.
"..the orders they were given." The "operators" to whom he refers are the employees. Countrywide employees were given a mandate to sell, approve, and fund risky mortgage products in an effort to unseat Wells Fargo as this nation's top originator. They funded negative amortization loans with disregard for the ability to repay the loan. They funded HELOCs with disregard for valuation. They did it at the behest of their leader who was on a powe legacy trip.
A bunch of (hold your nose) BANKERS are buying them. I don't have a low opinion of Bank of America; they cash my five three figure checks well. They're not mortgage bankers, though. Mortgage bankers think differently than bankers. Mortgage bankers analyze risk; they don't hide from it. I held little hope for the future of Countrywide when the Charlotte beancounters took over...until now.
Ken Lewis may see the genius that lies within the Countrywide organization. That genius is it's human capital. Most Countrywide folks have stayed on, through the crap, and into the future.
I love ya, Countrywide. You're a mess right now but I love ya. I'm hoping for the best.
