Mozilo Settles With SEC for $68 Million The best way to rob a bank . . . is to own one. There’s a reason why bank robbers — at least the “blue collar” kind — get charged with criminal (prison) rather civil penalties (read, fines): if it were otherwise, they’d just write a check if/when...Read More
Credit Rating Agencies, Writ Small As a long-time lender, I would always trade off fico for equity. —email from Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide CEO (now charged with civil fraud), to a lieutenant What exactly is Mozilo talking about? Sub-prime lenders’ growing concerns, circa 2006, that the size of a borrower’s down payment was a much better...Read More
Personal Fortune, Economic Disaster I don’t follow pro sports very closely these days, but growing up, I remember a statistic in basketball and hockey called the “plus/minus ratio.” The goal was to filter out individual statistics like goals scored or baskets made, and instead, focus on each player’s net contribution to their team. The result...Read More
