Man, Am I Tired of The Countrywide Bashing and Rest of the Media Garbage!!!

Please excuse me while I rant.  

I just got done reading the comments on Nima Rezvan's post Countrywide Home Loans: The Real Story (Informative Blog).   I have had enough!!

Unfortunately, we live in a world where people "enjoy" it when the "kings" are challenged or befallen. 

We love reading about Paris' prison sentence and Lindsay's drunkenness and the daily challenges of being Brangelina.  Somehow their problems make us feel better about ourselves.   

And now that is the case with Countrywide.  And I am really fed up with it!

The bottom line is....Countrywide will survive this.  They are the nation's top lender and one in 5 people make their mortgage coupon to them.  

Does anyone, for one second, not think that the Fed's $50B+ capital infusion in the past weeks was not sparked, in part, by the situation at Countrywide? 

How about the half point rate cut?  You don't think that was influenced by Countrywide news?

Countrywide loans make up over one-third of the business insured by Fannie Mae.  

This administration has said time and again they won't step into this crisis but its obvious they draw the line at Countrywide.

And, not to get too political, whether you like it or not, whether its the right move or not, the 2008 administration, especially if it's lead by a Democrat, will intercede.  They have also made that pretty clear.

Countrywide is in financial difficulty.  All of the players in mortgages are with the exception of the banks like Wells, B of A, Chase, WAMU etc.   The reason....cash.  

Banks have cash to fund their operations.  They don't need to rely on the credit markets, where confidence is at an all-time low, to run their business.

Countrywide's banking side is much smaller but that's the key to future success so they will move that way.

Countrywide will certainly change their business model and guidelines just as everyone that sells mortgages will and has, including the banks.  Countrywide is no different.    

Why are we pointing the finger at them?  EVERY SINGLE LENDER, BANK OR NOT, IN THIS BUSINESS, HAS CHANGED GUIDELINES DRAMATICALLY IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS.

At the end of the day, we will be left with X amount of "safer" loan products and I can assure you that Countrywide will be competitive with them all.

So they took a draw of $11.5 billion of loan committments that was already made available to them long before?   They have another $170 billion to go if they want it.    Its there are waiting for them to keep them going.

It's obvious that this isnt the best sign but its certainly a whole lot better than the options presented to American Home Mortgage, First Magnus, and the laundry list of others who faced the same challenge and couldn't respond.

And, sure, at some point, Countrywide may have to file for a Chapter 11 BK to keep going, but so what? Many of the airlines and other titans of industry have done that for years and have successfully continued to operate.

I love the guys that get on this site and others and bash Countrywide and Angelo Mozilo, its CEO.  

Quit being jealous because the guy became a billionaire through nearly 40 years of hard work.

You make your living, in part, because of the roads that Angelo, and his partner David Loeb, paved by creating Countrywide as a nationwide mortgage banking giant from a small two-man financial services office in New York.

We should be rooting and cheering for American success stories like this because it reaffirms the American dream.  The dream that you likely still have and you want your kids to have.

If you have even made a decent living in this business its, in part, because Countywide or one of its many resellers helped you close a transaction.  They are still helping you make your living today.

We should be rallying behind Countrywide, and what they represent in our business, not thirsting for its fall and predicting its end date.