Shares of Countrywide Financial Rise

Shares of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial rose after Merrill Lynch called the company an “attractive buying opportunity”. Stocks were up 3.7% at $35.65, while shares of other mortgage lenders showed gains, too. Shares of Accredited were up 59% at $9.60, those of NovaStar made a 22% jump to $5.11, and Fremont reached $7.38. Goldman Sachs, Lehman and Bear Sterns said they are considering purchasing mortgage portfolios, teams of lenders or even entire subprime lending companies. Are they giving subprime another chance? In fact, this could be a smart move on investors’ part, because they could be acquiring fully-operating facilities along with experienced staff – on the cheap – as lenders face their financial hardships.

On a side note remark, Angelo Mozilo, chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial, has been selling his company’s shares in bulk lately. On Mar. 12 alone he got rid of 70,000 CFC shares, raising 2.45 million, following the 70,000 shares he sold for $2.62 million on Mar. 8 and the 46,000 shares he dumped for 1.67 million on Mar. 6. Is it just me or does something smell fishy?