CALDEIRÃO DE BOLSA

Countrywide

Publica resultados con pérdida mayores a lo esperado y además por mucho.

Countrywide

Reacción contraria a lo esperado, sube todo el mundo ante sus resultados ante la promesa de vuelta a los beneficios en el cuarto trimestre. A mí me parece que prometer es fácil pero dudo muchísimo que lo consigan, vistas sus cifras, pero en fin, el caso es que esta declaración ha provocado subidas en las bolsas y bajadas en los bonos.

Countrywide y mercados.

Se dispara al alza un 19%s, y puede ser clave en la apertura de EEUU, el futuro del Eurostoxx al hilo de esto se va a la resistencia 4450, ojo si pasa, que podría ser si Wall Street abre bien.

BOND REPORT: Treasury Yields Fall As Countrywide CEO Drops 'r' Word

By Nick Godt

U.S. Treasury prices climbed, sending yields lower, after the stock market reversed course into negative territory as credit worries returned to the market.

Stocks lost steam after the chief executive of Countrywide Financial, Angelo Mozilo, told CNBC that the housing market will lead the U.S. economy into recession and that credit market woes were not over.

"The markets didn't like what the chairman of Countrywide had to say on CNBC - stocks turned negative and Treasurys firmed," said Tom Di Galoma, head of U.S. Treasury trading at Jefferies & Co. Inc. "Mozilo speaks the 'r' word and 'no light at the end of the tunnel' for real estate market."

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was gained 10/32 at 101 3/32, while its yield (TNX) fell to 4.613%. The two-year note climbed 2/32 at 100 28/32, yielding 4.14%, while the 30-year bond gained 15/32 to 101 1/32, yielding 4.93%.

Relief for Countrywide

Stocks and credit markets were first heartened in morning trade after news that Bank of America (BAC) invested $2 billion in convertible preferred securities of Countrywide Financial (CFC) , a move that could help the largest U.S. mortgage lender survive a crisis that's rocking the home-loan industry and credit markets in general.

"Finally, a positive headline on the mortgage front," said analysts at Barclays Capital, in a note.

After stalling in recent weeks, the mortgage and corporate bond markets saw signs of improvement in morning trade, which partly removed demand for the safety of government bonds.

Short-term bonds in particular have rallied in recent weeks amid expectations that the credit crisis gripping markets since late July would hurt economic growth and jolt the Federal Reserve into cutting interest rates.

But a series of interventions by the Fed, which cut its discount rate on Friday and has also been injecting liquidity into the system by other means, seemed to be bringing some sense of stability by Wednesday, traders said.

For a second week, the total amount of commercial paper outstanding plunged, falling $90.2 billion to $2.042 trillion in the week ending Aug. 22, after dropping $91.1 billion the prior week, according to the Federal Reserve.

"The shrunken commercial paper market has had significant impact on the market for U.S. Treasury bills, by forcing money market funds to shift money previously invested in commercial paper into bills," said Tony Crescenzi, chief fixed- income strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-23-071407ET
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

AP
Ahead of the Bell: Countrywide Financial
Friday August 17, 8:08 am ET
Banc of America Securities Analyst Upgrades Countrywide Financial to "Neutral"

NEW YORK (AP) -- A Banc of America Securities analyst upgraded Countrywide Financial Corp. shares Friday, saying the mortgage lender's meager stock price adequately balances risk against reward.

On Thursday, the Calabasas, Calif.-based lender said it borrowed $11.5 billion from a group of 40 banks. This is significant because banks charge higher interest rates than Countrywide would pay on bonds, commercial paper or warehouse financing, which is how the company had been raising money before a marketwide flight to safety dried those markets up.

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Just two weeks ago, Countrywide said it had access to nearly $50 billion in cash.

Analyst Robert Lacoursiere said he remained bearish on the home loan industry: An exodus from risk means lenders like Countrywide will have to pay more to raise money, issue fewer loans and sell those loans at cheaper prices.

However, he upgraded Countrywide shares to "Neutral" from "Sell." His stance on the company has not changed, except now the stock is down more than 55 percent for the year and trades at its cheapest price since 2003.

Lacoursiere said the stock price accurately handicaps the best-case scenario -- a recovery bringing the stock to $23.50 -- versus the worst-case scenario-- a break-up of the company at $7.25 per share.

Shares of Countrywide Financial climbed 45 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $19.40 in premarket trading.

Real Estate
Mortgage Meltdown 2007 Archive
Countrywide forced to turn to banks for help
Leading mortgage lender tightens lending standards, turns to more expensive $11.5 billion line of credit to maintain liquidity; chairman cashing out.
By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
August 16 2007: 5:11 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Embattled Countrywide Financial, the nation's No. 1 mortgage lender, was forced to tap an $11.5 billion line of credit Thursday to run its business during the credit crunch, and said it's toughening underwriting standards on home loans.

At the same time, SEC filings show the company's chairman has made a $13 million profit in the past month selling Countrywide stock on the decline.
Bankrate.com
Current Mortgage Rates

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Mortgage Meltdown: 2007
Mortgage Resets: Record bill due
Billions in subprime ARMs will be subject to higher payments. (more)
Hardest hit zip codes
Foreclosure clusters are on the move from industrial centers to coastal and southern states. (more)
Jumbo rates on the rise
Financing a home in some of the nation's priciest areas just got more expensive. (more)
Who can't get a mortgage now
Buyers with good credit and a down payment will make out well - all others, prepare to pay. (more)
Home prices fall for 4th straight quarter
See latest prices for 149 markets. (more)
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BNP Paribas economist Ken Wattret explains long-term and short-term implications from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis.
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The unusual step taken by Countrywide (Charts, Fortune 500) aggravated fears about the problems facing the key lender.

Shares of Countrywide plunged in afternoon trading, and were down 24 percent at one point before closing down 11 percent. The announcement fanned investor worries about a crisis in credit markets, leading to another rough ride in the stock market. The Dow industrials sank about 300 points before recovering at the close.

The consortium of 40 large banks that will be loaning Countrywide money will likely charge higher rates than the mortgage lender usually pays to fund its operations.

Countrywide's decision to severely limit the types of home loans it makes going forward could be a sign that many home buyers will have a much more difficult time getting financing, which can only further batter the already struggling real estate market as well as the U.S. economy as a whole.
Mortgage meltdown contagion

A government report Thursday showed that housing starts and building permits are now at their lowest level in more than a decade, and a report from the National Association of Realtors Wednesday showed home values fell for the fourth straight quarter this spring. The problems at Countrywide can only feed into both those trends.

The mortgage lender has seen much of the demand for its mortgage-backed securities dry up in recent weeks in the face of rising delinquencies and defaults for its loans.

Countrywide said its decision to tap the line of credit should help it weather the current credit market crisis.

"In response to widely reported market conditions, Countrywide has elected to draw upon this entire (line of credit) to supplement its funding liquidity position," it said in its statement. "Countrywide has taken decisive steps which we believe will address the challenges arising in this environment and enable the company to meet its funding needs and continue growing its franchise."

As far as lending goes, Countrywide is tightening standards for many types of mortgages, including subprime loans to people with less than top credit; those to people who could not provide full documentation of income, known as Atl-A loans, and also for loans of more than $417,000, known as jumbo loans.

Those three types of loans cannot be packaged and sold to two government-sponsored companies, Fannie Mae (Charts) and Freddie Mac (Charts, Fortune 500), and therefore are less attractive to investors who have been scared out of buying securities backed by anything other than the safest of mortgage loans.

Even the market for jumbo prime loans - made to people with good credit and incomes that can support large mortgage payments - has taken a hit in recent weeks due to concerns over falling home values.

According to trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance, Countrywide was the nation's No. 3 subprime mortgage lender in 2006, making $40.6 billion of those loans, and the No. 2 Alt-A lender with $68 billion.

Countrywide's statement said that as a result of the drying up of demand for mortgage securities that cannot be sold through Fannie or Freddie, it "has materially tightened its underwriting standards for such loans, and, we now expect that 90 percent of the loans we originate will be (Fannie or Freddie)-eligible or will meet our bank's investment criteria."

Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co., said Countrywide's announcement may calm fears about a possible bankruptcy, but raise fears about its earnings going forward. "We'll see if that will be enough to stem the tide, or is going to be perceived as a last gasp effort," he said.

One analyst wrote in a note Thursday that there was still a chance that Countrywide, which gets nearly all its business from home loans, could be forced into bankruptcy by the current credit crunch.

"We do believe there is a scenario in which the current liquidity crises last for longer than three months and Countrywide is forced into bankruptcy," wrote Friedman, Billings & Ramsey analyst Paul Miller. "It will be ugly, but it can happen! The one major advantage Countrywide has over most monoline mortgage banking companies is its great franchise, which we believe would add value to a more diversified financial institution. Even though we view this as a possibility, we can only speculate on the price someone would be willing to acquire (it) for in its weaken position."

Miller cut his price target on Countrywide to $17, although he admitted "this price target really does not mean anything given the amount of unknowns in the market at this point."
Chairman selling shares

With Thursday's declines, shares of Countrywide have now lost more than half their value since mid-July, before it announced results for June that included growing defaults, delinquencies and problems with selling securities in the secondary market.

Since that announcement, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that Countrywide Chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo has exercised options and then sold 672,000 shares of the company's stock, netting a profit of just less than $13 million in the transactions.

Mozilo, who still had 497,297 shares of Countrywide stock he owned directly and another 853,205 shares in trust or his 401(k), according to his filings, received an average of $31.09 a share for the stock he sold, while his average stock option exercise price was $11.77 a share.

President David Sambol also had stock sales - although far more modest -during the same period.

Company officials could not be reached for comment on Mozilo and Sambol's sales, or about rumors about a possible bankruptcy.

JCS Escreveu:... quando uma empresa vem para o mercado dizer que "estamos a sentir dificuldades" é porque aquilo já passou um pouco do suportável (normalmente para não colocar os agentes económicos nervosos adiam-se estas "divulgações")...

JCS

Japão 2007-08-17 08:25
Bolsa de Tóquio encerrou com queda assinalável de 5,42% penalizada pela crise do mercado 'subprime' nos EUA
A praça nipónica sofreu hoje uma das quedas mais significativas dos últimos anos, devido à crise no mercado hipotecário de alto risco nos Estados Unidos e ao encarecimento do iene.

Mafalda Aguilar

Assim, no encerramento da sessão, o índice Nikkei 225 de Tóquio perdeu 5,42%% para os 15 273,68 pontos, destacando-se as perdas das principais exportadoras, uma vez que o iene continua a valorizar-se face ao dólar, já que os investidores se estão a afastar das divisas com maiores taxas de juro, o que deixa mais caras as exportações das multinacionais japonesas, especialmente as do sector Automóvel.

Deste modo, a Toyota tombou 4,4% para os 6380 ienes, o valor mais baixo de Outubro de 2003, enquanto que a fabricante automóvel Honda Motor Co desvalorizou-se em 5,3% para os 3580 ienes.

As preocupações com a situação nos EUA aumentaram depois do banco de investimento norte-americano Merrill Lynch ter estimado que a maior empresa de crédito imobiliário do país, a Countrywide Financial Corp., poderá ser forçada a declarar falência, ao mesmo tempo que o responsável da Reserva Federal, William Poole, descartou ontem a possibilidade de uma descida das taxas de juro da Reserva Federal (Fed) dos Estados Unidos, ao declarar que apenas "uma catástrofe" levaria a um corte imediato dos juros.

MozHawk Escreveu:Mohamed,

17:41 Eastern Time, eg, 22:41GMT.

JCS,

E mais complicado é quando não puderam deixar de participar, pelo que li na diagonal, por compromissos assumidos em 2006... lol.

Abraço,
MozHawk

UPDATE: Countrywide's $11.5 Bln Loan Poorly Timed For Banks Involved

By Alistair Barr

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Call it unfortunate timing for bankers.

A group of 40 of the world's largest banks lent Countrywide Financial Corp. ( CFC) $11.5 billion this week under credit agreements that they committed to as far back as 2006.

The loans may help relieve a credit market squeeze on the nation's largest provider of home mortgages. But they come at a tough time for the banks involved.

Countrywide didn't disclose which banks lent the money and a spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for a list of lenders.

However, regulatory filings that Countrywide had provided the Securities and Exchange Commission show that J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) , Bank of America (BAC) , Citigroup Inc. (C) , Lehman Brothers (LEH) , Merrill Lynch (MER) and Morgan Stanley (MS) were among the banks that signed up to the loan commitments.

Because these were so-called committed credit facilities, the banks couldn't back out of the loans, as long as Countrywide complied with all the conditions of the agreements, Christopher Wolfe, an analyst at Fitch Ratings, said in an interview on Thursday.

Countrywide met these conditions, so the loans went through. But if the lending agreements hadn't been committed, the banks probably wouldn't have lent the money, Wolfe said.

"Most of the banks already have enough issues and concerns with mortgages," Wolfe said. "I don't think that they would be looking to increase their mortgage exposures at this point."

What began as an isolated problem in the subprime mortgage business has spread to other parts of the global market for credit, which is the lifeblood of the corporate financial system.

Banks already have made loans to mortgage originators. They also hold some mortgage-related securities on their own balance sheets. Banks may also have lent money to hedge funds that trade mortgage securities. Some also have in- house hedge funds and trading departments that could hold such securities.

Some banks have also committed to finance big leveraged buyouts. When it became difficult to sell leveraged loans earlier this summer, a few banks were left holding so-called hung loans.

U.S. banks weren't the only ones to lend the $11.5 billion to Countrywide this week.

U.K. banks including Barclays, HSBC (HBC) , Lloyds TSBand Royal Bank of Scotland, were also committed to lend some of the money, according to SEC filings by Countrywide.

Elsewhere in Europe, filings show, ABN Amro (ABN) , Deutsche Bank (DB) , BNP Paribas, Societe Generaleand UBS (UBS) also were among Countrywide's creditors.

Japanese banks Mizuho (MFG) and Sumitomo Mitsui (SMFJY) were also involved, filings show. Goldman Sachs (GS) has invested in Sumitomo and works closely with the bank in some areas.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-16-071741ET
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.