Comments on: Countrywide CEO foregoes plush payoff package–but don’t feel too sorry for him

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:35:12 +0000

It’s like porcupines crawled on to their heads, died, and bled orange ink. I hail from the state in question, and even I’ve never seen cobaggery like this.

By: Dr. Slammy

Dr. Slammy — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:43:12 +0000

Sweet Jesus – I don’t know which is scarier – the tans or the fact that they’re all wearing the same bizarre spiky-looking hat.

By: Djerrid

Djerrid — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:49:19 +0000

“Thatâ€™s one of the scarier tans Iâ€™ve seen…”
Apparently you have never been to New Jersey:
http://www.damnfunnypictures.com/html/New-Jersey-Douchebags.html
(Djerrid does not take any responsibility for the resulting blindness from clicking on above link.)

By: jeff

jeff — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:52:18 +0000

While Skilling and Lay deserved to be drawn and quartered, for me to do anything to physically harm anyone would be totally out of character. Karma is a bitch, Lay got his, and there’s a special place in hell for Skilling.

Jeff

By: Dr. Slammy

Dr. Slammy — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:40:08 +0000

Jeff: I respect that you made out on Enron. I’d have respected you more had you shot Skilling and Lay while you were at it.

By: jeff

jeff — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:29:49 +0000

Brian, This wasn’t a sample of one. I’ve seen this indicator before, and back in the 80’s actually quantified the stock price vs. the excessive tan of the CEO. However, that being said, I carefully researched the company, looked at it’s trading action (the tape never lies), and decided that CFC was going over a cliff. It was my patriotic duty to short the stock:)

I wrote extensively about the CFC trade over in my blog. Despite the fact that it was a great trade, I covered my short way to early when the White House made the sub-prime deal and CFC went up 20% on an opening, with a volume of over 130 million shares traded that day. Despite the fact that CFC fell later, even after the BofA offer, I did the right thing getting out when I did. Still, my position was big enough that it took three trades to get out of the whole thing. There are many valid indicators one can use for the markets that seemingly have nothing to do with the market itself. I used other non market indicators to determine that Enron was going belly up, and was able to get off a decent short position on that stock. Sometimes, you just gotta think outside the box.

Jeff

By: Dr. Slammy

Dr. Slammy — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:52:49 +0000

Brian: I don’t know if we have a representative sample or not, but based on my own past experience I’ll say that any indicator that a CEO is living the high life is enough to make me at least do some checking. And that guy must spend a couple hours a day in the tanning booth….

By: Brian Angliss

Brian Angliss — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:41:35 +0000

Jeff – isn’t it really only an indicator if it works regularly? Unless you’ve seen this with other CEOs or VIPs, your sample size is only one – hardly enough to draw anything resembling a statistical result.

On the other hand, if it’s just a gut feel, well, so be it.

By: jeff

jeff — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:05:25 +0000

Several months ago, I saw him on CNBC, and noticed his tan. That tan pushed a button with me, and I did some research on the stock. I ended up shorting the stock (right before the sub prime meltdown), and it turned out to be one of my best trades of the year. I’ve always found indicators to guide me in the market, and now I can add the “Suntan Indicator” as another tool in my trading toolbelt.

BofA is going to have a lot of trouble digesting Countrywide (CDC), as it’s derivative exposure is an unknown quantity, and is probably somewhere north of 40 billion dollars

Jeff

By: Dr. Slammy

Dr. Slammy — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:41:23 +0000

I don’t kid myself that he’s a saint, but I’m glad he’s doing it, anyway. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is better than doing the wrong thing, huh?

By: Brian Angliss

Brian Angliss — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:15:32 +0000

That’s one of the scarier tans I’ve seen since the last time I saw George Hamilton on screen. And the smile makes me think his face is about to crack in half.

Something in that photos is seriously creepy….

By: www.buzzflash.net

www.buzzflash.net — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:57:29 +0000

Countrywide CEO foregoes plush payoff packageâ€“but donâ€™t feel too sorry for him…

Angelo Mozilo chose to give up his lavish severance package as CEO of failed mortgage lender Countrywide–but don’t expect to see him collecting food stamps any time soon….