Blogs Dashboard
Just another Blogs.reuters.com weblog
Buffett’s mortgage move: Countryshire?

No doubt Warren Buffett can see value in a distressed company like Countrywide Financial Corp. But then again, it’s hard to see Countrywide Chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo working for the “Oracle.”
First, what would the tabloids call this duo, BuffAngelo or Warzilo, perhaps? And are cavemen any good at hawking mortgage products? And how would Mozilo handle his new compensation package, as administered by Mr. Buffett?
Mozilo, the butcher’s son who has made several hundred million dollars from exercising stock options, wouldn’t get any such generosity from Mr. Buffett. He’s not into such executive incentives, at least not at the level overseen by Mozilo’s, uh, Countrywide’s board. Mozilo might get the employee discount at a certain Omaha, Nebraska jewelry store, though.
And even though Mozilo looks fit as a fiddle, he’s closing in on 70. Would Buffett want the headache of finding a successor while paying the price (Severance=more moolah for Mozilo) of sending Mozilo into retirement?
But maybe there’s another card to play here.
Buffett, sitting on a billions-dollar-high mound ‘O cash in Omaha, could be the liquidity Countrywide needs to ride out the mortgage maelstrom. BuffAngelo could work something out, giving Countrywide time to unwind its subprime exposure while getting back on track making loans to borrowers who put money down.
Countrywide, however, isn’t the only mortgage move for Buffett, though. What’s more Buffett-like than a bet on a company that writes mortgage insurance? There’s plenty of distress in that market. MGIC Investment Corp. and Radian Group Inc. come to mind.














