Countrywide’s CEO Angelo Mozilo’s Sells Off Stock
Dean Foust, fellow Atlanta resident, has a great post on the CEO of Countrywide who has been selling his shares since December. Now, before people go off half cocked, what he is doing is perfectly legal, but the CEO who has held onto his shares for 39 years selling them just before the company takes some severe hits and the stock takes a dive, looks a little icky.
Dean also goes into the practice of a stock buyback program that was enacted just as the CEO is selling his shares to keep the market strong. Again, nothing illegal but that darn smell test is going to leave many feeling a little queasy.
I don’t often put much stock in the so-called “earnings calls” that companies hold with Wall Street analysts immediately after each quarterly earnings report, given that the majority of analysts are terrified of asking tough questions lest they offend the CEO and lose their access. But one investor, Ronald Redfield of Redfield, Blonsky & Co., a small New Jersey CPA and investment firm that appears to be short Countrywide’s stock (see commentary here that Redfield posted on his web site a week before Countrywide reported earnings), had the gumption to question Mozilo about the sales. It was an interesting exchange. Mozilo briefly defended the sales, but you could tell the question was eating at him because at the end of the earnings call, he brought it up again. Here’s the exchange:
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Comment by John Olagues on 18 August 2007:
Angelo, although he appears to be a good Jesuit Boy, is guilty of back dating certain options grants (check out 4-2-07 and 4-1-05.)
He also violated 16 b of the Securities Act of 1934 and I don’t care what some so called experts say.
Angelo just hope you’ve made enough political contributions.
John
Comment by John Olagues on 18 August 2007:
Angelo, although he appears to be a Good Roman Catholic , may be guilty of back dating a few options grants ( see the 1.4 million on April 1, 2005 and the 1/2 million on April 2, 2007).
He may also have issues with 16 b of the Securities Act of 1934 with the later sales of stock against those options grants.
Time will tell.
John