Anyone with mutual funds buying?

[HardDrive]

I bought this morning.

CFC-COUNTRYWIDE
WFMI-WHOLE FOODS MARKET

I could live to eat my words, but I don't think the feds or the private sector will allow Countrywide to get into any real trouble. I think all this bluster about their short term credit issues are rubbish. It is in everyone interest to keep them floating when they own 17% of the mortgages in the country.


Whole Foods is back on track. The FTC is full of *****. Good riddance a judge had the common sense to put them in their place this morning.

[craigster59]

I was thinking of buying some Whole Foods shares along with some Exxon Mobil. I didn't get hurt in this recent drop, so now is a good time to buy.

[pwd72s]

We already bought on the downtick...not individual stocks...

[Hugh R]

Thinking about it. I've got a CD that came due during the downturn. Not a lot, I'll mostly see where my other stuff goes. One thing I know if I see when its low, I definitely lost money. My time horizon to start going towards more bonds and the like is about 5-10 years.

[Mo_Gearhead]

Anyone with mutual funds buying?
__________________

Yes ...but even mentioning that you are foolish enough to own stocks here can bring on the wrath of "on-ramp". Caution!

[Chocaholic]

Yep....I am.

[GDSOB]

[QUOTE=HardDrive;3431870]I bought this morning.

CFC-COUNTRYWIDE
WFMI-WHOLE FOODS MARKET

I could live to eat my words, but I don't think the feds or the private sector will allow Countrywide to get into any real trouble. I think all this bluster about their short term credit issues are rubbish. It is in everyone interest to keep them floating when they own 17% of the mortgages in the country.

QUOTE]

I doubt if Countrywide will make it through next summer in it's present form. They just used up their entire credit line of 11.5 Billion for operating cash. No one will reasonably loan them anymore money. A large portion of the ARM resets will occur next spring and a good percentage of those borrowers will not have enough equity for refinancing or be able to sell. They will get stuck with those loans and have a huge amount of REO properties to market.

They are no longer doing most nonconforming loans which were high margin business before the RE market fell apart. So, they will have to support the entire business (and the non-performing loans) with only conforming loans they can sell on the secondary market. I don't see this ending well.

[billyboy]

A friend of mine who lives in Mexico and practices law there, got a call from a Countrywide CEO asking about living down there.....

[hytem]

We've just seen a healthy 10% market correction which, contrary to what the media says, was nothing more than profit-taking after a run-up. Plus throw in some panic selling at the bottom for some idiots out there who listen to the media. The fed even dropped interest rates. Great time to buy.

Energy is the place to be. Oil stocks are down. Gas prices are down. How long do you think that will last?

Another place to be is China and Asia. China is getting a lot of media bashing lately because of lead paint in Mattel toys and other minor things which have gotten a lot of hype. Keep in mind that much of the Chinese goods is made in China by American-managed subsidiaries there. Mattel has companies in China making those toys. It's Mattel's problem. They control how their products are made in China. So don't a lot of other American companies like Logitech.

I read that China will be selling autos in America soon. You can bet there will be some bashing there as well--from American car companies who will get killed some more. Except for GM, which has a strong position in China.

Fact is, a lot of inexpensive quality stuff is coming into the U.S. from China, and keeping inflation down here.

Do you know the quality of chicken (aside from the bird flu business) is better in China than here? That's because it's sold fresh-killed --like the fish is. Not frozen. I know some people who have had chicken here and there, and say it tastes better there. Fresher. They are still like we used to be in the 1950s with a lot of their food. Not highly processed.

Forget about the bashing and buy Asian funds. Double digit growth over there.

Another great buy right now is real estate, especially vacation properties. All that money that just came out of the stock market may find it's way into real estate soon. Just Watch.

[p911dad]

IMHO, this correction is not over, wait a few weeks to see what direction it will take, as it's not likely to resume a climb back to 14K range anytime soon. There is a confidence crisis going on right now and these things take time to work out. There will continue to be gut-wrenching surges up and down and who needs that thrill ride? I think the Fed action shows just how close they are to a panic in the credit market. Wait and see.

[trader220]

I am in the camp that says this correction is not over yet either. I also believe that CFC will survive but the stocks got more room to go down and it will be dead money for a long time IMO.

[einreb]

dead cat bounce

[turbo6bar]

Originally Posted by hytem

We've just seen a healthy 10% market correction which, contrary to what the media says, was nothing more than profit-taking after a run-up. Plus throw in some panic selling at the bottom for some idiots out there who listen to the media. The fed even dropped interest rates. Great time to buy.

nothing more than profit-taking after a run-up = ideal time for a fed discount rate drop?

[GDSOB]

If you buy financials right now, better make it a short term play, because long term, the sector is cooked. The market is propping up prices on some of these lenders because they haven't done enough homework to realize much of their loan portfolio is garbage.

[p911dad]

I heard it said today that those that are buying now can be likened to the poor villagers that ventured out onto the suddenly dry seabed to pick up the fish left stranded before the arrival of the first tsunami..

[hytem]

I don't think the situation is as bad as depicted in the media. The Fed had to act because fear spreads easily, and it's perception they are just as concerned about. In some parts of the country, mine included, the real estate market is doing just fine. In other parts, not so fine. Mortgage rates are holding pretty well.
The problems were caused by Greenspan lowering interest rates down to 1%or so when Bush took office in 2000. This created a lot of ARM mortgages with very low rates, which ultimately have adjusted upwards sharply. A lot of people are now caught with big mortgages paying a lot more interest than they can afford. When you make such drastic adjustments to interest rates, you can expect some problems.
And, yes, there was a healthy bit of profit-taking that just occurred. It was waiting for a reason to happen. And it doesn't take a lot.

[competentone]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

I bought this morning.

CFC-COUNTRYWIDE
WFMI-WHOLE FOODS MARKET

I could live to eat my words....

OUCH!

Looking at the premiums for the PUT options on Countrywide, I'd say a lot of people are expecting them to be in bankruptcy very soon (based upon the article I read last week in the WSJ, I think the same).

Whole Foods is a neat company, but I still think the stock is over-priced -- even after its sell-off since last year. Kind-of a "freaky" CEO -- there could be more serious skeletons in that closet besides his postings on the Yahoo WFMI message board.

But then, what do I know? I'm getting killed in my GSS (Goldenstar Resources) position, but I'm expecting that to be just a temporary condition.

I've been watching MEDX (Medarex) and have purchased a few CALL options on it. It was mentioned on the CNBC program "Fast Money." Based upon my (currently limited) research since hearing it mentioned on that program, it looks like there is a lot of potential for their melanoma (and possibly other cancers) treatment. It's speculative, but I see a lot of upside potential if the clinical trials results are positive.

[trader220]

Rumor today that BRK is interested in buying CFC ..

competentone... implied volatilities are so pumped that buying options on a directional spec is very difficult now. Historically buying a put or a call to time the market is a difficult game but its more difficult with premiums at these levels.

[GDSOB]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

I sold CountryWide short on it's way down. Based upon my analysis, I think it's a $10 stock next year at best.

-Wayne

Liquidation value is around $7, must have alot of toner...

For Joe Mason, an economist and professor of finance at Drexel, the 30-day window is not long enough.

"[Lenders] are going to have to roll that over in 30 days, max," he said. "The problems will take a lot more than 30 days to work out."

Mason also cited Bagehot's rule, a basic banking principle which he explained as the need to distinguish between illiquid and insolvent organizations. "You want to lend to illiquid but not insolvent institutions," he said. Lending to insolvent institutions just enables them to dig themselves an even deeper hole.

To him, that's what seems to be happening.

"I would argue that Countrywide is insolvent. Their only asset is their pricing platform, their business algorithm, and that's not working. The next biggest asset they have is the toner for their copiers."

[competentone]

Originally Posted by trader220

Rumor today that BRK is interested in buying CFC ...

CNBC was reporting that Berkshire may be interested in "some assets" from Contrywide.

If they just wait, they'll get them cheaper when CFC is in bankruptcy.