Countrywide Financial: CEO’s Hypocrisy Run Wild!

It’s tapped 11.5 Billion in funds to stay afloat. It said that it wasn’t in trouble. Then it said it was having difficulty. Can we believe anything but looking at an old interview – we definitely can’t! Here is the interview with Businessweek between Maria Bartiromo and the CEO of Countrywide Financial Angelo Mizilo from March.

Do you worry that the subprime fallout will bleed into the prime mortgage market?
I don’t think it’s going to bleed substantially into prime.

(Well he announced in earnings that it did bleed…oopps)

How exposed is Countrywide to the subprime mess?
In 2006 subprime loans were about 9% of our total business, now down to 7%. We’re a prime lender…but we also have been on a mission…to try to increase home ownership opportunities for minorities and low-income borrowers.

(Well I guess your mission to put people in homes that don’t belong there isn’t the best idea…is it?)

What will the impact be?

When you cut that first-time home buyer out, there’s a ripple effect. I’ll be the first to admit that a lot of players came into the industry that were not banks, not even mortgage banks, and that they exploited a certain number of people. But that exploitation was in the minority. You had 17 increases in the Fed funds rate. Then those [exotic] loans began to reset, and that was the tipping point. When you begin to cut off the demand, values start to recede. And there’s an old saying that you never know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out.

(Well I guess you’re right there was some exploitation and it’s just starting to tip and it looks like you may be swimming naked)

The Wall Street Journal said you sold $140 million worth of stock. Do you worry that shareholders will say: “Oh well, he’s selling. He must be losing confidence. Maybe I should sell”?
As a CEO, the only way to eliminate that issue is to never sell stock, just die. Die owning the stock and never exercise an option. In fact, I’ve sold very little stock. Almost all of what I sold were options I accumulated over the last 10 years. I’ve chosen to keep most of my net worth in Countrywide.

(He didn’t quite answer the question because changing those options to stocks meanings selling stock you retard plus 140 million worth of stock is a pretty nice chunk of change – plus he sold most of his stock at $40s while now it’s about $18)

WHAT A GREAT INTERVIEW HUH FOLKS?