-- Kenneth Bruce, the Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst who predicted that Countrywide Financial Corp. might go bankrupt, removed his ``sell'' rating because the mortgage lender's loss was ``better than feared.'' Short-sellers may be forced to buy stock after Countrywide's forecast that it will return to profitability, Bruce wrote to investors as he upgraded the shares to ``neutral.'' The Calabasas, California-based company, which posted a $1.2 billion third-quarter loss, rose 32 percent, the most since 1982. Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo called Bruce ``totally irresponsible'' after the analyst wrote in August that Countrywide, the biggest U.S. mortgage company, might face insolvency. The note helped trigger the stock's worst one-day loss in two decades, and Countrywide tapped $11.5 billion in emergency credit later in the month. Countrywide ``still has funding hurdles that we think will be challenging to overcome in 2008,'' Bruce wrote. ``Buying the stock seems too optimistic, in our view, given an uncertain housing market and capital markets backdrop.'' The company said today it has access to $33.6 billion. The third-quarter loss, its first in 25 years, compared with a profit of $647.6 million a year earlier. Countrywide forecast a profit for the fourth quarter of this year and all of 2008. The company said it expects U.S. home sales to remain weak and that markets where mortgages are traded are still disrupted. Countrywide rose $4.23 to $17.30 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company's shares have lost 59 percent this year. You remember this analyst ? The one predicting Countrywide may collapse...Ha, ha, ha ! LOL !
what a crock of shit... countrywide didn't write down half of their problems... claiming they are gonna make a profit in the next quarter is bs
i need to learn how to buy on fear and sell on greed. but it's easier said than done. oh well, there will always be another opportunity
Dude, I know what your saying. So many times I pussy out whne their is blood. If I go back and look at my most profiable trades, its the ones I bought when they were beaten up to a pulp and then cash out on good news. The trades where I buy into a run up is where I got burned and became a bagholder. I mean buy low, sell high right. Buy the rumor, sell the news. Buy with fear or blood in the street. When these adages stop working, let me know.