Countrywide Slammed by Acc'ting Rumors

Countrywide's stock got slammed in trading early Thursday, and company chief executive Angelo Mozilo told MortgageWire that short-sellers "are spreading rumors that we have accounting problems."Mr. Mozilo emphasized strongly that the rumors "are totally untrue" and that speculators are trying to drive down the price of the company's stock as a way to make money. (Unlike investors that are "long" stocks, short-sellers profit when a firm's stock price declines.) The CEO of the nation's third-largest residential lender said short-sellers are trying to cash in by using what he called "exquisite" timing and focusing on accounting problems at Freddie Mac and the fact that bond yields are beginning to creep up. At one point, Countrywide's stock was down $6 a share on Thursday, the CEO said. But at MW's deadline early Thursday afternoon, the stock had bounced back a bit and was trading at $71.20, down almost 5%. Countrywide Financial Corp. can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.