Ex-HUD Chief Dumping Countrywide Stock

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, who recently resigned from the board of Countrywide Financial Corp., plans on selling his holdings in the troubled lender -- all 25,337 shares worth.According to a Form-4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Cisneros signaled his intention to sell his stake in the company beginning Nov. 6. (In trading Nov. 19, Countrywide's shares reached a new 52-week low of $10.25.) Meanwhile, according to an investment newsletter called tickerspy.com, investor George Soros now owns 1.8 million shares in Countrywide. On Monday it was also revealed that Countrywide is paying more to insure the debt of its home loan unit. That cost jumped 30%, or 787 basis points ($787,000 per year for five years to insure $10 million in debt), according to Markit Intraday.