Countrywide reported a third-quarter loss of $1.2 billion on Friday, the mortgage lender's first quarterly shortfall in 25 years. Meanwhile, by just about every indicator, the housing bust has yet to reach bottom.
Nonetheless, the headline in the Financial Times:
Countrywide on path back to profit
And in early trading, the company's share price shot up.
We'll check back on Countrywide next quarter. How the World Works is prepared to acknowledge that Wall Street's Countrywide-watching analysts are better able to assess a balance sheet than we are, and they seem generally pleased with the numbers. But color us skeptical.
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